Farmer v. Kelleys Island Board of Education

638 N.E.2d 79, 70 Ohio St. 3d 1203, 1994 Ohio LEXIS 1863
Ohio Supreme Court·Decided September 7, 1994·No. No. 93-441·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinions

Douglas, J.

On May 5, 1994, appellant moved this court to rehear “the merits of the decision entered herein on April 27, 1994.” Appellant’s motion and memorandum in support were concise, well presented and persuasive. Accordingly, I would treat appellant’s motion for rehearing as a motion for clarification and grant it. In doing so, I would present the following as clarification.

In its memorandum in support of motion for rehearing, appellant says, in part:

“The Kelleys Island Board of Education is today taking the unusual step of requesting rehearing because it finds it quite possible that at least one Justice voting with the majority in this 4-3 decision may not have realized that the Board of Education in fact exceeded the statutory mínimums of R.C. 3319.111.

“The basic statutory mínimums of R.C. 3319.111 for teacher evaluation are simply this: that a teacher whose contract is expiring must be evaluated at least twice within certain time frames (R.C. 3319.111[A]) and observed at least four times — twice for each evaluation (R.C. 3319.111[B]).

“In the present case, it is undisputed that these statutory mínimums were exceeded by the Kelleys Island Board of Education. Specifically, the Board’s evaluator conducted four observations of the teacher (the statutory minimum) and provided four -written evaluation reports (two more than the statutory minimum). While these facts were recognized by the majority opinion, the conclusion drawn is that the Board violated a mandate for a ‘two-to-one ratio’ between observations [1204] and evaluations. In essence, the Board is faulted for doing its job too well, and providing the teacher more than the law requires in the way of written feedback.” (Emphasis sic and footnote omitted.)

Clearly, appellant and all other persons likely situated are entitled to some clarification.

In this case (Farmer v. Kelleys Island Bd. of Edn. [1994], 69 Ohio St.3d 156, 630 N.E.2d 721), I concurred in the majority opinion. At the time of the issuing of the opinion, I agreed with the result and I am still of the same mind now. However, upon further reflection and a more careful reading of both R.C. 3319.11 and 3319.111, I now find that I do not agree with Part I of the opinion (the issue of superintendent recommendation). Further, I now more readily understand appellant’s “evaluation” argument as decided by Part II of the opinion. Appellant’s position that it “in fact exceeded the statutory mínimums of R.C. 3319.111” is clearly arguable but maybe not technically correct, given that the statute is remedial in nature and, thus, entitled to a liberal interpretation. However, even if I changed my position with regard to the “evaluation” question, I would still concur -with the decision of the majority and, more specifically, the judgments of both the court of common pleas and the court of appeals.

Each of the two issues needs, at least from my standpoint, clarification. In clarifying these two issues, the third issue — that of remedy (reinstatement) resolves itself.

I

“Evaluation — Observation”

Appellant-board’s position is that it is being “faulted for doing its job too well.” The confusion in this and companion cases arises because the terms “evaluation” and “observation” are being used interchangeably when they are, in fact, clearly different. The statute, R.C. 3319.111(B)(2), requires two “observations” for each of two required “evaluations.” R.C. 3319.111(A). It is true that Charles Hoffman, the board-chosen individual who evaluated appellee, observed appellee on four separate occasions — October 10, 1990, January 22, 1991, March 12, 1991 and March 22, 1991. In reporting his findings, Hoffman issued what he labeled “evaluations” after each of his “observations.” The October 10,1990 “evaluation” was based solely on the same day (October 10, 1990) “observation.” The same was true for the January 22, 1991 “evaluation,” which never even referred to the October 10, 1990 “evaluation-observation.” This j apparent violation of R.C. 3319.111(A) and (B) led the trial court, the court of appeals and this court to the conclusion that there were not two observations and one evaluation received by appellee by the then-magic date of February 10, 1991 (former R.C. 3319.111[A]). [1205] This same sequence is also true for the second evaluation, which was due by April 10, 1991.

Obviously, this reading of the statutes can be attacked as technical. Conversely, the argument is made that the statutes are clear and precise and should be followed. Added to this latter argument is the liberal-interpretation requirement. It is on the basis that the statute was not precisely followed that I concurred with the majority in Part II of the opinion.

Accordingly, the board was not being “faulted for doing its job too well.” The board was being faulted for not following the precise dictates of the statute, to wit, two observations for each of two required evaluations. The sentence in Farmer, supra, 69 Ohio St.3d at 159, 630 N.E.2d at 723, that “[t]he statute, therefore, requires a two-to-one ratio of observations to written evaluations,” means, I believe, that the minimum statutory requirements are at least two evaluations based upon two observations for each of the evaluations and any additional evaluations need not comply with the two-observation rule.

II

Superintendent Recommendation

The second issue is where I part ways with both the appellant-board and Part I of the majority opinion in Farmer. Appellant and the majority opinion point out that the superintendent’s recommendation that appellee’s contract be renewed is of no significance. I now emphatically disagree.

In support of their position, the board and majority cite Justus v. Brown (1975), 42 Ohio St.2d 53, 71 O.O.2d 35, 325 N.E.2d 884, paragraph one of the syllabus. That case holds that it is a board of education that has the authority to employ teachers. Thus, the argument goes, it makes no difference what a superintendent recommends, since the sole and ultimate power on the question of teacher reemployment lies with the board. Justus did hold just that and that was the law — in 1975. Today, things are different because now the General Assembly has specifically spoken on the subject.

In 1961, Am.Sub.H.B. No. 227 was enacted by the General Assembly. The bill was signed by the Governor and became effective October 17, 1961. (129 Ohio Laws 1207.) Among the amendments to R.C. 3319.11, the General Assembly amended a paragraph which relates to limited contracts for teachers. The amended paragraph changed the then-existing 1959 law (R.C. 3319.11) by adding certain language. In part, the paragraph, with the language added being designated by emphasis, follows:

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Farmer v. Kelleys Island Board of Education, 638 N.E.2d 79, 70 Ohio St. 3d 1203, 1994 Ohio LEXIS 1863 (Ohio 1994).

638 N.E.2d 79 (Farmer v. Kelleys Island Board of Education) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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