Opinion ID: 338408
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: was bryant demoted within the meaning of singleton ?

Text: 15 Under Singleton, a demotion occurs whenever a member of a school's professional staff is reassigned to a position where he or she receives less pay, or has less responsibility, or is required to use a lesser degree of skill than in his or her previous assignment. 5 419 F.2d at 1218. As this court has emphasized, an increase in salary cannot, under Singleton, compensate for a decrease in responsibility, because, 16 a truly dedicated educator, presumably the sort of educator that school boards would seek, will often minimize his monetary returns in exchange for factors that are more treasured by him as an administrator or teacher. The real gist of demotion is a reduction in responsibility, not in salary. . . . (A) school board . . . cannot prostitute the responsibility principle simply by offering higher salaries for substantially less responsible work to demoted employees. 17 Lee v. Macon County Board of Education, 453 F.2d 1104, 1109-10 (5th Cir. 1971); see Campbell v. Gadsden County District School Board, 534 F.2d 650, 656-57 (5th Cir. 1976); Bassett v. Atlanta Independent School District, 485 F.2d 1268, 1271 (5th Cir. 1973); Lee v. Macon County Board of Education, 456 F.2d 1371, 1373-74 (5th Cir. 1972). In this case, as in those cited above, the key question is whether the reassignment complained of resulted in a reduction of responsibility. 6 It was incumbent upon the School Board to show that it did not. Lee v. Macon County Board of Education, 456 F.2d 1371, 1373 (5th Cir. 1972). 18 At the hearing below, Bryant described in some detail the range of responsibility he had carried as principal of Midway Elementary School. He testified that he supervised all the school's instructional staff, consisting of nine to eleven teachers and six teachers' aides, and scheduled all the school's classes. He was also responsible for the discipline and safety of the school's 160 to 180 students. 19 In addition, Bryant performed a number of administrative duties. He compiled regular reports to the superintendent's office on the school's finances, attendance, and Title I program. He ordered textbooks for the school and was responsible for money collected from the school lunchroom and other sources. Bryant named the members of Midway's Title I advisory committee, and he met both with that group and with members of the school's PTA. 20 Bryant also described his current duties as assistant principal of Havana Middle School. According to his uncontradicted testimony, these duties consisted almost exclusively of checking school buses as they arrived in the morning and departed in the evening, and watching the children during their lunch periods and class breaks. He testified that as assistant principal of Midway he supervised no teachers, prepared no class schedules, and wrote no administrative reports. 21 Finally, Bryant testified that he would accept a principalship if one were offered, even if he had to take a salary decrease. When asked why he felt this way, Bryant replied: 22 One, I like being a principal. I also enjoy working with instructional staff, students. I also feel that along with being principal I have more decision making authority. I can make decisions on my own instead of as an assistant principal. I do not make any administrative decisions as such, but as a principal I would be able to make these decisions and supervise teachers and other things that go along with being principal of a school. 23 Record Vol. III at 75. 24 The only other testimony with respect to Bryant's responsibilities at Midway and Havana came from Assistant Superintendent Bishop. Bishop admitted on cross-examination that he did not know what particular responsibilities had been assigned to Bryant by the principal of Havana, who was not called to testify. 7 Bishop nonetheless testified that, in his opinion, Bryant carried greater responsibility as assistant principal of Havana than as principal of Midway, citing several general reasons for this opinion. 8 25 After reviewing the evidence outlined above, the district court held that Bryant had not been demoted. 9 The United States argues that this finding was clearly erroneous. Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a); see McLaurin v. Columbia Municipal Separate School District, 530 F.2d 661, 665 (5th Cir. 1976); McCurdy v. Board of Public Instruction, 509 F.2d 540 (5th Cir. 1975); Lee v. Macon County Board of Education, 470 F.2d 958, 960 (5th Cir. 1972). We agree. 26 As noted above, only Bryant testified as to his actual responsibilities as assistant principal of Havana. His testimony established that his primary duty was to ride herd over 593 youngsters during the times they were not in class. He no longer carried supervisory authority over teachers or curriculum, nor administrative responsibility for school finances or programs. Although Assistant Superintendent Bishop expressed the opinion that Bryant's responsibilities had increased, we think that Bishop's own testimony, see note 7 supra, demonstrates that he did not have sufficient knowledge of Bryant's duties at Havana to speak to this point. His opinion therefore was entitled to little or no weight. 10 27 In support of its holding, the district court cited Bassett v. Atlanta Independent School District, 485 F.2d 1268 (5th Cir. 1973), for the proposition that, It is legally possible for the assistant principal of a larger school to have as much or more responsibility than the principal of a smaller school . . .. Record Vol. II at 54. There is dicta in Bassett to support this view, 11 and we do not disagree with the proposition in the abstract. We are also clear, however, that the mere fact of transfer from principalship of a school of 168 students to the nominal 12 post of assistant principal of a school of 593 students does not, in itself, establish that no demotion occurred. See Lee v. Macon County Board of Education, 456 F.2d 1371 (5th Cir. 1972). 13 Although the size of a school may have some bearing on the extent to which responsibilities are delegated among its various administrators, the focus in a case like this must remain on the responsibilities actually borne by the particular person in the particular position. We simply hold that, on the evidence before it, the district court erred in finding that Bryant carried as much responsibility as assistant principal of Havana as he had as principal of Midway. See Campbell v. Gadsden County District School Board, 534 F.2d 650, 656-57 (5th Cir. 1976); Bassett v. Atlanta Independent School District, 347 F.Supp. 1191, 1196-97 (E.D.Tex.1972), rev'd on other grounds, 485 F.2d 1268 (5th Cir. 1973). 28