Cooper v. Lafayette Parish School Board

207 So. 3d 1158, 16 La.App. 3 Cir. 169, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 2147
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided November 23, 2016·No. 16-169 CA·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinions

PETERS, J.

hThe plaintiff, Dr. Pat Cooper, appeals a trial court judgment affirming the decision of the defendant, the Lafayette Parish School Board, removing Dr. Cooper from his position as superintendent of the Lafayette Parish School District prior to the end of his employment contract. For the following reasons, we affirm the decision of the Lafayette Parish School Board and the district court judgment affirming that decision.

DISCUSSION OF THE RECORD

On January 1, 2012, the Lafayette Parish School Board (School Board) appointed Dr. Cooper to a three-year term as Superintendent of the Lafayette Parish School District (School District). After a two-day hearing beginning on November 5, 2014, a two-thirds majority of the School Board found merit in four of five charges asserted against Dr. Cooper and voted to terminate his employment immediately.

On November 20, 2014, Dr. Cooper appealed that decision to the Fifteenth Judicial District Court in Lafayette Parish (district court). In that appeal, he asserted that the School Board acted without cause in terminating his employment, and he sought either reinstatement or compensation for the remaining term of that contract. On the second day of a two-day hearing beginning on September 21, 2015, the district court found merit in one of the remaining four charges and affirmed the School Board’s action in removing Dr. Cooper. The district court executed a judgment to that effect on October 19, 2015, and thereafter, Dr. Cooper filed this appeal.

In his one assignment of error, Dr. Cooper asserts that the trial court “misapplied the law” in sustaining the School Board’s decision on the single count. The School Board answered the appeal asserting that the evidence supported a | ¿finding that the remaining three charges not relied on by the district court had sufficient merit to support Dr. Cooper’s dismissal. Additionally, the School Board sought an award of “legal costs” against Dr. Cooper.

OPINION

The factual background concerning Dr. Cooper’s actions giving rise to this litigation is not seriously disputed. The question to be decided is whether Dr. Cooper’s action or actions were within his authority as superintendent of the School District; and interwoven into resolution of that question is the substantial effect 2012 La. [1160]*1160Acts No. 1 (hereinafter referred to as Act 1) had in transferring most of the authority previously held by the elected school boards across the state to appointed superintendents. Dr. Cooper took office as superintendent before the July 1, 2012 effective date of that legislative act; and was fired over two years after the effects of the legislation were fully implemented.

While all four of the charges found to have merit by the School Board are before us by virtue of the School Board’s answer, we will first address the sole charge found to have merit by the district court. We do so because an affirmance of that action on the part of the district court would render moot consideration of the other three charges.

The superintendent of a parish school system is a public officer elected by a majority of a school board’s members and whose position is for a fixed period but subject to removal for cause. La.R.S. 42:1; La.Const. Art. 8, § 9(B); La.R.S. 17:54. Louisiana Revised Statutes 17:54(B)(l)(b)(iii) sets forth the procedure for the removal of a superintendent as follows:

The superintendent shall be retained during the term of a contract; however, if the superintendent is found incompetent, unworthy, or inefficient or is found to have failed to fulfill the terms and performance objectives of his contract or to comply with school | .¡board policy, then the superintendent shall be removed from office as provided by Subsection C of this Section. Before the superintendent can be removed during the contract period, he shall have the right to written charges and a fair hearing before the board after reasonable written notice.

A superintendent will only be removed from his position by a vote of two-thirds of the entire membership of the school board. La.R.S. 17:54(C). Neither the compliance or lack of compliance with the required procedure nor the sufficiency of the vote of the School Board are at issue in this appeal.

Although La.R.S. 17:54(B)(l)(b)(iii) is silent on appellate procedure, La.Const. Art. 1, § 19 provides that “[n]o person shall be subjected to ... forfeiture of rights or property without the right of judicial review based upon a complete record of all evidence upon which the judgment is based.” Thus, a superintendent, who by law has a fixed contract, has “a property interest in his continued employment and the due process rights that attach to such property interest.” Anderson v. Orleans Parish Sch. Bd., 340 F.Supp.2d 716, 720 (E.D. La. 2004). Accordingly, a superintendent is entitled to seek judicial review of a school board’s decision to terminate his employment.

We hold, by analogy, that the proper judicial standard of review to be applied in this instance is the same as that afforded teachers pursuant to the Teacher Tenure Law as set forth in Wise v. Bossier Parish School Board, 02-1525 (La. 6/27/03), 851 So.2d 1090. In Wise, the supreme court set out the judicial review applicable to La.R.S. 17:443 of the Teacher Tenure Law to be as follows:

In Howell v. Winn Parish School Bd., 332 So.2d 822 (La.1976), we held that judicial review of tenure proceedings must be limited to an inquiry of whether the School Board complied with the statutory formalities under Louisiana’s Teacher Tenure Law and whether the School Board’s findings were supported by substantial evidence. “ ‘Substantial evidence’ has been defined as ‘evidence of such quality and weight that reasonable and fair-minded men in exercise of impartial judgment might reach different conclusions.’ ” Coleman v. Orleans Parish School Bd., 93-0916 (La.App. 4 [1161]*1161Cir. 2/5/97), 688 So.2d 1312, 1315 (citing Wiley v. Richland Parish Sch. Bd., 476 So.2d 439, 443 (La.App. 2 Cir.1985)). In conducting such an examination, the district court must give great deference to the school board’s findings of fact and credibility. Arriola v. Orleans Parish Sch. Bd., 01-1878 (La. 2/26/02), 809 So.2d 932, 941. Reasons for dismissal are largely in the sound discretion of the school board. Gaulden v. Lincoln Parish School Board, 554 So.2d 152, 157 (La. App. 2 Cir.1989), writ denied, 559 So.2d 126 (La.1990). Thus, the school board’s judgment should not be reversed in the absence of a clear showing of abuse of discretion. Id. Generally, an abuse of discretion results from a conclusion reached capriciously or in an arbitrary manner. See Burst v. Bd. of Com’rs Port of New Orleans, 93-2069 (La. 10/7/94), 646 So.2d 955, writ not considered, 95-265 (La. 3/24/95), 651 So.2d 284. The word “arbitrary” implies a disregard of evidence or of the proper weight thereof. A conclusion is “capricious” when there is no substantial evidence to support it or the conclusion is contrary to substantiated competent evidence. Coliseum Square Association v. City of New Orleans, 544 So.2d 351, 360 (La.1989).
The district court may not substitute its judgment for that of the school board or interfere with the school board’s good faith exercise of discretion. Howard v. W. Baton Rouge Parish Sch.Bd., 00-3234 (La. 6/29/01), 793 So.2d at 153; McLaughlin v.

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Cooper v. Lafayette Parish School Board, 207 So. 3d 1158, 16 La.App. 3 Cir. 169, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 2147 (La. Ct. App. 2016).

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