Opinion ID: 1898396
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The court committed error in affirming the decision of the school board which exceeded the statutory authority and power of the board.

Text: Under this assignment of error, Mr. Spradlin argues that Miss. Code Ann. § 37-9-59 (1972 & Cum.Supp. 1986) provides for the removal of a teacher only by the superintendent and that the role of the board of education is to conduct a hearing on the matter should the teacher request such a hearing. The factual situation in this case is somewhat unusual. The superintendent, Dr. McCormick, resigned on the same evening that he revealed the truth about the encyclopedia purchase to the school board. Before his resignation, Dr. McCormick wrote a private reprimand to Mr. Spradlin for his handling of the purchase. Dr. McCormick did not recommend Mr. Spradlin's dismissal. After Dr. McCormick's resignation, the school board began its own investigation of the encyclopedia purchase which culminated in the hearing and subsequent dismissal of Mr. Spradlin. The school board undertook these procedures because it did not wish to wait to investigate until it hired a permanent superintendent. Miss. Code Ann. § 37-9-59 (1972 & Cum. Supp. 1986) says that the superintendent may remove or suspend a teacher. Before being removed, the teacher must be notified of the charges and advised of the right to a public hearing which the school board will conduct itself or through a hearing officer. The question, then, is whether or not the board of education acted outside its statutory authority by investigating Mr. Spradlin's conduct in the encyclopedia purchase and determining to terminate his employment without the recommendation of the superintendent. This factual situation is unlike any we have heretofore reviewed; however, the case of Tutwiler v. Jones, 394 So.2d 1346 (Miss. 1981) speaks to the power of the school board to remove school employees: [I]f anything is clear, it is that the power ... to remove district school employees for misconduct and to conduct hearings for that purpose has been completely withdrawn from that official [county superintendent] by the amended statute... . It is equally clear that the removal hearing is to be before the board of trustees, and the actual power to remove or not to remove rests with that body. Id. at 1348. [emphasis added] The opinion also construes the language may remove as being limited to cases in which the teacher does not request a hearing. Id. See also, Everett v. Board of Trustees, Meridian Municipal Schools, 492 So.2d 277, 281 (Miss. 1986). Since the power to remove a teacher rests finally with the board, it is an unnecessarily technical argument to say that the school board cannot investigate and initiate a removal in the absence of a superintendent. We do not read the statute to place this kind of limitation on a school board's power. Furthermore, in this situation, it seems that the school board did the only plausible thing. The superintendent, Dr. McCormick, had just revealed that he and Mr. Spradlin had participated in a knowing misrepresentation to the school board concerning the encyclopedia purchase. After the superintendent's resignation, the school board should have acted immediately to investigate the surrounding circumstances of the purchase. The school board also notified Mr. Spradlin of the charges and notified him of his right to a public hearing. They complied with the statutory provisions for the procedures of the hearing set out in Miss. Code Ann. § 37-9-111 (1972 & Cum.Supp. 1986). In order to further protect Mr. Spradlin's rights, the board conducted its hearing through a hearing officer. Mr. Spradlin, thus, was not harmed in any significant way by the rather unusual circumstances surrounding the investigation and decision to terminate his employment. Dampier v. Lawrence County School District, 344 So.2d 130 (Miss. 1977) implies that a school board can determine to dismiss an employee at the outset and then conduct the hearing, and still not run afoul of the separation of powers doctrine. Id. at 132, quoting Withrow v. Larkin, 421 U.S. 35, 47, 95 S.Ct. 1456, 1464, 43 L.Ed.2d 712 (1975). We find that the school board did not exceed its statutory authority in its conduct throughout these proceedings.