Court Opinion

ID: 9688156
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 17:36:00.882619+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:05:13.733156
License: Public Domain

KNUDSON, Judge
(dissenting).
I dissent. I cannot agree with the mo-jority that the notification to Mrs. Pollock was insufficient under the statute, § 15-47-38, N.D.C.C., nor that her letter requesting a hearing constituted an acceptance of a teacher’s contract for the ensuing school year on the failure of the school board to notify the teacher of its determination not to renew the teacher’s contract for the ensuing school year under § 15 — 47—27, N.D.C.C.
Mrs. Pollock, a home economics teacher, employed by the defendant school district for the school year 1970-1971, received a letter dated March 23, 1971, from the president of the school board, Mr. Rolfson, informing her “that at the meeting of the board last evening, March 22, it is the intent of the board of education to not offer you a contract for the coming school year.” The letter also informed her that the next meeting of the board was the regular meeting on Tuesday, April 13, at 8 p. m.
Shortly thereafter, Mr. Rolfson received a letter from Mr. Dunn, the Assistant Executive Director of the NDEA, dated April 7, 1971, on behalf of Mrs. Pollock, that the letter of Mr. Rolfson did not meet the rer quirements of § 15-47-38, North Dakota Century Code, in that the letter (1) did not notify the teacher that the board is “contemplating not renewing” the teacher’s contract, nor (2) it did not inform the teacher in writing “that he may request and appear at a meeting to be held by the school board prior to the final decision on renewing or not renewing the contract.”
Mrs. Pollock sent a letter to Mr. Rolf-son, dated March 31, 1971, in which she indicated “I would like to request a hearing of the Board of Education to discuss and hear the reason of your intent not to offer me a contract for the coming school year,” and stated that she intended to have NDEA. representation.
On April 13, 1971, Mr. Rolfson directed a letter to Mrs. Pollock informing her that the school board, after repeated attempts to *528arrange a hearing as requested in her letter to Mr. Rolfson dated March 31, 1971, decided at the school board meeting held on April 13, 1971, not to offer her a teaching contract for the 1971-1972 school year.
Following this, Mr. Rolfson received a letter, dated April 19, 1971, from Daniel J. Chapman, an attorney representing Mrs. Pollock, asserting that the procedure followed by the school board relating to the determination not to renew the contract of Mrs. Pollock did not comply with § 15^47-38, N.D.C.C.
The minutes of the meeting of the school board of March 22 are silent as to any action taken by the board relating to Mrs. Pollock, although Mr. Rolfson’s letter of March 22 to Mrs. Pollock indicates that it (Mr. Rolfson’s letter) was in response to action taken at the March 22 school board meeting.
The minutes of the meeting of the school board of April 13 indicate that Mr. Arlo Beggs, NDEA representative, appeared on behalf of Mrs. Pollock. Mrs. Pollock did not appear at the meeting. The minutes disclose that after such appearance on behalf of Mrs. Pollock the school board adopted a motion that “the Board of Education does not extend a teacher’s contract to Mary Etta Pollock for the teaching year 1971-1972.” Mrs. Pollock was notified by the letter of April 13 of Mr. Rolfson of the action of the school board that she would not be offered a teacher’s contract for the 1971-1972 school year.
Mrs. Pollock subsequently brought an action against the McKenzie County Public School District for wrongful breach of contract and for damages of $10,890. Following trial by the court, the court entered judgment for the defendant school district, dismissing the action of Mrs. Pollock. Mrs. Pollock has appealed therefrom setting forth several issues, which may be summarized as follows: (1) whether or not action of a school board, whether at a regular meeting or executive session, of 'which the minute record is silent, constitutes official action of the board; (2) whether a letter advising the teacher that “it is the intent of the Board of Education to not offer you a contract for the coming school year” complies with the requirements of § 15-47-38, N.D.C.C., “that the board should give notice of its comtemplat-ed action prior to the final action on the nonrenewal of a teacher’s contract;” and (3) does a letter informing the teacher that the regular meeting of the board will be held at a specific time and place comply with the requirement of § 15-47-38, N.D. C.C., that the teacher be informed in writing that he may request and appear at a meeting to be held by the school board prior to the final decision on such failure to renew such teacher’s contract.
I will consider whether the notice given by Mr. Rolfson to Mrs. Pollock was authorized by the official action of the school board.
I am of the opinion that the letter of March 23 from Mr. Rolfson to Mrs. Pollock informing her that the school board did not intend to renew her teacher’s contract for the ensuing school year was a valid notice as required under either § 15-47-27 or § 15-47-38, N.D.C.C., as Mr. Rolfson, acting as the president of the school board, was authorized at the March 22, 1971, meeting of the school board to inform Mrs. Pollock of the action of the school board, although the record does not disclose that it was authorized at that meeting of the school board. The record does show that the school board did meet on March 22 and did consider several teachers’ contracts, but the minutes are silent as to any action taken as to the renewal or nonrenewal of the teacher’s contract with Mrs. Pollock. While it is better that such action and authorization be by the official action of the school board acting at a duly held meeting and recorded in the minutes, the failure to record the proceedings in the minutes of the meeting is not fatal, and the action of the school board may be shown by parol testimony.
*529The minutes of the March 22 meeting were not corrected at any subsequent meeting to show any action taken as to the renewal or nonrenewal of Mrs. Pollock’s teacher’s contract. However, testimony indicates that the school board had considered the renewal or nonrenewal of Mrs. Pollock’s contract at the March 22 meeting. Mr. Rolfson testified that at the March 22 meeting Mrs. Pollock’s teacher’s contract was reviewed with those of all the other teachers and that no definite decision was made as to Mrs. Pollock’s contract. He further testified that he was instructed by the school board at the meeting to write a letter to Mrs. Pollock, and his testimony discloses that the school board directed him to inform Mrs. Pollock of the school board’s contemplation not to renew her teacher’s contract.
It would have been preferable for the clerk to have made an entry in the minutes, showing a motion duly carried, to the effect that the school board was contemplating not renewing the teacher’s contract of Mrs. Pollock for the ensuing year, and authorizing the president of the school board to inform her of such action in writing, and further to inform her, in writing, that she may request and appear at a meeting to he held by the school board prior to the final decision of such school board, refusing to renew the teaching contract of the teacher. The record in the minutes may be in the language of the statute, and need not contain all of the discussion that ensued prior to the adoption of the motion.
In 68 Am.Jur.2d Schools § 48, page 399, the text writer states that parol evidence is admissible to add to the record of a school board meeting by showing a proceeding which the minutes fail to show, in the following language:
“As to the admissibility of parol evidence to add to the record of a school board meeting by showing a proceeding which the minutes or record fail to show, it has been held that where the minutes failed to show any such proceeding, parol evidence is admissible to show the approval by a board of education of an official bond, and to show the assessment of a school tax by the school directors.
“Where no record of a meeting of school directors is made, the proceedings may be proved by the testimony of anyone present. Similarly, where the secretary of a school board has failed to keep a record of the proceedings of the board, or where the record has been lost, they may be proved by secondary evidence, even though the law requires that they shall be kept in a certain specified manner.”
The testimony of Mr. Molland, the superintendent of schools, Mr. Rolfson, president of the school board, and Mr. Anderson and Dr. Moravec, members of the school board, all of whom attended the March 22nd meeting, show that the teacher’s contract of Mrs. Pollock was discussed at that meeting of the school board; that the discussion was informal; that no definite determination as to renewal or nonre-newal was made; that the members, without formal motion, but as a consensus, directed Mr. Rolfson, as president of the school board, to inform Mrs. Pollock that the school board was contemplating not renewing her teacher’s contract for the ensuing year. It appears from reading the transcript of the parol testimony of the above witnesses present at the March 22nd meeting of the school board that the school board was attempting to comply with the provisions of § 15-47-38, giving the maximum consideration to basic fairness and decency in considering the renewal or non-renewal of Mrs. Pollock’s teacher’s contract, with the admonition in mind of the statute that “all actions of the board be taken with consideration and dignity.”
Mr. Molland testified that he met with Mrs. Pollock the next day at 4:00 p. m., after the school board meeting of March 22nd, and discussed with her her position, the contemplation of the board not to renew her contract, and to inform her of this, and to inform her of her right to *530have a hearing to arrange or consider arranging for a hearing if she would choose to do so'.
Mrs. Pollock’s testimony regarding this conference with Mr. Molland was substantially in agreement with that of Mr. Mol-land.
Mr. Rolfson testified that he had telephone conversations with Mrs. Pollock after receiving her letter of March 31st to him requesting a hearing with the school board “to discuss and hear the reason of your intent not to offer me a contract for the coming school year. I intend to have NDEA representation”, to set up a date for a hearing if the date of April 13 was not satisfactory to her. While there is some discrepancy in the testimony of Mr. Rolf-son and Mrs. Pollock as to the time and content of these telephone conversations, it seems that discussion was had regarding setting a date for the hearing requested by her, if April 13, the date of the regular meeting of the school board, was not satisfactory.
Mrs. Pollock contends that the letter did not comply with § 15-47-38 in that it stated, “it is the" intent of the board of education to not offer you a contract for the coming school year” instead of the language of the statute, “The school board . contemplating not renewing a teacher’s contract . . . .” She argues that by the use of the word “intent” that the school board made a final decision contrary to § 15-47-38.
Webster’s Third International Dictionary (1966) defines “contemplate,” “to have in view as a purpose: anticipate doing or performing: plan on: Intend, Plan [cross-reference]; and defines the word “intent,” “purpose or design: the state of mind: meaning, purport, significance.”
And, in The Synonym Finder by Rodale, the work “intend” is given as a synonym to the word “intend” is given as a synonym to tion” as a synonym to the word “intent.”
I am of the opinion that the school board in the letter to Mrs. Pollock used the word “intent” in the same context as the word “contemplating” in the statute. This is also borne out by the testimony of the superintendent and the directors present at the meeting where they all expressed the action taken by the board as “contemplating”, and indicated that no final action had been taken on the renewal or nonrenewal of Mrs. Pollock’s contract for the ensuing year.
The school board asserts that even though the procedure followed by the school board may not have been in substantial conpliance with the statute, that Mrs. Pollock, by her own acts and conduct, intentionally and voluntarily waived any rights she may have had under § 15-47-38.
The evidence discloses that she received a letter from Mr. Rolfson of the school board’s intent not to renew her teacher’s contract and advising her of the date of the next regular meeting of the school board; that Mr. Molland informed her of the action of the school bpard and advised her of her right to request a hearing; that she sent a letter to Mr. Rolfson requesting a hearing and that she would have NDEA representation at the hearing; that Mr. Rolfson telephoned her after receiving her letter to set a date for the hearing if the school board meeting on April 13 was not convenient; and that Mr. Beggs, a representative of NDEA, appeared on behalf of Mrs. Pollock at the school board meeting on April 13.
These circumstances and the acts of Mrs. Pollock connote that Mrs. Pollock accepted the letter from Mr. Rolfson for what she considered it to be — a notification by the school board that it contemplated not renewing her teacher’s contract for the ensuing year and that she had a right to request a hearing. When she received the notice she had a choice to object to it or to accept it and act upon it. It may be said that in the first instance she did object to it, as the letter from the NDEA on her be*531half indicated that the procedure of the school board was defective; however, thereafter she requested a hearing and informed the school board she would have NDEA representation.
I am of the opinion that by this action she treated the letter from Mr. Rolfson and the oral notice from Mr. Molland, together with the telephone conversation with Mr. Rolfson, as a valid notice, and thereby, by acting on the notice, she waived any irregularities that may have attended the procedures of the school board.
A waiver, according to the generally accepted definition, is the voluntary and intentional relinquishment of a known right, claim or privilege. 28 Amjur.2d, Estoppel and Waiver, § 154, page 836.
In Board of Public Education v. Delaney, 2 Storey 213, 52 Del. 213, 155 A.2d 51 (1959), rejecting the contention that only the board of education had power to send the notice of intention to dismiss and that a letter from the superintendent of schools stating his intention was insufficient, the court held that in any event by acting on the notice and seeking a hearing the teacher had waived any right he might have to object to the notice. Annotation, 92 A.L.R.2d 764, § 5.
I am of the opinion that the circumstances of the instant case indicate that Mrs. Pollock waived whatever right she had to object to the procedure followed by the school board and has waived any irregularities that may have attended the procedures of the school board.
Although the school board may not have followed the provisions of the statute to the letter, there is no doubt that Mrs. Pollock understood the school board was contemplating not to rehire her for the next school year and that she was entitled to a meeting to be held by the school board prior to their final decision. This is evidenced by her letter of March 31st. Thereafter such a meeting was held, on April 13, at which she was represented by Mr. Beggs. Following this meeting, the school board made its final decision not to rehire her. I am of the opinion there was substantial compliance with § 15-47-38, N.D.C.C.
I would affirm the judgment of the trial court.