Irchirl v. Natchitoches Parish School Board

103 So. 3d 1237, 12 La.App. 3 Cir. 488, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 1529, 2012 WL 5932981
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 28, 2012
DocketNo. 12-488
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 103 So. 3d 1237 (Irchirl v. Natchitoches Parish School Board) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Irchirl v. Natchitoches Parish School Board, 103 So. 3d 1237, 12 La.App. 3 Cir. 488, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 1529, 2012 WL 5932981 (La. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

KEATY, Judge.

| j Rodney Irchirl appeals from a trial court judgment affirming his termination by the Natchitoches Parish School Board (Board). For the following reasons, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Irchirl was a guidance counselor at Natchitoches Central High School (NCH) during the 2008-09 school year. By letter dated June 5, 2009, School Board Superintendent Dr. Edwina Murphy notified Ir-chirl that the Board had approved a resolution setting a hearing for July 1, 2009, to consider charges brought against him.1 The resolution was attached to the letter, along with a detailed listing of the ten willful neglect of duty charges levied against him.2 The hearing was continued at Irchirl’s request to August 1, 2009. The hearing eventually concluded on September 30, 2009, after spanning over nine sessions and fifty hours of testimony. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Board voted and found Irchirl guilty of charges four, [1240]*1240five, six, eight, nine, and ten. Those charges can be summarized as follows:

• Charge Number 4 — Failure to coordinate accurate records of student grades, including the verification and printing of report cards by: 1) failing to check for missing grades prior to printing report cards; 2) issuing report cards with missing grades and inaccurate grade point averages (GPAs); 3) unilaterally setting an unauthorized date for turning in senior grades; and 4) failing to obtain and post missing grades.
• Charge Number 5 — Failure to coordinate accurate records of student grades, including maintaining and updating records related to graduation for one-third of the senior class by: 1) failing to timely verify students who would not graduate; 2) refusing and/or failing to post grades on seniors’ transcripts and to timely prepare and print same.
12* Charge Number 6 — Failure to demonstrate respect for all individuals by establishing working relationships with colleagues and others, including engaging in respectful interaction and team work with other guidance counselors and teachers. Failure to perform his duties by engaging in the following unprofessional behaviors: 1) demonstrating disrespect to the department head on multiple occasions; 2) being insubordinate to his department head and principal by refusing to answer questions regarding, among other things, the posting of grades to seniors’ transcripts and the providing of necessary information for graduation participation; and 3) regularly engaging in unacceptable, argumentative, confrontational, and/or disrespectful conduct toward his department head, other counselors, and teachers.
• Charge Number 8 — Failure to adhere to the general policies and procedures applicable to him as a guidance counselor at NCH as follows: 1) refusing and/or failing to inform his department head, school administration, or other counselors of his location at all times during the school day and, thus, being unavailable and/or could not be located for significant periods of time; 2) absenting himself from his office regularly during the lunch period; and 3) failing to maintain and open door policy.
• Charge Number 9 — Failure to adhere to the general policies and procedures applicable to him as a guidance counselor at NCH by resisting compliance and/or failing to comply with standard operating procedures with the guidance department, such as: 1) refusing to adhere to the division of students amongst the counselors; 2) changing the schedules of students not assigned to him; 3) improperly investigation a teacher; and 4) demonstrating a consistent inability to follow the directives of his department head and principal.
• Charge Number 10 — Failure to adhere to the general policies and procedures applicable to him as a guidance counselor at NCH by resisting compliance and/or failing to comply with standard operating procedures with the guidance department, such as: 1) refusing to input custody information in Pro-Comm; 2) inexplicably ordering large quantities of ACT waiver forms and refusing to voluntarily allow other counselors to use the ordered forms; 3) failing to effectively organize and implement a schedule for the ePortal exercise; and 4) demonstrating a consistent inability to follow the directives of his department head and principal.

[1241]*1241On October 1, 2009, Irchirl was notified by certified letter that his employment had been terminated.

Irchirl filed a timely appeal pursuant to La.R.S. 17:4483 with the Tenth Judicial District Court. After reviewing the exhibits and the briefs filed by the parties, the trial court affirmed the Board’s action, finding that there was | .-¡substantial evidence to support the Board’s finding of willful neglect of duty on each of the six charges sustained against him. Irchirl, in proper person, now seeks review in this court, alleging eight assignments of error which, as Irchirl agreed at oral arguments, can be resolved by addressing the following issues: 1) whether the Board complied with the statutory formalities under the TTL; and 2) whether the Board’s findings were supported by substantial evidence.

DISCUSSION

Louisiana Revised Statutes 17:443(A) governs the dismissal of tenured teachers4 and provides, in pertinent part, that:

A permanent teacher shall not be removed from office except upon written and signed charges of willful neglect of duty, or incompetency, dishonesty, or immorality ... and then only if found guilty after a hearing by the school board of the parish or city, as the case may be, which hearing may be private or public, at the option of the teacher. At least twenty days in advance of the date of the healing, the superintendent with approval of the school board shall furnish the teacher with a copy of the written charges. Such statement of charges shall include a complete and detailed list of the specific reasons for such charges and shall include but not be limited to the following: date and place of alleged offense or offenses, names of individuals involved in or witnessing such offense or offenses, names of witnesses called or to be called to testify against the teacher at said hearing, and whether or not any such charges previously have been brought against the teacher. The teacher shall have the right to appear before the board with witnesses in his behalf and with counsel of his selection, all of whom shall be heard by the board at said hearing.

In Wise v. Bossier Parish School Board, 02-1525, pp. 5-7 (La.6/27/03), 851 So.2d 1090, 1094-95 .(citations omitted) (footnote omitted), the Louisiana Supreme Court wrote:

[J]udicial review of tenure proceedings must be limited to an inquiry of whether the School Board complied with the statutory formalities under Louisiana’s Teacher Tenure Law and whether the School Board’s findings were supported by substantial evidence. ‘“Substantial evidence’ has been defined as ‘evidence of such quality and weight that reasonable and fair-minded men in exercise of impartial judgment might reach different conclusions.’ ” In | conducting such an examination, the district court must give great deference to the school board’s findings of fact and credibility. Reasons for dismissal are largely in the sound discretion of the school board.

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Bluebook (online)
103 So. 3d 1237, 12 La.App. 3 Cir. 488, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 1529, 2012 WL 5932981, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/irchirl-v-natchitoches-parish-school-board-lactapp-2012.