Opinion ID: 1704346
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: validity of board's findings

Text: The general administration and supervision of the public schools of each county is vested in the county board of education. Tit. 52, § 62. Only the employing board of education has the authority to cancel the contract of a tenured teacher, and that only after due notice and a hearing. Tit. 52, § 359, as amended. The action of the employing board shall be final in its cancellation of a teacher's contract provided such action was in compliance with Chapter 13, Code 1940 (§ 351 et seq.) and no appeal is taken within fifteen days. Tit. 52, § 360. In Woods v. Board of Education of Walker County, 259 Ala. 559, 67 So.2d 840, this court said:    Where a board, such as the board of education of a county, is created for the purpose of carrying a law into execution, all legal intendments are indulged in favor of the orders of such board and those orders will be upheld unless their invalidity is clearly shown by those who challenge them, the legal presumption being that such orders are reasonable and valid and were made upon proper evidence.    There is no contention that the statutory procedures were not complied with, and the record shows that there were three volumes of recorded testimony, with over sixty witnesses testifying before the Board. After the hearing, the Board cancelled Baugh's contract on the grounds of incompetency and insubordination, two grounds in § 358 as grounds for cancellation. The appeal to the Commission is not for a de novo trial; and the only question for decision by the Tenure Commission was, since the action was in compliance with the chapter on Teacher's Tenure, whether the action of the Board was arbitrarily unjust. § 360.