Fails v. Jefferson Davis County Public School Board

96 So. 3d 1, 2011 WL 1992010, 2011 Miss. App. LEXIS 287
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMay 24, 2011
DocketNo. 2010-CA-00042-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 96 So. 3d 1 (Fails v. Jefferson Davis County Public School Board) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fails v. Jefferson Davis County Public School Board, 96 So. 3d 1, 2011 WL 1992010, 2011 Miss. App. LEXIS 287 (Mich. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinions

GRIFFIS, P.J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. This is an appeal of a school-board decision that revoked the transfer of Courtney Fails. Mark and Laura Fails assert three issues on appeal. First, the conservator does not have the authority to prevent the district’s school board from voting on a matter. Second, the school board may not lawfully revoke a student’s inter-district transfer after it previously approved the transfer. Third, the school board may not adopt a blanket policy against inter-district transfers. We find no error and affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2. Mark and Laura are the parents of Courtney. They reside in the Jefferson Davis County Public School District (“the District”). In 2003, Mark and Laura requested and obtained a transfer for Courtney to attend school in Sumrall, Mississippi, located in the Lamar County Public School District. This transfer allowed Courtney to attend the school in Sumrall even though she did not reside within that district.

113. In May 2007, the Governor declared a state of emergency in the District. Thereafter, the State Board of Education appointed Glenn Swan to the position of interim conservator for the District.

¶ 4. On August 13, 2007, the Jefferson Davis County Public School Board (“the Board”) adopted a “New Student Transfer Policy”:

It shall be the policy of the [the District] that all students who live in said district must attend school in the Prentiss School District or the Bassfield School District. No student shall be allowed to ... attend another school in a different district when the parents or legal guardian reside at a legal residence] in [the District],

¶ 5. In the summer of 2008, notice was published in a local newspaper that informed all parents within the District of the new transfer policy. The notice stated that all prior transfers were revoked and that no transfers would be allowed in the future. The effect of this policy was that Courtney would have to leave the Sumrall school and return to the District’s schools.

¶ 6. On October 13, 2008, Mark appeared before the Board at its regularly scheduled meeting. He argued to the Board that the intent of the new policy was not to revoke existing transfers but merely to prohibit future transfers. He asked the Board to [3]*3clarify the meaning of the new policy. Swan invoked his authority as conservator and refused to allow the Board to vote on the matter. Swan decided that the policy did in fact revoke existing transfers.

¶ 7. Mark and Laura appealed this decision to the Circuit Court of Jefferson Davis County, which affirmed Swan’s decision and upheld the revocation of Courtney’s transfer. Their appeal has now been deflected to this Court for review.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 8. An appeal from an administrative agency is limited. Mainstream Sav. & Loan Ass’n v. Washington Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass’n, 325 So.2d 902, 903 (Miss.1976). In the review of a decision of an administrative agency, we will determine whether the order of the administrative agency: “(1) was unsupported by substantial evidence!,] (2) was arbitrary and capricious!,] (3) was beyond the power of the administrative agency to make[,] or (4) violated some statutory or constitutional right of the complaining party.” Id. However, in ABC Manufacturing Corp. v. Doyle, 749 So.2d 43, 45 (¶ 10) (Miss.1999), the Mississippi Supreme Court held, “[gjenerally, an administrative agency is accorded deference, but when the agency has misapprehended a controlling legal principle, no deference is due, and our review is de novo.”

ANALYSIS

1. Did the conservator have the authority to prevent the Board from a vote on the issue?

¶ 9. The first argument on appeal is that Swan did not have the authority to prevent the Board from voting to clarify the meaning of the “New Student Transfer Policy.”

¶ 10. Swan’s authority as the conservator was broad. The conservator, in essence, becomes the Board. Mississippi Code Annotated section 37-17-6(14)(a) (Supp.2010) provides:

Whenever the Governor declares a state of emergency in a school district in response to a request made under subsection (11) of this section, the State Board of Education, in its discretion, may assign an interim conservator to the school district, ... who will be responsible for the administration, management and operation of the school district, including, but not limited to, the following activities:
(i) Approving or disapproving all financial obligations of the district, including, but not limited to, the employment, termination, nonrenewal and reassignment of all licensed and nonlicensed personnel, contractual agreements and purchase orders, and approving or disapproving all claim dockets and the issuance of checks; in approving or disapproving employment contracts of superintendents, assistant superintendents or principals, the interim conservator shall not be required to comply with the time limitations prescribed in Sections 37-9-15 and 37-9-105;
(ii) Supervising the day-to-day activities of the district’s staff, including reassigning the duties and responsibilities of personnel in a manner which, in the determination of the conservator, will best suit the needs of the district;
(iii) Reviewing the district’s total financial obligations and operations and making recommendations to the district for cost savings, including, but not limited to, reassigning the duties and responsibilities of staff;
[4]*4(iv) Attending all meetings of the district’s school board and administrative staff;
(v) Approving or disapproving all athletic, band and other extracurricular activities and any matters related to those activities;
(vi) Maintaining a detailed account of recommendations made to the district and actions taken in response to those recommendations;
(vii) Reporting periodically to the State Board of Education on the progress or lack of progress being made in the district to improve the district’s impairments during the state of emergency; and
(viii) Appointing a parent advisory committee, comprised of parents of students in the school district that may make recommendations to the conservator concerning the administration, management and operation of the school district.

(Emphasis added).

¶ 11. Mark and Laura correctly point out that the statute does not specifically provide Swan with the power to prevent the Board from voting to clarify the toans-fer policy. Nevertheless, the statute expressly grants the conservator authority over “the administration, management and operation of the school district.” Id. The statute also indicates that the specific powers granted under the statute are not exhaustive.

¶ 12. Because Mississippi case law is silent on this issue, this Court must look to the plain language of the statute and give the words “their common and ordinary acceptation and meaning[.]” Miss.Code Ann. § 1-3-65 (Rev.2005). The statute uses capacious language to describe the role of the conservator. Control over “administration, management and operation” is commonly understood to mean a very high degree of authority.

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Related

Fails v. Jefferson Davis County Public School Board
95 So. 3d 1223 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2012)

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Bluebook (online)
96 So. 3d 1, 2011 WL 1992010, 2011 Miss. App. LEXIS 287, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fails-v-jefferson-davis-county-public-school-board-missctapp-2011.