Court Opinion

ID: 9671427
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 03:36:27.068308+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:10.036092
License: Public Domain

Robert L. Brown, Justice, concurring. I agree with Justice Corbin that the majority of the court construes Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-1510(c) erroneously; however, the majority, in my view, was correct in determining that the school district had failed to comply strictly with Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-1507(c) (Repl. 1993). For that reason, I concur in the judgment. The court interprets § 6-17-1510(c) to require two separate votes. Section 6-17-1510(c), however, provides no such thing: (c) Subsequent to any hearing granted a teacher by this sub-chapter, the board, by majority vote, shall make specific written conclusions with regard to the truth of each reason given the teacher in support of the recommended termination or nonrenewal. Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-1510(c) (Repl. 1993). This language only mandates that written conclusions be made by majority vote. As counsel for Owens conceded during oral argument, it is not impermissible for one vote to cover both the termination and the conclusions supporting the termination so long as the requirements of the Act are satisfied. Counsel for Owens merely disputed that one vote here was meant for both purposes. Both school board member Richard Carvell and school board president Lennie Hogan testified that everyone on the board understood what was being voted on in the single vote following their two-hour closed session. The single vote, according to Carvell and Hogan, was to resolve whether the four grounds cited in the notice of termination were true and whether Ms. Owens should be terminated. The parties then stipulated that the other board members’ testimony would match that of Carvell and Hogan. Added to this evidence is the follow-up letter from board president Hogan to Ms. Owens informing her that she had been terminated. In the letter, Hogan reported that the school board had unanimously concluded that the four grounds were true. The Hogan letter coupled with the testimony from board members Carvell and Hogan provide unmistakable proof that the school board, by majority vote, made specific written conclusions regarding the truthfulness of the reasons given for the recommendation of termination in strict compliance with the statute. Nothing else was required to satisfy the elements of Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-1510(c), and the majority errs in saying that more was required. Nevertheless, the judgment should be affirmed on direct appeal under Allen v. Texarkana Pub. Sch., 303 Ark. 59, 794 S.W.2d 138 (1990), and Murray v. Altheimer-Sherrill Pub. Sch., 294 Ark. 403, 743 S.W.2d 789 (1988). In those cases, we recognized that teachers are entitled to rely on the “simple but complete” statement of reasons for nonrenewal or termination. See Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-1507(c) (Repl. 1993). In Allen we held that the school district failed to make a simple and complete statement of reasons for nonrenewal when specific acts in issue before the board were not mentioned in the recommendation of nonrenewal. We said: To allow the superintendent and the board to delve into ad libbed charges renders meaningless the requirements of sections 16-17-1507(b) [sic] and 16-17-1507(c) [sic], and our language in Murray that teachers are entitled to rely on a simple and complete statement of reasons as to nonrenewal of their contracts. Allen v. Texarkana Pub. Sch., 303 Ark. at 63, 791 S.W.2d at 140. This rationale applies equally well to the facts before us, and I agree that the Nettleton School District ran afoul of this principle when it presented two other reports of suspected drunkenness at school without providing proper notice to Owens. Donald L. Corbin, Justice, dissenting. I dissent because I believe the majority’s interpretation of Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-1510 (Repl. 1993) is incorrect, especially given the facts presented in this case. During the hearing before the trial court, testimony was taken from board member Richard Carvell and board president Lennie Hogan. After hearing their testimony, the parties stipulated that the remaining board members would duplicate the statements of Carvell and Hogan; thus, their testimony was automatically received. Both Carvell and Hogan testified that the board members understood that superintendent Sawyer’s recommendation for Owens’s termination was based upon the four reasons outlined in the letter advising her of her suspension. Both members stated that they understood that the purpose of the special hearing was to consider the four issues listed in the letter of suspension. Both members stated that the board had discussed the four issues during executive session, and that when they had returned to the hearing on the record and Sawyer made his recommendation, they understood that they were voting on the four issues as discussed. Hogan testified further that he asked every board member if he understood what the board was voting on, and that everyone understood. Finally, when asked by the trial court what they would have done if they had not agreed with all four reasons for termination, both Carvell and Hogan indicated that had there been any doubt on any of the issues, they would have asked for an individual vote on each of the issues. There was no such doubt, as the board unanimously agreed to terminate Owens on the reasons presented. After the hearing, a letter reflecting the four grounds for termination was sent to Owens from Hogan. In my opinion, the testimony by the board members indicates that the board complied with the statutory requirements set out in section 6-17-1510(c), which requires nothing more than a majority vote with written conclusions as to the truth of each reason given for termination. The majority’s decision would require a separate majority vote on each of the four reasons given for termination. I interpret that section as requiring a majority vote to terminate with written conclusions on each separate reason given. Here, the school district complied with section 6-17-1510(c) in that the board unanimously voted to terminate Owens, after having discussed each of the four reasons for termination in executive session, and a follow-up letter reflecting each of the board’s written conclusions was sent to Owens. Notwithstanding the majority’s conclusion that the district failed to give Owens proper notice of the two 1993 drinking incidents, I believe the majority’s interpretation of section 6-17-1510(c) is unduly technical, and I respectfully dissent. Furthermore, I believe the fact that the district may not have given Owens notice as to the prior drinking incidents, does not warrant a determination by this court that the district acted arbitrarily or capriciously. To the contrary, any testimony concerning prior incidents of Owens’s intoxication on campus or at school activities was merely extraneous because the district based its determination to terminate Owens on the four grounds set out in the suspension letter. In light of the trial court’s finding that the school district had not acted arbitrarily, capriciously, or without a rational basis in terminating Owens from her employment, I would remand this case with instructions that the trial court enter an order in favor of the school district.