Opinion ID: 355149
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Alleged Singleton Violations.

Text: 19 Plaintiffs Mr. Horace Fields and Mr. Jerry Davis claim that the defendants demoted them in violation of Singleton. The plaintiffs' claims and the evidence taken concerning their claims can be summarized briefly. 20 (1) Mr. Horace Fields served as the principal of Council High School from 1953 to 1967. When Council was converted from a high school to a junior high school, Fields continued as the principal of the junior high school and concurrently served as a principal of West End Elementary School. In 1969, Fields became the principal of Calvary Hill Junior High School and Elementary School. In 1973, he was appointed to the Central Office as Director of the Careers Opportunities Program. Fields voluntarily left the school system to become the Registrar of Alabama A & M University. He now claims that he suffered a demotion in 1967 and that the defendants have violated Singleton by failing to offer him future high school principalships. Fields does not ask that he be reinstated; he asks only for money damages. 3 21 (2) Mr. Jerry Davis worked as head basketball coach at Council High School from 1957 to 1967. When Council was converted to a junior high school in 1967, Davis was appointed principal of West End and Council Elementary Schools, where he stayed until 1971. He then was appointed assistant principal at Butler High School, which Davis complains was a demotion. Davis also complains that he did not receive the principalship at Butler High School in 1975 and that he was never offered a head basketball coaching position after 1967, apparently on the theory that his appointment as a principal of two elementary schools was a demotion. 22 Neither Fields nor Davis can be granted relief. Neither plaintiff proved that he suffered a demotion as defined in Singleton, 4 though the plaintiff carries this burden. Lee v. Pickens County School System, 563 F.2d 143, 145-46 (5th Cir. 1977); Ayers v. Western Line Consolidated School District, 555 F.2d 1309, 1321 (5th Cir. 1977); Barnes v. Jones County School District, 544 F.2d 804, 806 (5th Cir. 1977); contra, United States v. Gadsden County School District, 539 F.2d 1369, 1373 (5th Cir. 1976); Lee v. Macon County Board of Education, 456 F.2d 1371, 1373 (5th Cir. 1972). A court must examine the particular facts of the case before it to determine whether the plaintiff has suffered a demotion. Lee v. Pickens County School System, 563 F.2d 143, 146 n. 2 (5th Cir. 1977); United States v. Gadsden County School District, 539 F.2d 1369, 1375-76 (5th Cir. 1976). Application of a per se rule would require courts to ignore relevant and significant factors, such as the number of students in the schools in which the plaintiff was previously and is presently employed. Thus, a per se approach would not serve the desired ends of Singleton. Cf. Bassett v. Atlanta Independent School District, 485 F.2d 1268, 1271 (5th Cir. 1973). Davis' complaint that he did not receive the principalship at Butler High School in 1975 is not cognizable under Singleton, because Singleton does not apply to a failure to receive a promotion. See Lee v. Russell County Board of Education,563 F.2d 1159, 1161 (5th Cir. 1977). 23 AFFIRMED.