Opinion ID: 2027956
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Heading: Adjudicator's authority. Iowa Code section 279.17 authorizes an adjudicator to

Text: affirm board action or remand to the board for further proceedings. The adjudicator shall reverse, modify, or grant any appropriate relief from the board action if substantial rights of the teacher have been prejudiced because the board action is: 1. In violation of a board rule or policy or contract; or 2. Unsupported by a preponderance of the competent evidence in the record made before the board when that record is viewed as a whole; or 3. Unreasonable, arbitrary or capricious or characterized by an abuse of discretion or a clearly unwarranted exercise of discretion. Section 279.17 also directs that the adjudicator, especially when considering the credibility of witnesses, shall give weight to the fact findings of the board; but shall not be bound by them. Here the district court rested its refusal to uphold the adjudicator in part on the belief that, in rejecting termination, the adjudicator had substitut[ed] his judgment for that of the School Board. Lundblad disputes this finding on appeal, claiming the adjudicator acted in conformity with section 279.17 and the district court erred in ruling otherwise. The school board, joined by the Iowa Association of School Boards as amicus curiae, responds by urging this court to narrowly define the adjudicator's role and confirm the central role local school districts occupy in determining what constitutes just cause for dismissal. The record reveals that the adjudicator was a highly qualified individual, selected by the parties according to statutory guidelines. See Iowa Code § 279.17. He found no fault with the board's factual findings. He merely concluded that those facts did not support termination for just cause by the requisite preponderance of the evidence. Given that conclusion, he believed that substantial rights of the teacher had been prejudiced, thereby warranting reversal of the board's termination order. We do not believe this failure by the adjudicator to reach the same conclusion as the board amounts to the unwarranted usurpation of power that the board and amicus suggest. Clearly the adjudicator has a duty, under the statute, to review the record as a whole and disagree with the board if the facts and the law so require. In doing so, the adjudicator did not stray from section 279.17, but followed it. The district court was incorrect in ruling otherwise. B. Evidence of just cause. The fact that the adjudicator differed from the board on the merits does not end the inquiry. The district court on judicial review may affirm, reverse, or modify the adjudicator's or the board's decision if substantial rights of the petitioner have been prejudiced because the action is ... [u]nsupported by a preponderance of the competent evidence in the record made before the board and the adjudicator when that record is viewed as a whole.... Iowa Code § 279.18 (emphasis added); see Board of Directors v. Banke, 498 N.W.2d 697, 701 (Iowa 1993). Like the adjudicator, the court is obliged to give weight to the board's factual findings but is not bound by them. Iowa Code § 279.18. Our review on appeal is for the correction of errors at law. Board of Educ. v. Youel, 282 N.W.2d 677, 680 (Iowa 1979). As in virtually every teacher termination case, the controversy boils down to whether the record supports the board's conclusion that just cause exists to warrant Lundblad's dismissal. That conclusion must be supported by more than just substantial evidence; a preponderance or greater weightof the competent proof is required. Iowa Code § 279.18; Banke, 498 N.W.2d at 701; Fairfield Community Sch. Dist. v. Justman, 476 N.W.2d 335, 338 (Iowa 1991); Youel, 282 N.W.2d at 679; cf. Briggs v. Board of Directors, 282 N.W.2d 740, 744 (Iowa 1979) (noting lower substantial evidence standard applicable in school administrator dismissal). Just cause for termination of a tenured teacher's contract has been repeatedly defined as conduct which directly or indirectly significantly and adversely affects what must be the ultimate goal of every school system: high quality education for the district's students. It relates to job performance including leadership and role model effectiveness. It must include the concept that a school district is not married to mediocrity but may dismiss personnel who are neither performing high quality work nor improving in performance. On the other hand, just cause cannot include reasons which are arbitrary, unfair, or generated out of some petty vendetta. Briggs, 282 N.W.2d at 743; accord Banke, 498 N.W.2d at 701; Everett v. Board of Educ., 334 N.W.2d 320, 321 (Iowa App.1983). It is unnecessary for each charge of misconduct listed on the superintendent's notice to the teacher to constitute just cause in and of itself. Rather, we must decide whether the allegations and circumstances taken together satisfy the just-cause standard. Youel, 282 N.W.2d at 682; see also Everett, 334 N.W.2d at 321. Lundblad's challenge to the board's just-cause finding is three pronged. First, he claims the necessary quantum of proof can only be reached by resurrecting incidents long since resolved. Second, he thinks the movie review incident has been blown out of proportion and amounts to no more than the parents' petty vendetta against him. Third, he believes the board unfairly measured his conduct by reference to cases involving much more egregious behavior. We find no merit in any of these arguments. On the question of dredging up old records, it is inescapable that Lundblad's most recent run-ins with students and parents merely fit a pattern that has evolved over several years. The offensive remarks that led to his resignation as the girls' track coach in 1986 are not unlike the derogatory and suggestive comments suffered by the girls' basketball team in 1989 or the sarcastic student evaluations handed out in 1991 and 1992. In each case Lundblad assured district officials that he would do better in the future. Individually, the incidents may have been resolved satisfactorily. We do not believe the board, however, is compelled to ignore the pattern that emerges. Cf. Randall v. Allison-Bristow Community Sch. Dist., 528 N.W.2d 588, 590 (Iowa 1995) (record of prior incidents furnished proof that teacher knew subsequent conduct would be closely scrutinized). Contrary to Lundblad's argument, this case is not like Munger v. Jessup Community School District, 325 N.W.2d 377 (Iowa 1982). There a teacher, who also served as wrestling coach, was terminated solely because of the board's dissatisfaction with the wrestling team's performance. Id. at 379. The teacher offered to resign his coaching duties to resolve the matter, but his contract was not severable. Id. at 378. We ruled that his coaching failure did not satisfy the just-cause standard for termination of his teaching contract, given his strong evaluations as a teacher and evidence of other factors bearing negatively on the wrestling program. Id. at 380. Munger does not stand for the proposition that a teacher who resigns from coaching duties will never thereafter be required to answer for the misconduct leading to the resignation. As for Lundblad's assertion that his termination rested not on just cause but on some petty and unfair vendetta, the record simply does not bear out this claim. Lundblad acknowledged, in retrospect, the impropriety of joking sarcastically about a student's appearance. Whether the student was hurt and embarrassed by the incident, as he and his parents testified, or whether the parents were merely out to get Lundblad, as he suggests, was a matter of witness credibility determinable by the board. See Iowa Code §§ 279.17, .18. We also find unpersuasive Lundblad's claim that the board measured his conduct against holdings in cases involving much more egregious behavior. Although the board's ruling cited opinions in which this court and others have upheld teacher terminations on a variety of groundssome more serious than those involved herethe board focused primarily on one aspect of the just-cause standard articulated in Briggs: leadership and role model effectiveness. See Briggs, 282 N.W.2d at 743. It concluded that Lundblad's repeated and sarcastic put-downs were in direct conflict with the school district's goal of promoting students' self-esteem, confidence and positive self-image. The fact that Lundblad persisted in this type of classroom humor, despite warnings that it was risky and objectionable, also fits squarely within the Briggs -standard for dismissal of teachers who are neither performing high quality work nor improving in performance. Id. In summary, we are convinced that the board's findings of just cause for termination are supported by a preponderance of the competent evidence in the record. Those findings are not, as Lundblad claims on appeal, arbitrary, unfair or motivated by a petty vendetta. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court which upheld the decision of the school board. AFFIRMED.