McKnight v. Mound Bayou Public School Dist.

879 So. 2d 493, 2004 Miss. App. LEXIS 223, 2004 WL 557361
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMarch 23, 2004
Docket2003-CC-00484-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 879 So. 2d 493 (McKnight v. Mound Bayou Public School Dist.) 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
McKnight v. Mound Bayou Public School Dist., 879 So. 2d 493, 2004 Miss. App. LEXIS 223, 2004 WL 557361 (Mich. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

879 So.2d 493 (2004)

Jimmie McKNIGHT, Appellant
v.
MOUND BAYOU PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT, Appellee.

No. 2003-CC-00484-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

March 23, 2004.
Rehearing Denied June 8, 2004.
Certiorari Denied August 5, 2004.

*495 Preston Davis Rideout, Greenwood, attorney for appellant.

John Richard May, Sanford E. Knott, Jackson, attorneys for appellee.

Before SOUTHWICK, P.J., THOMAS and GRIFFIS, JJ.

SOUTHWICK, P.J., for the Court.

¶ 1. The Mound Bayou Public School District was placed under the supervision of the Mississippi Board of Education due to the district's financial problems. After that supervision began, Jimmie McKnight was informed that he would lose his position as an assistant principal in the next school year, though he had been notified prior to the beginning of state supervision that his contract would be renewed. We find that the commencement of supervision by the State Board of Education overrode the procedures otherwise available to employees on matters of contract renewal. Consequently, we affirm the lower court's upholding of the Mound Bayou District's decision.

FACTS

¶ 2. The plaintiff, Jimmie McKnight, was a twenty-eight-year long educator in the Mound Bayou Public School District. During the 2000-2001 school year, he was athletic director for the District and also served as assistant principal and head basketball coach at John F. Kennedy High School. The Mound Bayou School Board determined at a meeting on March 7, 2001, to offer McKnight a contract for the same duties at the same pay during the 2001-2002 year.

¶ 3. The District had for some time been suffering significant financial problems. The Mississippi Department of Education sent written notice to the District on March 16, 2001, just nine days after the school board meeting, that the District's sizeable budget deficit required the appointment of a financial adviser. State statutory authority for such an appointment exists, the requirements and effects of those statutes being central to this appeal. The adviser recommended that the assistant principal position be abolished.

¶ 4. McKnight was sent a letter on June 27, 2001, that of the three positions that he had held the previous year, the assistant principalship would no longer exist. He requested a hearing, at which proof of the dire financial condition of the District was introduced. The deficit was said to be about $300,000 for the fiscal year that ended in June 2000. The financial adviser found that elimination of personnel and positions was required as part of the remedy, that the two assistant principal posts cost the District about $42,000, and these positions were appropriate ones to eliminate.

¶ 5. The school board in September upheld the decision to eliminate the assistant principal position for the 2001-2002 school year. On appeal to chancery court, the decision was affirmed. McKnight continues his quest for judicial relief before this Court.

DISCUSSION

¶ 6. The fundamental issue in this suit is whether the appointment of a financial adviser for a financially troubled school district permits the reconsideration of personnel decisions after the date that usually is required for informing employees that their contracts will not be renewed. For *496 reasons that we will explain, we conclude that the District had the right upon the advice of the state-appointed financial adviser to withdraw the contract with McKnight.

¶ 7. The legislature has given the State Auditor discretion to audit the financial records of school districts. Miss.Code Ann. § 37-9-18 (Rev.2001). If as a result of the audit, "the State Auditor determines the existence of serious financial conditions in the district, the State Auditor shall immediately notify the State Board of Education;" the State Superintendent is then to order the affected district to "cease all expenditures until a financial advisor is appointed by the state superintendent." Id. These events occurred as to the Mound Bayou School District.

¶ 8. The financial adviser is the agent of the State Board of Education and must be a certified public accountant or a "qualified business officer." Id. The authority of the adviser is broad, commensurate with the financial problems that the adviser has been sent to rectify. Acting with the approval of the State Board of Education, the adviser performs these duties, among others:

(a) Approve or disapprove all expenditures and all financial obligations of the district;
(b) Ensure compliance with any statutes and State Board of Education rules or regulations concerning expenditures by school districts;
(c) Review salaries and the number of all district personnel and make recommendations to the local school board of any needed adjustments. Should such recommendations necessitate the reduction in local salary supplement, such recommended reductions shall be only to the extent which will result in the salaries being comparable to districts similarly situated, as determined by the State Board of Education. The local school board, in considering either a reduction in personnel or a reduction in local supplements, shall not be required to comply with the time limitations prescribed in Sections 37-9-15 and 37-9-105 and, further, shall not be required to comply with Sections 37-19-11 and 37-19-7(1) in regard to reducing local supplements and the number of personnel.

1997 Miss. Laws ch. 386, § 1, codified as Miss.Code Ann. § 37-9-18 (emphasis added).

¶ 9. The italicized language refers to timing requirements of other statutes. Those referenced statutes are relied upon by McKnight. One of the statutes provides that by February 15 of each year, recommendations will be made for the employment of assistant superintendents and principals. Those recommendations must be approved by the school board absent good reason to reject them. Miss.Code Ann. § 37-9-15 (Rev.2001). McKnight did not have either of those positions. The other referenced statute provides that if an employee of a school district is not to have his contract renewed, the employee shall be notified of that by the April 15 immediately preceding the new school year. Miss.Code Ann. § 37-9-105 (Rev.2001). That statute applied to McKnight's contract renewal.

¶ 10. This latter statute has been somewhat amended since the events that precipitated this suit. At the time that the financial adviser was named to oversee the finances of the Mound Bayou District, section 37-9-105 stated that a "school board acting on the recommendation of a school district financial adviser... shall not be required to comply with the time limitations prescribed in this section for recommending the reemployment of superintendents, assistant superintendents or principals." 1997 Miss. Laws ch. *497 386, § 2. The just-quoted language did not exempt from the time limitations all employees, but only the highest-level ones. The position of assistant principal such as McKnight held was not exempted in this statute, but as we will note later, another statute may have made the omission academic.

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Bluebook (online)
879 So. 2d 493, 2004 Miss. App. LEXIS 223, 2004 WL 557361, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcknight-v-mound-bayou-public-school-dist-missctapp-2004.