Opinion ID: 1172620
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Hearing Officer's Scope of Authority

Text: The Court of Appeals held that the HO exceeded the scope of his authority by applying his own standards of teacher performance. We disagree. As provided in the Act, once a teacher receives a nonrenewal notice, the teacher is entitled to request a due process hearing before a HO, who is to make a fair and impartial decision based on substantial evidence. K.S.A. 72-5439(f). K.S.A. 72-5443 provides: (a) Unless otherwise agreed to by both the board and the teacher, the hearing officer shall render a written opinion not later than 30 days after the close of the hearing, setting forth the hearing officer's findings of fact and determination of the issues. The decision of the hearing officer shall be submitted to the teacher and to the board. (b) The decision of the hearing officer shall be final, subject to appeal to the district court by either party as provided in K.S.A. 60-2101, and amendments thereto. We discussed the legislative history of K.S.A. 72-5443 (the decision of the HO) in U.S.D. No. 380 v. McMillen, 252 Kan. 451, 454, 854 P.2d 676 (1993): As originally adopted in 1974, 72-5443 permitted a board of education to accept or reject the recommendation of the hearing committee. The statute was amended in 1975 and 1976 .... In 1984, the statute was amended to make a unanimous recommendation by the hearing committee binding on the school board. In 1991, the statute was again amended to make all decisions by the hearing committee binding on the school board. During the 1992 legislative session, the hearing process was changed again. The legislature replaced the three-person hearing committee with a single hearing officer. The decision of the hearing officer is final, subject to appeal by either party. L. 1992, ch. 185, §§ 2, 6. We identified in Gillett v. U.S.D. No. 276, 227 Kan. 71, 78, 605 P.2d 105 (1980), the purpose behind the due process hearing: The purpose of the due process hearing granted a teacher by statute is to develop the grounds that have induced the board to give the teacher notice of its desire to discontinue her services, and to afford the teacher an opportunity to test the good faith and sufficiency of the notice. The hearing must be fair and just, conducted in good faith, and dominated throughout by a sincere effort to ascertain whether good cause exists for the notice given. If it does not, or if the hearing was a mere sham, then justification for the board of education's action is lacking.