Opinion ID: 1348668
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Whether Board's decision was clearly erroneous, arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion.

Text: With the scope of our review in mind, we turn to Board's decision. On April 17, 1990, Board sent Maasjo a notice that his contract would terminate at the expiration of the authority to act. The letter stated in pertinent part: Your contract as superintendent of McLaughlin School District No. 15-2 was valid only for one school year because of lack of superintendent endorsement to your South Dakota Teachers Certificate effective for the stated two year term of your contract. Your contract terminates as a matter of law at the expiration of your authority to act for the 1989-1990 school term. You are notified that the school board of McLaughlin School District 15-2 intends not to renew your contract for the 1990-1991 school term. You are entitled to the informal private conference in executive session provided by SDCL 13-43-10.2. Your present contract was signed with thee (sic) understanding that you were fully certified for thee (sic) position. Thee (sic) board recently learned that you are not and that you will require extensive absence from duties and must successfully complete courses extending into thee (sic) next contract year if you are to be certified. This and thee (sic) expiration of your authority to act may constitute plain violation of contract and incompetence and subjecting you to dismissal. At the time Maasjo signed the contract, he was not qualified to be superintendent as he was lacking the superintendent's endorsement. The record reveals that Board's members had no knowledge at the time the contract was signed that Maasjo was without his superintendent's endorsement. SDCL 13-10-2.1(1) provides: Each school district shall employ qualified administrators to serve in the following capacities: (1) A qualified superintendent who has a superintendent's endorsement on a valid certificate and who shall have time to properly administer the school system. A superintendent may be assigned teaching duties or other administrative duties as determined by the Board. (Emphasis added.) SDCL 13-42-1 provides: No person may teach or administer in any of the public schools of this state or draw wages as a teacher, principal, or superintendent who does not have a certificate issued by the secretary of the department of education and cultural affairs authorizing the person to teach or administer in the school or field for which he was employed. (Emphasis added.) The South Dakota Administrative Rules provide that the State Board of Education will issue a single basic teacher certificate. ARSD 24:02:01:01. The type of certification will be indicated by endorsements under five specific areas. Id. At issue in this case is the third area Educational staff assignments. ARSD 24:02:01::01.03(1) provides that the certificate should reflect that the teacher is qualified to be superintendent. ARSD 24:02:03:14 sets forth the requirements to receive a superintendent endorsement: The requirements for the superintendent endorsement are as follows: (1) A master's degree plus 15 semester hours from a college or university approved for teacher education; (2) An elementary or secondary certificate; (3) Four years of experience at the elementary or secondary school level or both on a valid certificate, two years of which were classroom teaching; and (4) The completion of an approved program for superintendents at a college or university. This endorsement is valid for five years only. Certificate renewals must meet the requirements of the advanced superintendent endorsement in § 24:02:03:12. This paragraph applies to persons receiving the superintendent certificate endorsement after June 30, 1991. Clearly, under the above authority, Maasjo was not a qualified superintendent. South Dakota has no statutes relating specifically to contracts with superintendents; [4] therefore, general contract law applies. Consent is an essential element of a valid contract. SDCL 53-1-2. Further, SDCL 53-4-1 provides: An apparent consent is not real or free and is voidable when obtained through: (1) Duress; (2) Fraud; (3) Undue influence; or (4) Mistake. Additionally, under SDCL 53-4-9: Mistake of fact is a mistake not caused by the neglect of a legal duty on the part of the person making the mistake and consisting in: (1) An unconscious ignorance or forgetfulness of a fact, past or present, material to the contract; or (2) Belief in the present existence of a thing material to the contract which does not exist, or in the past existence of such a thing which has not existed. (Emphasis added.) At the time the contract was signed, Board was under the mistaken belief that Maasjo was a qualified superintendent. In fact, Maasjo was also under the impression that he could easily obtain his superintendent's endorsement. Once Board became aware of Maasjo's lack of certification several months later, it had the right to terminate the contract. Moreover, [i]t is well settled that when by statute the mode and manner in which contracts of a school district may be entered into are limited and any other manner of entering into a contract is expressly or impliedly forbidden, a contract not made in compliance therewith is invalid. Minor v. Sully Buttes Sch. Dist. No. 58-2, 345 N.W.2d 48, 50 (S.D. 1984); Schull Const. Co. v. Webster Indep. Sch. Dist. No. 101, 86 S.D. 475, 198 N.W.2d 512 (1972). Based upon these facts and the applicable law, the contract was voidable. Thus, Board's decision was not clearly erroneous, arbitrary or capricious or an abuse of discretion.