Bean v. Wilson County School System

488 S.W.3d 782, 2015 WL 6561697, 2015 Tenn. App. LEXIS 884
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedOctober 29, 2015
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 488 S.W.3d 782 (Bean v. Wilson County School System) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bean v. Wilson County School System, 488 S.W.3d 782, 2015 WL 6561697, 2015 Tenn. App. LEXIS 884 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

OPINION

ARNOLD B. GOLDIN, J.,

delivered the opinion of the Court,

in which FRANK G. CLEMENT, JR., P.J.,. M.S., and KENNY ARMSTRONG, J., joined.

This case involves a residency dispute' relevant to a child’s enrollment in a Wilson County public high school. After school officials determined that the child was not a resident of Wilson County, they informed her parents that the child could not attend high school in the county school system. The parents filed suit in chancery court seeking injunctive relief related to the child’s enrollment 'in school and partid ipation in ,athletics., > After an evidentiary hearing, the trial court determined that the child lived m Wilson County and enjoined the local board of education from interfering with the child’s enrollment. The trial court also declared that the child should be afforded the same opportunities as other, students: as, it relates to participation in athletics. On appeal, we affirm.

Background and Procedural History

The Appellees in this appeal, Robert and Jessica Bean, are the parents of the minor child, Kathryn Bean (“Kathryn” and collectively with her parents, “the Beans”). In March 2014, Kathryn’s parents submitted a “Student Transfer Application” to Wilson County Schools concerning Kathryn’s enrollment for the 2014-2015 academic year. The application requested that Kathryn, a rising ninth grader, be allowed to attend a different Wilson County school, Wilson Central High School, rather than her zoned “school, Mt. Juliet High School. The application stated that the Beans resided at 117 Faulkner Lane, Mt. Juliet, Tennessee 37122, which -is in Wilson County, and indicated that Kathryn planned to participate in several sports sanctioned by the Tennessee Secondary-School Athletic Association. As is of particular relevance to this appeal, we note that the top of thé application form contained the following proviso: “The Wilson County school system does not accept students whose primary legal guardian lives outside Wilson County, nor K-8 students that are zoned for the Lebanon Special School District.” On April 1, 2014, the then-Deputy Director of Student Services for Wilson County Schools, Mickey Hut-son, approved the transfer request.

In June 2014, Chuck Whitlock (“Mr. Whitlock”), the Wilson County Director of School Health and ’ Athletics, received a phone call from an anonymous community member who alleged that the Beans lived outside Wilson County and were using a fraudulent address. After he received this call, Mr. Whitlock conducted a property records search' and discovered' that the mailing address for the taxes associated with the Faulkner Lane property was a residential address in Davidson County. After Mr. Whitlock contacted Stan Moss (“Mr. Moss”), Attendance Director for Wilson County Schools, about the residency issue, the two planned to schedule a time where they could investigate the situation together. On July 31, 2014, the day before the school year was scheduled “to commence, Mr. Whitlock and Mr. Moss traveled unannounced to the Faulkner Lane address that Kathryn’s parents had listed on her transfer application. During this visit, Mr. Whitlock and Mr. Moss walked around the property, peaked into windows, and talked with several of the Beans’ neighbors. Following this investigation,1 Mr. Moss consulted with Dr, Donna [785]*785Wright (“Dr. Wright”), the Director of Schools for Wilson County Schools. They decided that Kathryn would not be able to attend school in Wilson County, and Mr. Moss called Kathryn’s father to inform him of this decision.

On August 1, 2014, the date that- the school year commenced, Kathryn’s parents filed suit in the Wilson County Chancery Court seeking an injunction requiring Kathryn’s admission to Wilson Central High School. In. pertinent part, the complaint asserted that Kathryn would suffer irreparable harm if she was not allowed to . immediately enroll in school. Named as Defendants were the Wilson County School System, . Dr. Wright, and Pat Suddarth (“Ms.Sud-darth”), the principal of Wilson Central High School. In seeking relief against these Defendants, Kathryn’s parents prayed that an injunction be granted “without notice or hearing.” Although a copy of the order is absent from the record transmitted to us on appeal, apparently the trial court heeded the Appellees’ request and entéred a “Temporary In-junctive Order” requiring that Kathryn be allowéd to enroll in Wilson Central High School immediately.

On August 21, 2014, Kathryn’s parents filed a motion requesting the trial court to determine Kathryn’s rights to attend Wilson Central High School. The motion recited the essential background facts that necessitated the filing of the August 1 complaint and prayed that the trial court provide further clarification regarding Kathryn’s educational rights. Namely, the motion stated that Kathryn needed “a specific ruling ... that [she] be allowed to attend Wilson Central High School for the duration of her high school years and that she be allowed to participate in extra curricular activities without-retaliatory actions from the school and/or school system.”

On August 26, .2014, the Wilson County Attorney filed a. motion to dismiss on behalf of all of the. named Defendants. The motion asserted that the filed complaint failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted; specifically averring that the relief sought by Appellees was “inconsistent with Tennessee State law and the polices of the Wilson County Board of Education, as authorized by State Education law, and inconsistent with common law.” The motion, also contended that no basis existed for imposing individual liability against Dr. Wright or Ms. Suddarth. Moreover, the motion stated that the Wil.son County School System was not the proper party to be sued. According to the motion, the Wilson County Board of Education was the governing, body charged with establishing educational policy consistent with state law.

A hearing on the motion to dismiss was apparently scheduled for September 4, 2014, but on that date, Kathryn’s parents announced orally in court that they were nonsuiting their case. Despite this announcement, no order was ever entered disposing of the lawsuit. On September 24, 2014, Kathryn’s parents filed a motion seeking to set aside their prior oral voluntary dismissal. The motion stated that the parties had engaged in settlement discussions and averred that the prior oral non-suit was the product of a specific understanding that Kathryn’s parents had gained from the settlement talks. 'After Wilson County Schools sent a letter outlining the parameters of the supposed agree[786]*786ment, however, Kathryn’s parents observed that the outlined terms did not comport with their understanding of what had been agreed to during the settlement discussions. Following the filing of the motion, an agreed order was entered wherein the trial court ordered that the prior oral nonsuit be set aside.

On October 1, 2014, Kathryn’s parents filed another motion with regard to Kathryn’s involvement in extracurricular activities. Although Kathryn had initially been allowed to participate in athletics at Wilson Central High School following the commencement of the lawsuit, the motion alleged that the school board had' recently made the'decision to prevent her athletic participation. The motion stressed that Kathryn was an aspiring college athlete and requested that the Defendants be enjoined from barring Kathryn’s participation in athletics at Wilson Central High School in the future.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
488 S.W.3d 782, 2015 WL 6561697, 2015 Tenn. App. LEXIS 884, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bean-v-wilson-county-school-system-tennctapp-2015.