Opinion ID: 368451
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Daisy Marshall

Text: 25 Daisy Marshall began her duties as an elementary social studies teacher in 1970. Her contract was renewed each year for three consecutive years. In her fourth year, Mrs. Marshall assumed the additional responsibility of teaching remedial math. On the recommendation of Mrs. Todd, principal of the elementary school, the school board voted not to renew Marshall's teaching contract for the 1974-75 school year. Mrs. Todd in a letter to defendant school superintendent Roy Kirkland dated February 26, 1974, enumerated five reasons for not recommending renewal of Mrs. Marshall: 26
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28 3. For the past two years, we have tried her in different teaching areas with no better results. 29 4. The lesson plans that are required by the school board have not been made. 30 5. The students deserve the very best teacher that can be found. 31 By letter from Mr. Kirkland dated May 2, 1974, Mrs. Marshall was informed that the school board had voted not to renew her contract for the 1974-75 school year. Mrs. Marshall requested and was accorded a hearing before the board pursuant to procedures established by state law. See Ark.Stat.Ann. § 80-1246. No change in the board's decision not to renew Mrs. Marshall's contract resulted. 32 Mrs. Marshall attacks the factual basis of Mrs. Todd's reasons and points to three areas of antagonism between her and Mrs. Todd. These concern the use of teacher evaluation forms, Mrs. Marshall's pregnancy during the 1973-74 school year, and Marshall's teaching of a predominantly black remedial math class. During the 1973-74 school year the district initiated the use of formal evaluation of teachers. Evaluation forms were employed which contained twenty-three categories for critique classified into three groupings under the headings Personal Qualifications, Classroom Management, and Instruction. Teachers were rated unsatisfactory or satisfactory in each category. School principals conducted the evaluations. Mrs. Marshall asserts that the evaluation process was nonetheless primarily subjective due to the lack of a uniform set of standards under which to judge performance under the various categories, and thus the evaluation forms enabled the perpetuation of race discrimination. 33 Mrs. Marshall and Mrs. Todd also had a dispute concerning Marshall's continued employment during her pregnancy. School policy required pregnant teachers to take leave at some point during pregnancy. Mrs. Marshall testified that Mrs. Todd asked her to resign because of the pregnancy. The conflict over Marshall's pregnancy continued until preempted by intervening court decisions. 34 Lastly, Mrs. Marshall points to difficulty in connection with her remedial math class. Mrs. Todd was said to have relayed complaints from parents of a white child about the classroom seating of their child in the proximity of black children. Mrs. Marshall also testified that she resisted Mrs. Todd's urgings to promote the children of gypsy parents the children of itinerant school district residents. Mrs. Marshall asserts that the incidents involving the white child and the gypsy children were racial incidents, and that (t)he district court failed to take notice of this racial factor which, combined with other events, affected Mrs. Todd's evaluation of Marshall. 35 The evaluation system initiated by the school district called for at least three written evaluations, one after six weeks of teaching, one in November, and the third after the first of the year. The district court found that Mrs. Marshall was evaluated on a number of occasions during her final year of employment, apparently with accelerating frequency as her teaching deficiencies were noted. In a written evaluation of November 12, 1973 Mrs. Todd stressed the need for written lesson plans. The lack of planning was a preeminent factor for not renewing Mrs. Marshall's contract stressed by Mrs. Todd in her testimony, and both Marshall and Todd testified that Todd worked with Marshall early on in the 1973-74 year to develop a planning method for her remedial math class. The extent to which Mrs. Todd discussed the perceived deficiency in the lesson plans with Mrs. Marshall is unclear from the testimony and was disputed, but Mrs. Marshall conceded in the spring of 1974 Mrs. Todd by word of mouth . . . told me I needed to keep more plans. App. at 434. Mrs. Marshall claimed, however, that her method of planning lessons was consistent with what Todd and Marshall had discussed at the beginning of the year, and she suggested that the complaints about her planning were a pretext for dismissing her because of her pregnancy. While Mrs. Marshall was away from school with an illness caused by her pregnancy, Mrs. Todd removed her plan book from her room 4 and made copies of several pages. Mrs. Marshall testified that when the book was returned to her several pages she had written on notebook paper and attached to the plan book were missing. This was close in time to when Mrs. Marshall told Mrs. Todd that she was pregnant. 36 Mrs. Todd denied any invidious or pretextual reason for her decision not to recommend Mrs. Marshall for renewal, and testified that her reasons were as stated in her February 26, 1974 letter to Mr. Kirkland. Whether the school district successfully rebutted the presumption in favor of individual relief by showing that race was not a motivating factor in Mrs. Marshall's non-renewal is therefore largely a question of whether Mrs. Todd's testimony is to be credited or, instead, whether the evidence Mrs. Marshall points to creates an inference of race discrimination sufficient to withstand the school district's rebuttal. The district court necessarily credited Todd's testimony for it concluded: 37 the defendant School District met its burden of rebuttable presumption and, from the record, the reason for the decision of the School Board on recommendation of the superintendent and principal, that Mrs. Marshall's contract not be renewed, was due to reasons, as established by the record other than racial. 5 38 App. at 24. In this regard the district court also found persuasive the fact that Mrs. Marshall was replaced by a black teacher, Lula Roberts. 39 When the determination of an issue depends heavily on the credibility of witnesses appearing before the district court, the scope of review of an appellate court in determining whether the pertinent factual findings are clearly erroneous is confined by the rule that due regard shall be given to the opportunity of the trial court to judge of the credibility of the witnesses. Rule 52(a), F.R.Civ.P. Further, this Court has recently reiterated: 40 (A) finding of fact is only deemed clearly erroneous if it is not supported by substantial evidence, if it proceeds from an erroneous conception of the applicable law, or if on a consideration of the entire record the appellate court is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been made. 41 Southern Illinois Stone Co. v. Universal Engineering, 592 F.2d 446, 451 (8th Cir. 1979). See Zenith Radio Corp. v. Hazeltine Research, Inc., 395 U.S. 100, 123, 89 S.Ct. 1562, 23 L.Ed.2d 129 (1969). We find no substantial or compelling evidence in the record requiring us to discredit Mrs. Todd's testimony contrary to the district court, the district court's finding that the reasons for Mrs. Marshall's non-renewal were those stated by school administrators is supported by substantial evidence, and we have not formed a firm conviction that a mistake has been made. The school district successfully rebutted the presumption in favor of individual relief. Barbara Davis 42 Barbara Davis was employed by the school district for the 1971-72 year. Her contract provided that she was to teach physical education and social studies, though Mrs. Davis was not certified to teach social studies. When she began work, Mrs. Davis was assigned to teach two seventh grade geography classes and a class in world history. Geography and world history were evidently considered a part of social studies. 43 Mrs. Davis had difficulty teaching the geography and world history courses and early in the academic year this came to the attention of then principal of the Barton High School, Roy Kirkland. Kirkland evaluated Davis on a number of occasions commencing in September 1971. In the first evaluation Kirkland noted that Mrs. Davis' knowledge of both geography and world history was limited. Mr. Kirkland and Mrs. Davis conferred on at least several occasions about the difficulty Mrs. Davis was having with her social studies teaching duties. There appears to be no question that Mrs. Davis was aware of her inability to adequately teach her assigned social studies classes; indeed, she testified that she attempted to retain a remedial social studies class she could have handled (App. at 557), but was assigned instead to the world history class. 44 In contrast there is no dispute that Mrs. Davis was a very good physical education teacher. In the letter from superintendent K. M. Allbritton notifying Mrs. Davis of the decision of the school board not to renew her contract, Mr. Allbritton wrote: We have been well pleased with your P.E. program. Subsequently, Mr. Allbritton wrote a letter of reference on Mrs. Davis' behalf stating in part: 45 In my observations of her teaching, I have found her to be a very adequate P.E. teacher but somewhat lacking in her ability to teach social studies. Mrs. Davis seems to be much more concerned and knowledgeable in P.E. and I feel that she has the potential to be a very strong teacher in the field of physical education. 46 In February 1972 Mr. Kirkland indicated to Mrs. Davis that he did not believe she was qualified to teach social studies and that she should seek other employment. On February 23, 1972 Mr. Allbritton sent his letter to Mrs. Davis formally notifying her of the non-renewal of her teaching contract. Allbritton stated in the letter that (t)he reason for this action was that you were not certified to teach social studies, and in all probability, three social studies classes would need to be taught by the teacher who would be in your position for the 1972-73 school year. 6 47 Mrs. Davis requested a hearing before the school board. A hearing date was set, but the hearing was never conducted. The district court found that Mrs. Davis and her attorney failed to appear at the scheduled time. 7 48 Mrs. Davis was succeeded by fellow plaintiff Barbara Anderson as girls' physical education teacher. 49 The district court implicitly found that the school district had rebutted the presumption in favor of individual relief and that Mrs. Davis' 50 termination was not motivated for impermissible reasons but that her ineffectiveness as a teacher in the areas she was employed to teach were the primary reasons for her termination. 51 App. at 31. 52 Mrs. Davis assails the district court's conclusions from the record, and points to several items of evidence which she asserts show that her lack of certification to teach social studies was a pretext to mask racial discrimination. Cf. Moore v. Board of Education of Chidester School District, 448 F.2d 709, 713 (8th Cir. 1971). She points to evidence that on two occasions uncertified white teachers were allowed to remain in the district's employ and work toward obtaining certification, and she notes that she was certified to teach general science but when a mid-year vacancy in chemistry and biology opened up it was filled by elementary school principal Todd's daughter. Mrs. Davis also testified that Mr. Kirkland pressured her to give preferential treatment to children of influential members of the community, to give a passing grade to a white physical education student, and to give grades to two others who had never attended class. She stated she resisted this pressure. Lastly, Mrs. Davis had several discussions with school administrators on race-related problems in the high school. These included the lack of black cheerleaders and superintendent Allbritton's policy on the selection of class kings and queens and the like. In regard to these matters, but without explaining his meaning, Mrs. Davis testified that Allbritton told her on one occasion that the school district had two sets of rules, one for blacks and one for whites. Mr. Allbritton, no longer employed with the school district, did not testify. 53 We, as the district court appeared to, view the question of whether defendants rebutted the presumption in favor of individual relief as a close case. We conclude, however, that the district court's finding is not clearly erroneous. Mrs. Davis was succeeded by a black teacher. By neither objective or subjective standards was she qualified to teach the social studies courses assigned to her. There is no compelling reason in the record to discredit the testimony of Mr. Kirkland apparently credited by the district court, and the totality of evidence is fully consistent with the essence of the district court's factual findings that Mrs. Davis' contract was not renewed because she was not the right teacher to fill the physical education/social studies slot created by the school district's needs. For example, the fact that subsequent to her notification of non-renewal, Mrs. Davis requested and superintendent Allbritton gave a frank and favorable recommendation of Davis' physical education teaching abilities to a nearby school district supports the conclusion that Davis' qualifications and the district's needs did not match. The evidence Mrs. Davis relies on, while it might well have withstood rebuttal, does not compel that result. That in some respects school administrators made promises to Mrs. Davis that were not kept and knowingly assigned her social studies classes she was not objectively qualified to teach appears likely, but the record supports the district court's conclusion that race was not a motivating factor in the non-renewal of her contract. Barbara Anderson 54 Barbara Anderson succeeded Barbara Davis as a physical education teacher in the Barton High School. She was first employed for the 1972-73 school year and her contract was renewed for the 1973-74 school year. Ms. Anderson's difficulties with the school system stemmed from problems in her relationships with students in her physical education class and a failure to follow school policies. 55 During the first year of her employ, Mr. Kirkland was principal of the school. At the end of that year Kirkland recommended that Ms. Anderson's contract be renewed only if she completed several additional hours during the summer enhancing her social studies background, and he stated that Ms. Anderson had been warned that recurring infractions of school rules could result in the termination of her employment. 56 Ms. Anderson's problems continued into the following year. The evidence reflects several instances of purported rule violations and difficulty in controlling students. In the presence of principal David Bagley (who replaced Mr. Kirkland when the latter was promoted to superintendent), Ms. Anderson told two girls who she claimed had threatened her, If you attack me I will knock your teeth out. On another occasion Ms. Anderson reported that a white girl had slapped her. The student was disciplined, but Ms. Anderson asserted that it was not as severe as that meted out to a black student who had slapped a white teacher. The primary and allegedly most recurring rule violation testified to by principal Bagley was Ms. Anderson's requests to other teachers to remove students from the other teachers' classes for various reasons and lengths of time. Written rules and suggestions in a pamphlet entitled Teacher Policies and General Suggestions required that a teacher desiring to take a student from another teacher's class obtain the permission both of the other teacher concerned and the principal. Bagley testified to several instances of violations of this policy by Ms. Anderson. There was evidence that the track and football coach had been reprimanded for a similar rule violation. 57 Ms. Anderson was also criticized and counseled with by school administrators regarding the conduct of her classes and the handling of individual instances of student misconduct. Mr. Bagley testified to an incident in which Ms. Anderson put a student out of her physical education class for significantly longer than the three days allowed by school policy. On other occasions she sent students to study hall as a form of discipline, though Mr. Bagley had directed her not to. A requirement that physical education students attend at least five basketball games and keep a score card was overruled by principal Bagley. After quite a few students failed one six-week grading period of physical education, Mr. Kirkland and Mr. Bagley conferred with Ms. Anderson about her policy of only giving two test grades for an entire six weeks. Kirkland and Bagley felt that two graded tests over a period of six weeks was not enough of a basis on which to predicate a period grade. Mr. Bagley also testified to occasions on which Ms. Anderson permitted students to participate in her physical education class who at the time should have been elsewhere, and Bagley stated he told Ms. Anderson he did not want hangers-on in the vicinity of her class. 58 On February 26, 1974, Mr. Bagley advised the members of the school board by letter that a decision whether Ms. Anderson would be recommended for renewal would be withheld pending further observation of her duties by Bagley. Several of the incidents noted above occurred after Mr. Bagley's February 26 letter. Later in the school year Bagley recommended that Ms. Anderson's contract not be renewed primarily for failing to follow school policies and to satisfy the requirements of a physical education teacher. After the ensuing notification of her termination, Ms. Anderson requested and was granted a hearing as provided by Arkansas law. Her contract was not renewed for the following year. 59 The district court concluded that the defendants had rebutted the presumption in favor of individual relief, and found that the employment decision of the school board resulted primarily because of Ms. Anderson's ineffectiveness as a teacher and that race was not a motivating factor. 60 This finding is not clearly erroneous. Many of Ms. Anderson's school policy violations were pointed out to Mr. Kirkland or Mr. Bagley by white students or their parents. She argues, (i)t was as if there was a concerted effort on the part of white parents and students to harass her. Appellants' Brief at 31. In this regard, Ms. Anderson claims that she did not receive strong support from the school administration particularly in some conflicts with students, though she concedes that (o)ccasionally, the principal and superintendent would side with her in disputes with white parents . . . . Appellants' Brief at 32. Ms. Anderson also claims disparate and selective application of the school policies in issue. 61 We are aware of and sensitive to the inferences which could be drawn from the aspects of the record highlighted by Ms. Anderson. Some of the policies she is said to have violated are vague and subject to interpretation. There was antagonism in her relations with some students which brought Ms. Anderson frequently to the attention of Messrs. Bagley and Kirkland. But, crediting Bagley and Kirkland's testimony, Ms. Anderson was apprised of her inadequacies and she was afforded an opportunity to correct them. The facts that she was rehired for a second year with the admonition that she obey school rules, and Mr. Bagley prolonged his observation of Ms. Anderson prior to recommending non-renewal, support a finding of a lack of invidious intent. We therefore affirm the district court's findings with respect to Ms. Anderson. Barbara Warfield 62 Barbara Warfield's case does not require extended discussion. Ms. Warfield, an elementary education and social studies major, and five other teachers were employed for the 1973-74 school year with funds under a federal grant pursuant to the Emergency School Aid Act. 20 U.S.C. § 1601 Et seq. Three of the ESAA teachers were black, and three were white. 63 The grant was not continued beyond one year. The school district, however, had three vacancies to fill for the following year, and these were filled with the ESAA teachers. Two of the black teachers and one white teacher were hired into the vacancies. Ms. Warfield was not recommended for the position by Mrs. Todd, her principal, and was not one of those hired. 64 Ms. Warfield received a certified letter notifying her that her contract would not be renewed. She requested and received a hearing before the school board where the decision was affirmed. 65 The district court concluded that Ms. Warfield's contract was not renewed because of the lack of further federal funding, and that race was not a motivating factor in the employment decision. We have considered Ms. Warfield's arguments, and conclude that the district court's findings in her case are not clearly erroneous. 8