Opinion ID: 1669405
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Superintendent's review of School District's decision.

Text: School District claims that Superintendent must give deference to School District's denial of a request for a minor boundary change. School District argues that Superintendent failed to give proper deference, and substituted his judgment for that of School District. SDCL 13-6-85 sets out the requirements and procedure for minor boundary changes. In part the statute provides: An appeal from the decision of the school board may be made to the circuit court in the time and manner specified by § 13-46-1 or to the state superintendent of education within thirty days from the date of the decision of the school board by filing a notice with the superintendent of the school board and mailing a copy thereof to the superintendent of education. The state superintendent of education shall thereafter set a time and place for the hearing and give at least ten days written notice of the hearing to the parties involved in the appeal. An appeal to the state superintendent is not a contested case subject to chapter 1-26; however, the appeal is subject to the provisions of § 1-26-36. An appeal from the decision of the state superintendent may be made pursuant to § 13-6-89. Nothing in this section shall affect the right of an aggrieved party to appeal from the decision of the school board to the circuit court. School District argues that an appeal to Superintendent is subject to SDCL 1-26-36, which requires Superintendent to give deference to the decision of the school board. [4] Shumaker v. Canova School Dist. No. 48-1, 322 N.W.2d 869 (S.D.1982), held that Superintendent has authority to resolve minor boundary disputes and is not limited in his review of the school board decision. In 1983, the legislature amended SDCL 13-6-85 to make Superintendent's review subject to SDCL 1-26-36. The statute provided no guidance as to the standard of review prior to the 1983 amendments. The amendments did not otherwise affect Superintendent's authority to resolve boundary disputes. School District denied the petition for a minor boundary change at the July 13, 1987, school board meeting. The only record of the School District's meeting are the minutes of the school board meeting, which state: Holly & Steve Keller & Debbie Voller met with the board and presented them with a petition requesting a minor boundary change involving the McLaughlin School District 15-2 & the Timber Lake School District 20-3. The boundary change would transfer [several sections of] Corson County from the McLaughlin School District 15-2 of Corson County, S.D. to the Timber Lake School District 20-3 of Dewey County, S.D. Following discussion, Hannigan made a motion, seconded by Schot, all voting yes, to deny the request for boundary change. School District made no findings or other record in its decision to deny the request for minor boundary change. At the hearing held by Superintendent, School District was given the opportunity to present testimony and reasons for denying the boundary change. Superintendent concluded that in light of all the evidence School District acted arbitrarily and the decision was not supported by the evidence. Superintendent concluded that School District was overly concerned with financial considerations and fear that others would take similar action in the future. Superintendent did not attempt to substitute his judgment for that of the School District, but rather found that the decision was arbitrary and unsupported by the evidence. Superintendent claims that he gave proper deference to School District under SDCL 13-6-85 and the record does not establish otherwise.