Chapman v. Gorman

839 S.W.2d 232, 1992 WL 212064
CourtKentucky Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 12, 1992
Docket91-SC-654-TG, 91-SC-659-TG
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 839 S.W.2d 232 (Chapman v. Gorman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Kentucky Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chapman v. Gorman, 839 S.W.2d 232, 1992 WL 212064 (Ky. 1992).

Opinions

STEPHENS, Chief Justice.

Appellants, Virginia Chapman, V. Carolyn Chapman, and Ron Peace, challenge the validity of anti-nepotism statutes, KRS 160.180(2)(i) and KRS 160.380(2)(f), provisions enacted as part of the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990. Virginia Chapman and Ron Peace are long-time elected members of the Covington Independent Board of Education (hereinafter referred to as the Board). Virginia Chapman has continuously served in this post, initially having been elected in November of 1958, and most recently, having been re-elected in [234]*234November of 1990. Ron Peace similarly serves on the Board, first having been elected in November of 1974, and having been re-elected in November of 1988.

Appellant, V. Carolyn Chapman, daughter of Virginia Chapman, has been an employee of the Covington Independent School District since 1962; her current position is Director of Guidance. Ron Peace’s wife, Norma, initially hired by the same school district in 1983, is employed as manager of a school bookstore.

Virginia Chapman and Ron Peace filed an action in the Franklin Circuit Court for declaratory and injunctive relief, attacking the constitutionality of KRS 160.180(1), (2)(i), which appears to render them ineligible to serve on the Board because of their relationship to school employees. V. Carolyn Chapman challenged the constitutionality of KRS 160.380(l)(a), (2)(f), which forbids superintendents of local districts from hiring a relative of a board member. The trial court upheld the constitutionality of the challenged provisions, dismissing appellants’ complaint seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, granting instead, summary judgment in favor of the appellees— Frederic Cowan, in his official capacity as Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and Dr. Penny Sanders, in her official capacity as Director of the Office of Educational Accountability (hereinafter referred to as OEA). Pursuant to CR 76.-18(2), the instant appeal was transferred from the Court of Appeals to this Court.

I. THE KENTUCKY EDUCATION REFORM ACT OF 1990

Appellants challenge anti-nepotism provisions, KRS 160.180(2)(i) and KRS 160.-380(2)(f), found within the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 (hereinafter referred to as KERA); embodied in Chapters 156 through 163. The General Assembly enacted KERA, which radically changed the system of public education in this Commonwealth, following our decision in Rose v. Council for Better Education, Inc., Ky., 790 S.W.2d 186 (1989). In Rose, supra, at 215, we declared that education is a basic fundamental right in Kentucky, guaranteed by Section 183 of our Kentucky Constitution. Section 183 provides that:

The General Assembly shall, by appropriate legislation, provide for an efficient system of common schools throughout the State.

We acknowledged in Rose, supra, at 212, that there is a strong presumption of the constitutionality of enactments of the General Assembly. Yet after reviewing the facts presented, we determined that application of the former legislative framework resulted in constitutionally deficient common schools. Therefore, our opinion directed the General Assembly to “recreate and redesign a new system that will comply with standards we have set out.” Id.

The following were included as essential and minimal characteristics of a constitutionally “efficient” system of common schools, as required by Section 183:

1) The establishment, maintenance, and funding of common schools in Kentucky is the sole responsibility of the General Assembly, and
6) Common schools shall be monitored by the General Assembly to assure that they are operated with no waste, no duplication, no mismanagement, and with no political influence. Id., at 212-213. (Emphasis added.)

Earlier in our opinion in Rose, supra, at 193, we noted that the trial court held that:

An adequate school system must also include careful and comprehensive supervision at all levels to monitor personnel performance and minimize waste. If and where waste and mismanagement exist, including but not limited to improper nepotism, favoritism, and misallocation of school monies, they must be eliminated, through state intervention if necessary. (Emphasis added.)

We summarized in Rose, supra, at 216, that:

the sole responsibility for providing the system of common schools lies with the General Assembly. If they choose to delegate any of this duty to institutions such as the local boards of education, the General Assembly must provide a [235]*235mechanism to assure that the ultimate control remains with the General Assembly, and assure that those local districts also exercise the delegated duties in an efficient manner. (Emphasis added.)

The evils of waste, duplication, mismanagement and political influence were thus identified by our Court in Rose, supra, as barriers against an efficient school system. The General Assembly, in response to this opinion, enacted KERA in 1990. The new statutes, as we shall illustrate, removed many personnel decisions from the control of the local school boards. This was a policy decision by the General Assembly to restructure the state-wide educational system.

All appointments, promotions, and transfers of school personnel, prior to KERA, were made upon the recommendation of the district superintendent, “subject to approval of the board,” under former KRS 160.380. (Emphasis added.) Thus, a majority vote of the district board members was required for any personnel actions. Likewise, reductions in pay and responsibilities, under former KRS 161.760; demotions, under former KRS 161.765; and terminations, under former KRS 161.790; required a majority vote of the school board members, the latter two actions also required a hearing before the Board voted.

New provisions in KERA serve to legislatively eliminate areas which were once fertile ground for favoritism and/or neop-tism to take root. KRS 160.370, removes direct responsibility for the “hiring and dismissal of all personnel in the [school] district” from the school board, giving such power to the superintendent.

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Chapman v. Gorman
839 S.W.2d 232 (Kentucky Supreme Court, 1992)

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Bluebook (online)
839 S.W.2d 232, 1992 WL 212064, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chapman-v-gorman-ky-1992.