Naylor v. Cardinal Local School District Board of Education

630 N.E.2d 725, 69 Ohio St. 3d 162
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedApril 27, 1994
DocketNo. 92-2043
StatusPublished
Cited by54 cases

This text of 630 N.E.2d 725 (Naylor v. Cardinal Local School District Board of Education) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Naylor v. Cardinal Local School District Board of Education, 630 N.E.2d 725, 69 Ohio St. 3d 162 (Ohio 1994).

Opinions

A. William Sweeney, J.

In resolving the instant appeal, we are guided by the standard that R.C. 3319.11 and 3319.111 are remedial statutes that must be liberally construed in favor of teachers. R.C. 1.11. See, also, .jS£aíe ex rel. Luckey v. Etheridge (1992), 62 Ohio St.3d 404, 406, 583 N.E.2d 960, 962. One of the issues presented in the instant cause has been resolved by one of the two companion cases to this action, Farmer v. Kelleys Island Bd. of Edn. (1994), 69 Ohio St.3d 156, 630 N.E.2d 721.

In Farmer, supra, this court held in the second and third paragraphs of the syllabus that all of the evaluation requirements of R.C. 3319.111(B) are incorporated in R.C. 3319.111(A), thus eliminating the argument that a school board’s violation of evaluation requirements in R.C. 3319.111(A) is redressable under R.C. 3319.11(G)(7), but that a violation of evaluation requirements of R.C. 3319.111(B) is not.

In the cause sub judice, plaintiff-appellant contends that the defendantappellee board of education failed to adopt the evaluation procedures set forth in R.C. 3319.111(B), and that in ratifying the evaluations given her, the board violated R.C. 3319.111(B)(3) in not providing plaintiff with specific recommendations regarding any improvement she needed to make in her performance as a teacher and means by which she could obtain assistance in making such improvements.

The board counters plaintiff’s arguments by pointing out that the collective bargaining agreement in effect at the time this action arose already provided nonrenewal and evaluation procedures, and that by virtue of R.C. 4117.10 the provisions of the agreement prevail over R.C. 3319.11 and 3319.111. The board also claims that its evaluations did comply with R.C. 3319.111. The board contends that R.C. 3319.111(B) does not require that a new set of evaluation procedures be adopted by a board of education, so long as it adheres to evaluation procedures set forth in a collective bargaining agreement that provide as much protection to teachers.

In response to the board’s argument, plaintiff asserts that a board of education is bound to adopt and apply the statutory evaluation procedures of R.C. 3319.111, as well as the evaluation procedures set forth in the collective bargaining agreement, unless the agreement specifically excludes or negates statutory evaluation procedures.

With regard to whether the evaluation provisions of the collective bargaining prevail over R.C. 3319.111, we note that R.C. 4117.10 states in part:

[165]*165“(A) An agreement between a public employer and an exclusive representative entered into pursuant to this chapter governs the wages, hours, and terms and conditions of public employment covered by the agreement. * * * Where no agreement exists or where an agreement makes no specification about a matter, the public employer and public employees are subject to all applicable state or local laws or ordinances pertaining to the wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment for public employees. * * * [Tjhis chapter prevails over any and all other conflicting laws, resolutions, provisions, present or future, except as otherwise specified in this chapter or as otherwise specified by the general assembly. * * *” (Emphasis added.)

This court has held that a provision in a collective bargaining agreement prevails over a conflicting statute. Cuyahoga Falls Edn. Assn. v. Cuyahoga Falls City School Dist. Bd of Edn. (1991), 61 Ohio St.3d 193, 574 N.E.2d 442; State ex rel. Rollins v. Cleveland Hts.-Univ. Hts. Bd. of Edn. (1988), 40 Ohio St.3d 123, 532 N.E.2d 1289.

However, given the remedial nature of R.C. 3319.111 we hold that unless a collective bargaining agreement specifically provides to the contrary, R.C. 3319.-111 governs the evaluation of a teacher employed under a limited contract. See State ex rel. Clark v. Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Auth. (1990), 48 Ohio St.3d 19, 548 N.E.2d 940, where we held that a collective bargaining agreement must specifically exclude statutory rights in order to negate the application of those rights.

The collective bargaining agreement was entered into prior to the effective date of R.C. 3319.111, and therefore does not specifically exclude or negate the rights contained in this statute. However, R.C. 3319.111(A) specifically states that a school board which employs a teacher under a limited contract “ * * * shall evaluate such a teacher in compliance with the requirements of this section in any school year in which the board may wish to declare its intention not to reemploy him * * *.” Moreover, R.C. 3319.111(B) provides that “[a]ny board of education evaluating a teacher pursuant to this section shall adopt evaluation procedures that shall be applied each time a teacher is evaluated pursuant to this section.” (Emphasis added.)

Under these circumstances, we believe that while the board was bound by the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement, it was also bound by the statutory evaluation procedures contained in R.C. 3319.111. In failing to adopt the evaluation procedures set forth in R.C. 3319.111, the school board acted improperly in its decision not to reemploy plaintiff. Accordingly, we hold that the lower courts erred in excusing the board from complying with R.C. 3319.111.

With respect to the issue concerning the procedures that were conducted in evaluating plaintiffs performance as a teacher, the record indicates that plaintiff [166]*166was evaluated, among other times, on November 27,1989, December 19,1989 and March 27, 1990. In each of these evaluation reports, the evaluator cited one or more areas in which plaintiff needed improvement in her teaching performance. While the evaluator in these reports did in some areas provide adequate specific recommendations for improvement and means to obtain assistance, in other areas such as “encourages student participation” he did not. Similar to our holding in the third paragraph of the syllabus in Farmer, supra, we hold that the failure of a board of education to satisfy the requirements of R.C. 3319.111(B)(3) constitutes a failure to comply with the evaluation requirements of R.C. 3319.111(A), and such failure will permit a reviewing court to order the board to reemploy the teacher pursuant to R.C. 3319.11(G)(7).1

An even more compelling argument raised by plaintiff concerns the board’s failure to comply with R.C. 3319.11(G)2 by not providing plaintiff “a written statement describing the circumstances that led to the board’s intention not to reemploy” her. In response to plaintiff’s timely written demand for a written statement describing the circumstances that led the board to decide not to reemploy her, the board issued the following statement to plaintiff:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
630 N.E.2d 725, 69 Ohio St. 3d 162, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/naylor-v-cardinal-local-school-district-board-of-education-ohio-1994.