Board of Public Education v. Pyle

390 A.2d 904, 37 Pa. Commw. 386, 1978 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 1287
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedSeptember 5, 1978
DocketAppeal, No. 37 C.D. 1977
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 390 A.2d 904 (Board of Public Education v. Pyle) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Board of Public Education v. Pyle, 390 A.2d 904, 37 Pa. Commw. 386, 1978 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 1287 (Pa. Ct. App. 1978).

Opinion

Opinion by

Judge Crumlish, Jr.,

The Board of Public Education of the School District of Pittsburgh (Appellant/Board) has appealed an order of the Secretary of Education (Secretary) reversing its discharge of William L. Pyle (Appellee) and ordering his reinstatement.

During the course of approximately three years Appellant taught at three schools within the Pittsburgh School District, and received unsatisfactory performance ratings from the principals of each school. The first such rating was issued on May 12, 1972, by the principal of the Oliver Senior High School. Appellee’s performance was deemed to be unsatisfactory because of the use of profane language in the classroom, wrestling with a student and constant lateness. The second unsatisfactory rating was issued on May 23, 1974, by the principal of Schenley High School, who found that Appellee embarrassed pupils as a method of discipline ; accidently hit another teacher in the face while swinging a broom at a student; boasted of sexual conquests to students; and made derogatory statements about a student’s sister in the classroom. The third unsatisfactory rating was issued on May 20, 1975, by the principal of the Alderdice High School, who found that Appellee did not exhibit the temperament necessary for a public school teacher; Appellee was charged with engaging in physical confrontations with three different students, one of which resulted in the suspension of Appellee for one day without pay. This rating was approved on May 27, 1975, by the superintendent of schools who then issued the Final Unsatisfactory Rating and recommended Appellee’s dismissal to the Board on the basis of incompetency. Appellee was notified of the pendency of the dismissal action. A hearing was held before the Board on July 14, 1975, and on [389]*389July 22, 1975, by a margin of 11-0, it voted for dismissal.

Appellee sought the Secretary’s review of the Board’s decision contending that his dismissal was improper for the following reasons:

1. The unsatisfactory ratings forming the basis for the dismissal were invalid;

2. The weight of the competent evidence was in his favor; and

3. The Board failed to give proper consideration to the evidence in its deliberations.

The Secretary agreed and sustained Appellee’s appeal.

The Secretary found that the 1972 and 1974 ratings were invalid. The 1972 rating was deemed to be invalid because it was not approved by the superintendent of schools in accordance with Section 1123 of the Public School Code of 1949 (Code), Act of March 10, 1949, P.L. 30, as amended, 24 P.S. §11-1123. The 1974 rating was found to be defective because it was approved by the superintendent of schools 13 months after it was issued, and not until after Appellee was recommended for dismissal. Additionally, the Secretary found a lack of substantial evidence to support the rating. The Secretary then concluded, relying on Thall Appeal, 410 Pa. 222, 189 A.2d 249 (1963), that the single valid unsatisfactory rating, issued in 1975, was insufficient to support Appellee’s discharge. In Thall, supra, our Supreme Court held that two preliminary unsatisfactory ratings were necessary before a final unsatisfactory rating could be made.

Shortly after the Secretary’s ruling, we handed down our decision in The Board of School Directors of the Centennial School District v. Secretary of Education, 31 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 307, 376 A.2d 302 (1977), dealing with the issue of whether, two unsatis[390]*390factory ratings must precede the dismissal of a professional tenured employee for incompetency. We noted that the Thall opinion preceded the passage of the Commonwealth Documents Law (Law), Act of July 31, 1968, P.L. 769, as amended, 45 P.S. §1102 et seq., by approximately five years. That act requires the filing of all administrative regulations with the Legislative Reference Bureau; failure to so file will result in the invalidation of the regulation. See Sections 207 and 208 of the Law, 45 P.S. §§1207, 1208. In Thall, supra, the Court relied on a regulation issued by the Superintendent of Public Instruction requiring the issuance of two preliminary unsatisfactory ratings before the issuance of a final unsatisfactory rating. That regulation was never filed with the Legislative Reference Bureau in accordance with the Law. We there held that in the absence of regulations requiring the issuance of two unsatisfactory ratings as a basis for dismissal, only one unsatisfactory rating was necessary, and that Sections 1122 and 1123 of the Code control. Those sections provide, in pertinent part, as follows:

§11-1122. Causes for Termination of Contract
The only valid causes for termination of a contract heretofore or hereafter entered into with a professional employe shall be immorality, incompetency, intemperance, cruelty, persistent negligence, mental derangement, advocation of or participation in un-American or subversive doctrines, persistent and wilful violation of the school laws of this Commonwealth on the part of the professional employe____
§11-1123. Rating System
In determining whether a professional employe shall be dismissed for incompetency . . . [391]*391the professional employe ... shall be rated by an approved rating system which shall give dne consideration to personality, preparation, technique, and pupil reaction, in accordance with standards and regulations for such scoring as defined by rating cards.... Eating shall be done by or under the supervision of the superintendent of schools ... or a principal, who has supervision over the work of the professional employe. . . . Provided, That no unsatisfactory rating shall be valid unless approved by the district superintendent. (Emphasis added.)

We agree that the failure of the superintendent to approve the 1972 rating in accordance with the Code resulted in its invalidation. We also agree that the superintendent waived his right to approve Appellee’s 1973 rating by failing to act on it within a reasonable time.1 There is, however, no question that the 1975 rating conformed with the requirements of the Code. That rating alone is sufficient to constitute a basis for Appellee’s dismissal. See Centennial School District, supra.

The 1975 rating found Appellee’s performance to be unsatisfactory in the areas of professional relationships, judgment, and habits of conduct. The anecdotal report accompanying that rating charged Appellee with being incapable of handling discipline problems, evidenced by the fact that he engaged in physical confrontations with pupils on three different occasions. The Secretary found a lack of substantial evidence for that rating because it allegedly was based wholly on [392]*392hearsay evidence. This conclusion was error. Appellee at no time objected to the introduction of the 1975 rating. He, in fact, admitted to the confrontations and his own account of the circumstances surrounding each incident was considered in preparing the rating. Appellee was examined extensively at the hearing and had ample opportunity to rebut the evidence against him.

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Bluebook (online)
390 A.2d 904, 37 Pa. Commw. 386, 1978 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 1287, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/board-of-public-education-v-pyle-pacommwct-1978.