Opinion ID: 880431
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: right of appeal under contract severance policy

Text: In his complaint in District Court Mr. Thompson argues that the notice did not contain specific reasons for nonrenewal. In making these contentions he overlooks the procedure which he previously followed. We pointed out that Mr. Thompson appealed his nonrenewal to the Board of Trustees of the School District. Pursuant to the contract, he was given an appellate hearing and the decision by the School Board was affirmed. At that point Mr. Thompson appealed to the County Superintendent of Schools. As previously described, the County Superintendent declined to rule on his appeal. Under the administrative procedure outlined in Throssell and Yanzick, Mr. Thompson was required to appeal to the State Superintendent and in the event of an adverse ruling, only then did he have the right to proceed in District Court, following the procedure under the Administrative Procedure Act. As a result, his remedies would have been limited to recovery appropriate under the union contract and the Act. We hold that by failing to follow the administrative procedure outlined in the mentioned two cases, Mr. Thompson gave up his right to a final determination under the administrative procedure required in Montana. We therefore conclude that he no longer had a claim for nonrenewal of his contract.