Court Opinion

ID: 9722318
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 09:24:59.242742+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:33.902411
License: Public Domain

HENDERSON, Justice
(concurring in part, dissenting in part).
CURRICULUM DETERMINATION
Finding of Fact IX entered by the circuit court specifies: “Mr. Dale at the final hearing informed the Board that their wishes would not.be followed.” The school board is in charge of the curriculum — not the teacher. SDCL 13-8-39; SDCL 13-34-11; SDCL 13 — 43-7. In a case involving biological sciences, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an Illinois University’s right to determine the proper content of a course. Clark v. Holmes, 474 F.2d 928 (7th Cir. 1972), cert. denied, 411 U.S. 972, 93 S.Ct. 2148, 36 L.Ed.2d 695 (1973). A public school teacher is not free to disregard the prescribed curriculum. This includes a question of religious belief. Palmer v. Board of Education of City of Chicago, 603 F.2d 1271 (7th Cir. 1979).
This is not just a legal struggle between a teacher and a school board. The best interests of the students and patrons must be considered. Basic biology was the course of study and basic biology was to be taught. Although instructed to have lesson plans, Mr. Dale did not comply. The biology students were allowed to vote on subjects to be covered. After three quarters of instruction had ensued in 1980, Mr. Dale had not covered the basic biology subjects appearing in chapters 4,5, 7, 8 and 9 through 20 of the text to which the school officials had directed him to teach. Mr. Dale admitted this. In an effort to assist Mr. Dale in meeting a joint obligation to the students and school patrons, the school board attempted with his cooperation to work out guidelines covering basic biology. These guidelines served an important purpose in assuming due process, fair play and notice of defects in teaching skills he needed to remedy. See Ferguson v. Thomas, 430 F.2d 852 (5th Cir. 1970). Mr. Dale refused to improve himself as a teacher, and also refused to follow the guidelines. This was substantiated by the circuit court’s Finding of Fact IX. See Fries v. Wessington School District No. 2-4, 307 N.W.2d 875 (S.D.1981). Therefore, I would uphold the board in its decision to not renew Mr. Dale’s teaching contract.
CONSTITUTIONAL RESTRAINTS
Essentially, Mr. Dale wanted to be a preacher, not a teacher. This is intolerable in a classroom under our state law, state constitution, and federal constitution. SDCL 13-33-9; SDCL 13-43-7; South Dakota Constitution Art. VIII, § 16; School District of Abington Township, Pennsylvania v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 203, 83 S.Ct. 1560, 10 L.Ed.2d 844 (1963).
SCOPE OF REVIEW
A. CIRCUIT COURT
In spirit, and in verbiage, I adopt the language of the previous decisions of this Court on a circuit court’s scope of review of a decision by a school board. I specifically allude to Mortweet, Busker, Tschetter and Moran. Obviously, if this Court previously blessed the usage of the APA standards by the circuit courts as a basis of review, then this Court believed such standards were “appropriate.” Therefore, the technical dissertation by the majority opinion (in an attempt towards scholastic refinement and differentiation) is legal folderol. I still believe the law to be: “Rather than a true trial de novo, however, the appeal [to the circuit court] has the limited function of receiving evidence solely for determining the legality, and not the propriety, of the school board’s decision.” Busker at 2, citing Moran.
This Court has repeatedly held, in a series of school board cases, that the doctrine of separation of powers limits the scope of review under the APA. Thus, for this Court to now say “We specifically hold, etc.” this very same principle, as though it were a manifest declaration of a previously *116unknown truth, beclouds by inference our former decisions — as if somehow those decisions were vague on that particular point. Those previous decisions were most explicit and emphatic on the doctrine of separation of powers. In my opinion, they are still good law in this state.
B. SUPREME COURT
When a circuit court enters its findings of fact and conclusions of law based upon a de novo trial, they must be restricted to the legality of a school board’s decision. Under the APA as now amended, the clearly erroneous test must be used by the circuit court when confronted with an evidentiary dispute. Further, I want it understood that this Justice still adheres to the following principle: “It should be noted that we [the Supreme Court] are not bound by the presumption that the circuit court was correct. Our proper scope of inquiry into the Board’s decision has the same purview as the court below.” Busker at 3, citing Collins v. Wakonda Ind. School Dist. No. 1, 252 N.W.2d 646 (S.D.1977).
It is, indeed, difficult to determine if a given board was clearly erroneous when there is no transcript for a circuit court to review. Although the circuit court, in all probability, will not have a verbatim record of the board’s proceedings, it will have papers, documents, evaluations, exhibits, and written evidence to consider. Thus, it receives evidence to reconstruct the record which was before the board for the limited purpose of determining the legality of the board’s decision.
The majority decision would require a circuit court to enter findings of fact and conclusions of law. I have no quarrel with such edict. However, I want my viewpoint understood: a circuit court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law must be restricted to the legality of a school board’s decision. And the basic question before the circuit court would be: was the board’s action legal? This Court cannot, in my opinion, then say: was the circuit court’s action “clearly erroneous?” Rather, it must likewise confront itself with the very same question as the circuit court: was the board’s action legal?
I dissent on the scope of review as I fear that the South Dakota judiciary will go into uncharted, unwanted, and unconstitutional waters concerning the propriety of a school board’s decision. The majority opinion is a radical departure from the settled law of this state on teacher-school board decisions. It shatters previous precedent. I fear this evolution of change, which seems spasmodic, in these teacher-school board cases. When will we ever be able to assure trial counsel, school boards, and teachers of this state that, indeed, here is the law? I yearn for stability in this area of the law.
The majority opinion adopts the APA standards, yet expresses that this case does not fall under the APA. A theoretical inconsistency exists. Above all, I fear a judicial invasion into the doctrine of separation of powers and the province of a school board to make a decision, providing it is done in accordance with law. A school board’s good judgment is not in question. Only the legality of the school board’s decision is in question. I would not permit a circuit court nor the Supreme Court to run the schoolhouse. The majority opinion on the scope of review vests too much power in the judicial branch of government. Less than one year ago in Tschetter at 46, this Court held with regard to the very same statutes herein involved: “The proper scope of review for this court is the same as that of the trial court. We are not bound by a presumption that the trial court’s decision is correct.” I agree with what we said then and not with what we say now.
Reference is made to Busker at 3, n. 2. Busker was decided under the “substantial evidence” test and not the “clearly erroneous” test as the clearly erroneous test was not in effect at the time the circuit court therein conducted its de novo trial. Busker was decided correctly and under the very test then applicable. If the majority opinion is saying in footnote 4 that the clearly erroneous test should have been used in Busker, then I disagree with said footnote.