Opinion ID: 422251
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Property Claim:

Text: 7 It is well settled that before it may pass on a procedural due process claim, a federal court must first determine whether the interest alleged to have been infringed amounts to life, liberty, or property under the fourteenth amendment. We begin, therefore, by determining whether Burris had a property interest in his continued employment in the WISD. The Supreme Court has emphasized that [t]he hallmark of property ... is an individual entitlement grounded in state law, which cannot be removed except 'for cause.'  Logan v. Zimmerman Brush Co., 455 U.S. 422, 102 S.Ct. 1148, 1155, 71 L.Ed.2d 265 (1982). See also Goss v. Lopez, 419 U.S. 565, 95 S.Ct. 729, 735-36, 42 L.Ed.2d 725 (1975); Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564, 92 S.Ct. 2701, 2708-09, 33 L.Ed.2d 548 (1972). 8 The undisputed facts show that Burris was employed pursuant to section 23.28 of the Texas Education Code. Under section 23.28, the maximum terms of employment of school officers and teachers are governed by the school district population. For districts such as the WISD, the statute provides that the term of a contract may not exceed three years. Texas Educ.Code Ann. § 23.28(b) (Vernon 1972). Burris was employed under a twelve-month contract. Under his contract employment, Burris' interest in his continued employment expired on June 30, 1980. 1 9 The Supreme Court has recognized that the policies of school boards may give rise to an implied contractual right to reemployment. Perry v. Sindermann, 408 U.S. 593, 92 S.Ct. 2694, 2700, 33 L.Ed.2d 570 (1972). However, an examination of applicable Texas law leads us to conclude that no such property right may be implied here. The controlling Texas case on implied property rights in the renewal of employment is Hix v. Tuloso-Midway Independent School District, 489 S.W.2d 706 (Tex.Civ.App.--Corpus Christi, writ ref'd n.r.e.). Addressing a claim by a teacher against a school that had refused to renew his contract in violation of a de facto tenure policy, the court stated: 10 The attorney for the School District, in a letter, dated May 2, 1968, addressed to the State Commissioner of Education, stated: The policy then and now is to reward satisfactory work by extending their (teachers') contracts, but this has been done by action of the Board each March. Plaintiff says that this statement is proof of a de facto tenure policy that clearly implies promise of continued employment. We do not agree. The published school board Policies in effect at all times pertinent to this appeal never expressed anything indicating that it would renew any teacher contract when it expired; furthermore, such policies expressly limited the term of teachers' contracts to two years. The mere fact that a teacher has been rehired each year for a period of years does not constitute any evidence that the School District had impliedly contracted with the teacher to renew the contract every year. Successive renewals of a teacher's contract with admissions by school representatives that such renewals were the reward for satisfactory work does not constitute evidence of de facto tenure policy of the school district, or of any implied agreement on the part of the school district that a teacher has a contractual right of renewal so long as the work performed is satisfactory. 11