Jackson v. Board of Directors

621 S.W.2d 97, 1981 Mo. App. LEXIS 3014
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 18, 1981
DocketNo. WD 32092
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 621 S.W.2d 97 (Jackson v. Board of Directors) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jackson v. Board of Directors, 621 S.W.2d 97, 1981 Mo. App. LEXIS 3014 (Mo. Ct. App. 1981).

Opinion

TURNAGE, Judge.

Joyce Jackson appeals from the action of the circuit court which affirmed the termination of her indefinite contract by the Kansas City School District. Jackson contends her absences were not excessive or unreasonable, but were justified because of the failure of the District to properly pay her. Affirmed.

Jackson had first been employed by the Kansas City District for the 1967-68 school year. During the 1977-78 school year she taught business courses at Lincoln High School, but beginning in 1978, Lincoln was converted to a magnet school and all faculty assignments there were cancelled. With the beginning of school in the fall of 1978, Jackson was assigned to Van Horn High School, but for reasons excluded at the hearing, she was assigned to the District office after one day. Various assignments followed until November 17, 1978, when Jackson was assigned to Pershing School. She reported to that school for one day on November 20. Thereafter Jackson did not report for any work with the school district for the remainder of the 1978-79 school year. This despite letters from the District urging her to report.

On November 12, 1978, Jackson wrote a letter to the District Director of Personnel objecting to a substitute teacher assignment. She concluded the letter with a complaint that she had not been paid for the month of October. The District records indicate a check had been issued to Jackson on November 9 in the amount of $543.39. After receiving her letter, another check was issued for $292.56 on November 15, and on November 30 another check was sent to her in the amount of $411.47. No further complaints were made by Jackson concerning her pay.

In August, 1979, notice was given to Jackson that a hearing would be held on October 7 and October 11,1979, on whether or not to terminate her indefinite teaching contract because of excessive and unreasonable absence from the performance of duty. Evidence, as outlined above, was introduced at the hearing. The only conflict in the evidence revolved around Jackson’s assignment to Pershing. The principal of Pershing testified that Jackson called him around the first of December to discuss her assignment. He invited her to come to the school to discuss the matter and she said she would be there the next day unless it snowed. It did not snow the next day, but she did not appear and according to his testimony, she did not appear thereafter.

Jackson testified that she went to Pershing on a day when the principal was not present and no one at the school could give her any information about her assignment. She said she called the principal thereafter and he told her he would call her when he found out what she was to do. She stated the principal never called her and she never returned to the school. Jackson concedes in her brief that she did not report for any school duty after November 20, 1978. Her position is that her non-appearance and non-performance after that time is excused because the District had failed to pay her in full for the month of October. There is no dispute that she did not make any complaint to the District concerning her pay after her November 12 letter.

At the conclusion of the hearing the Board of Education made findings of fact and conclusions of law. The findings reflect the facts stated above and further found that the testimony of Jackson that she did not report for work after November 20 because the District had failed to pay her for the month of October was not credible. The Board found in its findings that Jack[99]*99son had performed her contractual duties for no more than eight days during the 1978-79 school year. The Board further found that her absences were not the result of any request for authorized absence and her absence was in fact not authorized.

The Board found that the unauthorized failure of Jackson to report for teaching duties between November 20, 1978 and the end of the 1978-79 school year constituted excessive and unreasonable absence and terminated her indefinite contract.

After being supplied a copy of the Board’s findings and conclusions, Jackson filed a notice of appeal with the Board. At the outset the Board challenges the jurisdiction of the circuit court to hear Jackson’s appeal, and, in turn, the jurisdiction of this court to entertain Jackson’s appeal from the judgment of that court. The District’s position is based on the fact that Jackson did not file a petition for review pursuant to § 536.110, RSMo 1978.

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Related

Palmer v. Van Buren R-1 Board of Education
872 S.W.2d 590 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1994)
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865 S.W.2d 818 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1993)
Dorf v. Consolidated School District No. 4
739 S.W.2d 751 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1987)
Tuffli v. Board of Education
643 S.W.2d 296 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1982)

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Bluebook (online)
621 S.W.2d 97, 1981 Mo. App. LEXIS 3014, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jackson-v-board-of-directors-moctapp-1981.