Title: Mitchell v. Garrett

State: tennessee

Issuer: Tennessee Supreme Court

Document:

510 S.W.2d 894 (1974) Carrie G. MITCHELL, Appellant, v. Maxie GARRETT, Superintendent of Schools, Pickett County, Tennessee, et al., Appellees. Supreme Court of Tennessee. April 15, 1974. Charles Hampton White, Cornelius, Collins, Higgins & White, Nashville, for appellant. John A. Turnbull, Roberts & Turnbull, Livingston, for appellees. W.M. LEECH, Special Justice. This is an action brought by a tenure teacher, Carrie G. Mitchell, seeking an order restoring her to her former position as Supervisor of Instruction and Materials Director of the Pickett County School System following an alleged demotion to *895 "classroom teacher". The Chancellor found no demotion and thus refused to grant the requested order. Appeal was thereupon brought direct to this Court pursuant to T.C.A. § 49-1417, which provides for "appeal to the Supreme Court, where the cause shall be heard on the transcript of the record from the chancery court." The facts as ascertained from the transcript are as follow: The Pickett County School System consists of one physical plant which houses both an elementary and a high school. In these two schools are approximately forty-five teachers. Since the 1969-70 academic year, the plaintiff had served as Supervisor of Instruction and Materials Director for the Pickett County School System. In this capacity, she supervised the work of the forty-five teachers in the Pickett County School System, visited classrooms to observe teaching methods, prepared and evaluated Federal Aid to Education projects and distributed to teachers materials which they had requested for use in their classrooms. The plaintiff had an office in the "central office" of the school system. On September 1, 1972, the defendant, Maxie Garrett, the Superintendent of the Pickett County School System, advised the plaintiff that she would be assigned to a classroom teaching position as a kindergarten teacher in the elementary school for the 1972-73 school year. Since no charges had been filed against the plaintiff and as the classroom teaching position represented a substantial reduction in pay, the plaintiff requested a hearing before the Pickett County Board of Education. At this hearing, held on September 26, 1972, the defendant, Maxie Garrett and the members of the defendant, Pickett County Board of Education, admitted that there were no charges outstanding against the plaintiff and that her transfer from the position of Supervisor of Instruction and Materials Director to a kindergarten teaching position was within the perogative of the Board of Education. Thereupon, plaintiff filed suit in the Chancery Court of Pickett County, seeking to be reinstated in her former supervisory position and for monetary compensation resulting from her alleged demotion. On April 26, 1973, after hearing all the evidence with respect to the allegations contained in the original complaint, the Chancellor stated: Subsequently, on May 30, 1973, the Chancellor prepared and filed his Memorandum Opinion, setting forth his findings of fact and conclusions of law, stating: On May 14, 1973, before the Court entered its Memorandum Opinion and before the Final Decree was entered, the Pickett County Board of Education met and transferred the plaintiff from her teaching position as a kindergarten teacher in the Pickett County Elementary School to the Pickett County High School for the school term 1973-74. As a result of the Board's action, on June 13, 1973, the plaintiff filed a petition in the Chancery Court of Pickett County seeking an order to set aside the May 14, 1973 action of the Pickett County Board of Education. *896 A Final Decree reflecting the action of the Court on April 26 and prepared in accordance with the Court's Memorandum Opinion of May 30, 1973 was not entered until June 11, 1973, and it provided for an appeal to this Court by defendants. On July 18, 1973, a hearing was held on the plaintiff's petition. At this time, the defendants insisted that although the May 14, 1973 letter did not so specify, nor did the minutes of the Pickett County Board of Education so recite, the plaintiff was elected to serve as Assistant Principal of the Pickett County High School. Also, Maxie Garrett testified that the salary which the plaintiff would receive as Assistant Principal of the Pickett County High School would be the same as she would have received had she been restored to her former but now non-existing position as Supervisor of Instruction and Materials Director. In addition, the following testimony was given to explain the May 14th action of the Board: Having heard the testimony of the plaintiff and the defendant, Maxie Garrett, the Court concluded that the plaintiff, a tenure teacher having twenty-seven years service in the Pickett County School System had not been demoted because: In addition, the Chancellor ordered, adjudged and decreed that: The Assignments of Error are: Although two assignments of error are made, one issue will resolve the case at bar. The sole question is whether the plaintiff's "transfer" was in violation of the express requirements of the Code. "Transfer" is defined in T.C.A. § 49-1401(7) as follows: And the word "teacher" is defined in T.C.A. § 49-1401(1) to include "teachers, supervisors, principals, superintendents and all other certificated personnel employed" by the board. Having defined two essential terms involved herein we must now turn to the Code to ascertain whether plaintiff's transfer was proper. The statute applicable to the instant case is T.C.A. § 49-1411, which provides in pertinent part that: The foregoing statute was applied to a case factually similar to the instant case, State ex rel. Pemberton v. Wilson, 481 S.W.2d 760 (Tenn. 1972). Therein, the plaintiff had held the county supervisory position of Attendance Teacher for a period of seventeen years. She was transferred from that position to the position of classroom teacher at a reduced salary. However, this latter position required twenty less work days per year and she was not required to drive as far in order to get to her new job. The Chancellor held that the "transfer" was a demotion. Upon appeal to this Court, we held that the transfer was proper and within the discretion of the superintendent and board, so long as the transfer was not the result of arbitrary or capricious conduct. In addition, this Court stated in State v. Yoakum, 201 Tenn. 180, 297 S.W.2d 635 *898 (1956), that "[n]o teacher under the tenure law is guaranteed continuity of employment in a particular assignment or school." It is the opinion of this Court that Pemberton and Yoakum are controlling in the instant case. Therefore, the plaintiff had no tenure in the exact position she was holding and she could be properly transferred at the board's discretion. Having reached this conclusion, the only question remaining is whether or not the defendants' action herein was arbitrary or capricious. After reviewing the transcript in this cause, we are unable to say that the act of the board and the superintendent was arbitrary or capricious. Moreover, we must presume that the actions of a board or superintendent are not arbitrary or capricious, but are reasonable and fair unless there is clear evidence to the contrary. See, e.g., Blair v. Mayo, 224 Tenn. 108, 450 S.W.2d 582 (1970). Herein, no such clear evidence exists, but rather from the events which transpired at the board meeting on May 14, 1973, it appears that the superintendent and board tried diligently to resolve the problem resulting from the abolition of plaintiff's former position in a manner which would make for the most efficient operation of the Pickett County School System. Furthermore, having made an exhaustive search of the transcript, we find no arbitrary or capricious acts on their part. It results, therefore, that petitioner's assignments of error are overruled and the Chancellor's decree is sustained. DYER, C.J., McCANLESS and FONES, JJ., and JENKINS, Special Justice, concur. W.M. LEECH, Special Justice. Appellant, Carrie G. Mitchell, has filed a petition to rehear wherein she contends that the instant decision is in direct conflict with Gibson v. Butler, 484 S.W.2d 356 (Tenn. 1972), and that the instant decision fails to consider the "alleged" fact that the position of Supervisor of Instruction and Materials Director was not abolished. The two aforementioned contentions are the only matters raised in the petition. With the foregoing in mind, it should be reiterated that Supreme Court Rule No. 32 provides in pertinent part that: Applying said rule to appellant's petition, we find that Gibson, supra, was fully discussed in appellant's original brief and thus no new argument is now made and no new authority is now adduced. In addition, this Court did not overlook any material fact and the mere fact that this Court's interpretation of a given fact differs from appellant's interpretation does not mean that we overlooked something. Moreover, in the instant case, it is evident from the total record that the position formerly held by the appellant no longer existed at the time of the May 14th meeting of the Board and thus, appellant's contention that the position was not abolished is erroneous. Thus, pursuant to the authority of Rule 32 this petition should be denied. Moreover, appellant, in stating that Gibson, supra, is in conflict with the instant case, shows a basic misconception of our holding in both Gibson and the instant case. In Gibson, this Court simply held that under those particular facts that the Claiborne County Board of Education had acted arbitrarily and capriciously in "transferring" certain tenured teachers and therefore said transfer was a demotion. In the instant case, however, we find no arbitrary or capricious action in the Board's Act of transferring appellant from one supervisory position to another supervisory position. Having so found, there *899 was no demotion and appellant's rights under T.C.A. § 49-1411 were not violated. The aforesaid being true, it necessarily follows that appellant's petition to rehear is denied. DYER, C.J., and CHATTIN, McCANLESS, and FONES, JJ., concur.