Echelbarger v. United States (In re Echelbarger)

600 B.R. 39
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Indiana
DecidedMay 6, 2019
DocketCase No. 18-02679-JJG-7; Adv. Pro. No. 18-50217
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 600 B.R. 39 (Echelbarger v. United States (In re Echelbarger)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Echelbarger v. United States (In re Echelbarger), 600 B.R. 39 (Ind. 2019).

Opinion

Jeffrey J. Graham, United States Bankruptcy Judge

This matter comes before the Court on Defendant United States of America Department of Education's (the "United States" or "DOE") Motion for Summary Judgment (the "Motion") on Debtor/Plaintiff Leta Marie Echelbarger's Complaint to Determine Dischargeability of Student Loans (the "Complaint"). For the reasons stated below, the Court GRANTS the Motion.

Undisputed Facts

The designated evidence reveals the following undisputed facts:

1. Debtor Leta Marie Echelbarger ("Debtor") is a healthy 41-year old woman.

2. After attending Brebeuf and Muncie Burris High School, Plaintiff was selected to attend Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics, and Humanities, a boarding school for gifted juniors and seniors. While at Indiana Academy, Debtor lived on Ball State University's ("BSU") campus and was able to take college courses for credit.

3. After graduating from the Indiana Academy in 1995, Debtor attended Marquette University on a scholarship.

*424. Debtor dropped out of Marquette after a year because, as she put it: "I was stupid and 18 and decided that working sounded better."

5. Debtor then returned to Muncie, where she worked a variety of jobs. At the age of 20, she opened a small retail store on BSU's campus, but the business did not succeed. She filed for bankruptcy in 2004 because she "was not business savvy enough to create a good business model, and it wasn't the right fit to work on a college campus."

6. Between 1998 and 2005, Debtor took out student loans to pursue an ungraduated degree at BSU. She admitted that she "wasn't serious" when she took the classes and that she withdrew for a few semesters upon the birth of her first and only child, a son named EJ. She further admitted that "it took a little while to get serious" and that it "wasn't until I hit about my mid-20s that I was like, you know, I need to do something more ...."

7. After finally completing her undergraduate degree in 2005, Debtor immediately began her first master's program in special education at BSU. She completed that program in December, 2006.

8. Debtor immediately began a second master's program in educational administration and supervision, again at BSU. Debtor indicated that she pursued this degree because she wanted to do "something past teaching" and because "in order to get a principal's position anywhere, you need at least a master's, if not a doctorate."

9. Upon completion of her second master's degree, Debtor immediately began working toward a doctorate in education "in case she ever wanted to go into superintendency or something like that" or if she has "wanted to pursue being a college professor." As she began this program, she "thought that the upward mobility in education was what [she] wanted."

10. Debtor never completed her doctorate program. She was enrolled in the program until 2010 until 2015, when she "timed out" after she failed to complete the field work needed for her dissertation. At that time, she had completed all of her coursework and written part of her dissertation and defended it to her doctoral committee. All that remained to be completed were the final two chapters of her dissertation.

11. Debtor admits that the last few years she was enrolled "were stagnant" but she continued to pay tuition-and incur additional student debt-during those years.

12. Debtor has contacted other schools to see if she could transfer her credits in an effort to complete her doctorate, but each school has refused to transfer more than a fraction of her credits.

13. After earning her undergraduate degree, Debtor was able to obtain an emergency teaching license.

14. Debtor began teaching at Richmond High School in 2006 and continued with that employment for six years.

15. In 2012, after completing her coursework and obtaining a principal's license after passing the state exam, Debtor obtained a position as principal at Damar Charter Academy ("Damar"). As principal, she earned approximately $ 82,000 per year.

16. Debtor left Damar after two years because "[t]he schools was a mess because it was brand new." She described her decision to leave as "kind of a peace-of-mind move."

17. Debtor then took a position as vice-principal at Providence Cristo Rey High *43School ("Providence") in 2014. Her salary at the time was approximately $ 75,000.

18. Debtor left Providence after three years, in July of 2017, when her contract was not renewed. Debtor has described Providence as a "hostile work environment" and states that she was "targeted because the new principal, I think, felt threatened that I had been there a couple of years, and he was new."

19. Because Debtor's contract was not renewed late in the year, she found it difficult to find another position for the 2017-2018 school year.

20. Debtor's contract with Providence provided that such a decision was supposed to be made earlier in the year. Debtor considered taking legal action because of this alleged breach and disclosed the claim in her bankruptcy schedules.

21. Debtor ultimately decided not to pursue another job in school administration or teaching as she no longer wanted to work in education. This included applying for her former position at Damar, although she admitted that the position was a possibility.

22. Debtor was unemployed from July to November of 2017. She then accepted a job with Indiana Professional Management Group, where she earned approximately $ 30,000 a year plus mileage. In that job, Debtor worked as a case manager for people with disabilities on the Medicaid waiver.

23. Debtor described the position as "[v]ery close" to her dream job and that she is very happy with what she is doing.

24. Plaintiff filed this adversary proceeding on August 3, 2018. In the Complaint, Debtor alleges that her household net income is $ 1,807.45.1 However, just 10 days after filing the Complaint, Debtor began a new job at CRF First Choice, where she continues to work with people with disabilities. In this position, Debtor earns $ 45,000 per year, plus mileage, for a total of approximately $ 50,000 per year.

25. Debtor knew that she was starting a new job when she filed the Complaint.

26. Debtor's current gross income is approximately $ 4,075 a month, an increase from the $ 1,615.00 listed on her bankruptcy schedules. According to the United States' analysis, Debtor's current expenses leave Debtor with approximately $ 749.45 in disposable monthly income. Debtor disputes that figure.2

27. Debtor insists on remaining in her current position because she enjoys her work. To Debtor, "having that peace of mind is a lot more fulfilling than a little bit of extra money." Debtor adamantly refuses to return to the education field, despite that fact that she could potentially earn more money. She insists that her "mental state" is more important than salary. Debtor has explained that education is "not a good fit" for her and that even in a good work environment, "[e]verything right now is very test-oriented and not *44looking at the best interest of the kids, and it's very disheartening."

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
600 B.R. 39, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/echelbarger-v-united-states-in-re-echelbarger-insb-2019.