I don't think we have to prove that it's corporal punishment under the statute to say that it was inappropriate, nonprofessional use of excessive force on a student. We believe that, absent a contrary statutory provision, a local school board has the inherent power to define disciplinable acts and to sanction teachers for violating school board policy. Local school boards are free to develop and enforce policies so long as such policies are generally within the scope of the educational mission and are not prohibited by statute. That the Detroit public schools choose to adopt different polices concerning teacher discipline than the public schools of another community will undoubtedly have consequences for the quality of the respective educational environments in those schools but we see nothing in the law which precludes local school boards from coming to their own conclusions about such matters. We accordingly remand this matter to the Tenure Commission for reconsideration of the basis of plaintiff's discharge.
Defendant also appeals the trial court's award of attorney fees to plaintiff.
Generally, attorney fees are not awarded unless specifically provided for by statute. An award of costs and fees made by a court under this section shall only be made pursuant to . . . The presiding officer that conducts a contested case shall award to a prevailing party, other than an agency, the costs and fees incurred by the party in connection with that contested case, if the presiding officer finds that the position of the agency to the proceeding was frivolous. The agency had no reasonable basis to believe that the facts underlying its legal position were in fact true. The agency's legal position was devoid of arguable legal merit.