Ellis v. Board of Education

164 P.2d 1, 27 Cal. 2d 322, 1945 Cal. LEXIS 239
CourtCalifornia Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 27, 1945
DocketS. F. 17249
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 164 P.2d 1 (Ellis v. Board of Education) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ellis v. Board of Education, 164 P.2d 1, 27 Cal. 2d 322, 1945 Cal. LEXIS 239 (Cal. 1945).

Opinions

TRAYNOR, J.

By this proceeding in mandamus petitioners seek to compel respondents to permit them to use the auditorium of the Evening High School of Commerce at San Francisco- for a meeting open to the public without charge on Sunday afternoon, December 2, 1945, free of any requirement that they furnish public liability insurance.

In an earlier proceeding petitioners sought a writ of mandate to compel respondent board to grant them the use of the auditorium on an evening when regular classes were scheduled in the school building. This court denied their petition, holding that the board acted within its authority under Education Code section 19433 in rejecting petitioners’ application on the ground that the proposed meeting would interfere with scheduled school activities. (Payroll Guarantee Association v. Board of Education, ante, p. 197 [163 P.2d 433].) Petitioners then requested permission to use the auditorium for the same purpose and with the same speaker on a Sunday afternoon, when there will be no school activities. Respondent board has granted their application on condition that petitioners furnish a public liability insurance policy in the name of the San Francisco Unified School District in the sum of $100,000 for each injured person and $400,000 for each accident. In the earlier proceeding, petitioners declared that they would meet that condition under protest. They now contend that such a condition would prevent them from holding the meeting, and have submitted affidavits to show that although they have applied to many insurance companies, none has been willing to issue them a policy.

On September 28, 1943, respondent board adopted the following resolution: “Resolved: That whenever the use of school property is granted to an outside organization under the provisions of Section 19431 of the California Education Code, no charge shall be made for heating, lighting, janitorial or other services, except as set forth under the provisions of section 19438 of the California Education Code,1 and the cost of such services as noted shall be provided for out of school [325]*325district funds. Further resolved: That when an auditorium or gymnasium is requested, a public liability insurance policy shall be furnished in the name of the San Francisco Unified School District in the sum of $100,000/$400,000, except that the requirement for said policy may be waived for organizations, clubs or associations organized for general character building, welfare purposes, or in connection with the national war effort. Further resolved: That all rules and regulations of this Board in conflict with the above are hereby repealed.” Respondent board contends that this regulation is authorized by sections 2204, 19401, 19433, 19434, and 19435 of the Education Code, quoted in the margin.2 Petitioners contend that the regulation is invalid on the grounds that it violates the basic purpose of the Civic Center Act (Ed. Code, §§ 19431-19439) and conflicts with sections 19437 and 19439 of the Education Code, quoted in the margin. 1 Petitioners have made their application under the Civic Center Act. That act is controlling, and regulations or terms and conditions made by the board in conflict therewith are invalid. [326]*326(First Industrial Loan Co. v. Daugherty, 26 Cal.2d 545, 550 [159 P.2d 921]; Whitcomb Hotel Inc. v. California Emp. Com., 24 Cal.2d 753, 757 [151 P.2d 233, 155 A.L.R. 405]; Boone v. Kingsbury, 206 Cal. 148, 161 [273 P. 797].)

Respondents have stated that the district is generally not insured against public liability with respect to its school buildings and. grounds, but that they deem such insurance necessary, with certain exceptions, when schools are used for the purposes specified in the Civic Center Act. We are here concerned, not with the board’s authority to insure the district against such liability (see Ed. Code, § 1029) or with the exercise of its discretion in determining whether such insurance is necessary, but only with the question whether the board can require others to pay the costs of such insurance.

Any inquiry into the validity of the regulation must consider the nature of the insurance protection that respondent .board requires petitioners to furnish. Respondent board states that claims might be made against it for injuries resulting from an alleged defective condition of the school building and its equipment or of the school grounds, or from alleged inadequate exits in case of fire or other emergency, or from an alleged failure to appoint custodians to maintain order in connection with the meeting. By way of illustration it has filed a policy recently furnished by another association in connection with an application for the use of the Galileo High School Auditorium. That policy names as the insured the “San Francisco Unified School District and/or Individual Members of San Francisco Board of Education while acting within the scope of their duties as such” and also the association. The board’s regulation, however, requires only that the policy be furnished in the name of the school district. The coverage is defined as follows: “Coverage A—Bodily Injury Liability—To pay on behalf of the Insured all sums which the Insured shall become obligated to pay by reason of the liability imposed upon him by law for damages, including damages for care and loss of services, because of bodily injury, including death at any time resulting therefrom, sustained by any person or persons, caused by accident and arising out of the hazards hereinafter defined. Coverage B—Property Damage Liability—To pay on behalf of the Insured all sums which the Insured shall become obligated to pay by reason of the liability imposed upon him by law for damages because of injury to or destruction of property, [327]*327including the loss of use thereof, caused by accident and arising out of the hazards hereinafter defined.” The hazards are defined as follows: ‘‘Division 1. Premises—Operations —The ownership, maintenance or use, for the purposes stated in the declarations, of the premises, and all operations during the policy period which are necessary or incidental to such purposes. Division 2. Elevators—The ownership, maintenance, or use, for the purposes stated in the declarations, of any elevator therein designated.” The company also agreed to ‘‘defend in his name and behalf any suit against the Insured alleging such injury or destruction and seeking damages on account thereof, even if such suit is groundless, false or fraudulent.”

The policy required would not insure the school district against injury to the school building or other property of the district, or against liability for injuries resulting from conduct of those attending or protesting the meeting for which respondents would not be responsible. It would insure the district only against liability for injuries to others arising out of the hazards incident to the school district’s ownership and management of the building, schoolgrounds, and equipment. Such hazards would arise from the failure of the district to maintain the premises and equipment in a reasonably safe condition or to fulfill its duties in managing the property. In effect respondents demand insurance protection against their liability to others in the event they fail to fulfill their own duties as owners or managers of the school property.

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Ellis v. Board of Education
164 P.2d 1 (California Supreme Court, 1945)

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Bluebook (online)
164 P.2d 1, 27 Cal. 2d 322, 1945 Cal. LEXIS 239, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ellis-v-board-of-education-cal-1945.