Court Opinion

ID: 9773141
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 17:38:17.139162+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:31:50.354219
License: Public Domain

Steele Hays, Justice, dissenting. Whatever may be said of the ballot procedures and results of the school board in considering the grounds for nonrenewal of Mr. Allen’s contract, Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-1510 (1987) provides that: Additional testimony and evidence may be introduced on appeal [to the circuit court] to show facts and circumstances showing that the termination or nonrenewal was lawful or unlawful. That evidence introduced in circuit court included testimony from Keicha Fortson and Timika Montgomery that Mr. Allen engaged in highly suggestive improprieties with both students after having been warned against such familiarities. The law provides that a teacher’s contract may not be renewed for any reason which is not arbitrary, capricious or discriminatory. Lamar School Dist. No. 39 v. Kinder and Wright, 278 Ark. 1, 642 S.W.2d 885 (1982). If any rational basis exists for nonrenewal, the school board should be affirmed. Kirtley v. Dardanelle Public Schools, 288 Ark. 86, 702 S.W.2d 25 (1986). The reasons relied on by the school board in this case were clearly not without a rational basis. I would affirm.