Hodgkins v. Central School District No. 1

78 Misc. 2d 91, 355 N.Y.S.2d 932, 1974 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1337
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedApril 29, 1974
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 78 Misc. 2d 91 (Hodgkins v. Central School District No. 1) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hodgkins v. Central School District No. 1, 78 Misc. 2d 91, 355 N.Y.S.2d 932, 1974 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1337 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1974).

Opinion

Robert E. Fischer, J.

This motion hy the plaintiffs seeks a preliminary injunction as well as summary judgment in the underlying action for declaratory judgment. The plaintiff teachers, Hodgkins and Clayton, and the Susquehanna Valley Teachers’ Association (the Association) began this action against an gmploying school district and its Board of Education (referred to collectively as “the District”) seeking an injunction and declaratory judgment invalidating disciplinary proceedings [93]*93brought against the teachers pursuant to section 3020-a of the Education Law as recently supplemented by administrative regulations. The Commissioner of Education of the .State of New York has sought to intervene.

The first in the series of events culminating in this motion was the holding on February 19, 1974, by a three-Judge panel in the United States District Court, Western District of New York, Kinsella v. Board of Educ. of Cent. School Dist. No. 7 (378 F. Supp. 54, 60). That court held that section 3020-a of the Education Law, which establishes procedures for the discipline of tenured teachers by the employing Board of Education, “ absent administrative regulations requiring decision [of the Board of Education] to be based upon evidence elicited before the hearing panel and the decision of the Board to set forth the reasons and factual basis therefor, is unconstitutional ”.

On February 28, 1974, the New York State Board of Regents reacted to the Kinsella decision by approving amendments to the regulations of the Commissioner of Education designed to overcome the procedural defects in the section 3020-a proceedings disclosed in the decision. Subdivision (h) of section 82.10 of title 8 of the Official Compilation of Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York was accordingly amended to provide each employing board of education with a copy of the transcript of the disciplinary proceedings, findings, and recommendations of the hearing panel, and a new section 82.11 was added requiring that the decision of the employing board be based solely upon those proceedings with the reasons and factual ■basis for the findings set forth.

It was clearly the purpose of the Commissioner of Education and Board of Regents to overcome Kinsella objections by administrative requirement that the employing board premise its final adjudication on the statutory hearing provided by section 3020-a. These amended regulations were duly promulgated and filed as emergency measures in accordance with subdivision 3 of section 101-a of the Executive Law.

The Kinsella decision and the modified regulations of the Commissioner of Education gave rise to this action by plaintiffs Hodgkins and Clayton, who are tenured teachers of1 music employed by the defendant, and by the Association to which the teachers belonged when the Board of Education of the school district which employed the teachers determined that probable cause existed for charges that the teachers had used unwarranted and excessive physical force upon certain of their stu[94]*94dents. The teachers were advised by letter on February 28, 1974 that they were suspended from employment pending a hearing on the charges pursuant to section 3020-a as modified, the letters being amended later to advise that the suspension was without pay.

On March 14, 1974 the plaintiffs obtained a temporary order restraining the District from continuing the hearing procedures and penalties under section 3020-a as supplemented by the amended regulations of the Commissioner of Education, together with an order to show cause why a preliminary injunction should not issue against the continued suspension of the two teachers and the discharge of any other teacher belonging to the plaintiff Association under similar facts and circumstances. Plaintiffs, in the complaint accompanying the order to show cause, sought an injunction against suspension or termination, as well as a declaratory judgment that suspension or termination pursuant to section 3020-a as supplemented, constitutes a denial of their constitutional rights. In an affidavit accompanying the complaint and order to show-cause, plaintiffs’ counsel asserts that the New York State 'Commissioner of Education exceeded his statutory authority in attempting to overcome the constitutional defects of section 3020-a by quasi-legislative regulation, and that suspension of a tenured teacher without pay and without a prior hearing is an unconstitutional denial of due process.

In response, the District seeks dismissal of the complaint asserting that the Commissioner’s adoption of modified regulation is within his lawful powers, and that enjoinment of a constitutionally acceptable revocation procedure would prevent it from carrying out the duties imposed by section 1709 of the Education Law to manage and control the school district.

At the time of oral argument, the Commissioner of Education’s application to intervene as a defendant was granted, and a proposed answer and affidavit was submitted on his behalf in which he joins the District in asserting that the complaint fails to state a cause of action in that his powers to promulgate the regulations at issue, as approved by the Board of Regents, are within the broad powers granted by section 207 of the Education Law and not otherwise circumscribed by section 3020-a.

Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment permits this court to search the record, and if such demonstrates that any party is entitled, judgment will be granted without cross motion (CPLR 3212, subd. [b]).

CPLR 3001 requires that parties seeking a declaratory judgment present a “ justiciable controversy.” A party may chai[95]*95lenge the validity of a governmental act only in a genuine controversy arising between the litigants affecting his private rights. “ It is a rule of law designed to prevent the courts from giving judicial interpretations of legislative acts or executive rulings in the absence of injury or threatened injury to one’s personal rights.” (Matter of Donohue v. Cornelius, 17 N Y 2d 390, 397.) Since the complaint alleges no present or potential wrong to the Association as a result of the acts complained of, its action will be dismissed.

As to the remaining parties, it is conceded that the pleadings have raised these basic issues affecting their legal relations:

(1) whether it was within the powers of the Commissioner of Education and the Board of Regents to enact regulations designed to overcome the constitutional defects of section 3020-a disclosed by the Kinsella decision;

(2) whether the District may deny pay to a tenured teacher pending a hearing under section 3020-a on charges;

(3) whether it is an unconstitutional deprivation of rights without due process to suspend and remove a tenured teacher from the classroom prior to a hearing.

In addressing the first question, it should first be noted that in the complex and specialized field of education, the Legislature has granted broad policy, rule-making and administrative powers to the Board of Regents and the Commissioner of Education. Thus, section 207 of the Education Law provides that 11

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

No.
Colorado Attorney General Reports, 2003
Jerry v. Board of Education of the City School District
50 A.D.2d 149 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1975)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
78 Misc. 2d 91, 355 N.Y.S.2d 932, 1974 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1337, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hodgkins-v-central-school-district-no-1-nysupct-1974.