Ostrander v. Board of Directors of Porter County Education Interlocal

650 N.E.2d 1192, 1995 Ind. App. LEXIS 610, 1995 WL 319725
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 30, 1995
Docket46A05-9403-CV-92
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 650 N.E.2d 1192 (Ostrander v. Board of Directors of Porter County Education Interlocal) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ostrander v. Board of Directors of Porter County Education Interlocal, 650 N.E.2d 1192, 1995 Ind. App. LEXIS 610, 1995 WL 319725 (Ind. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

*1194 OPINION

BARTEAU, Judge.

At issue here is whether teacher Susan Ostrander was entitled to additional due process protections prior to the non-renewal of her teaching contract. We find that she was not so entitled and affirm the decision of the trial court granting summary judgment in favor of the Board of Directors of Porter County Education Interlocal (School Corporation).

FACTS

Susan Ostrander's teaching contract was not renewed by the School Corporation for the 1991-92 school year. In response, Os-trander filed a Complaint in Porter Circuit Court (later venued to LaPorte Circuit Court) alleging the non-renewal of her contract was arbitrary and capricious and violated a collective bargaining agreement and statutory due process requirements. The Honorable Robert S. Gettinger of the La-Porte Circuit Court, in general judgment terms, granted summary judgment in favor of the School Corporation. Ostrander appeals, stating the issue for review as:

Whether Plaintiff is entitled to summary judgment when she taught under contract for three successive years and yet was neither afforded due process procedures contained in a collective bargaining agreement nor provided statutory due process hearing before her teaching contract was canceled.

We heard oral argument in this case on April 26, 1995.

Three arguments are presented, one a matter of statutory construction, one a matter of contract interpretation, and one a matter of constitutional due process. All deal with the School Corporation's failure to provide Ostrander with certain due process procedures to which she contends she was entitled. The facts are not in dispute as to the procedures provided. The dispute centers on whether Ostrander was entitled to additional protections.

STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION

Ostrander contends that she was a semi-permanent teacher. If she was a semi-permanent teacher, she did not receive the due process protections to which she was entitled, specifically a hearing and an opportunity to be heard and present witnesses.

School Corporation contends Ostrander was a non-permanent teacher. Both parties agree that if Ostrander's status was that of non-permanent, she received all the due process protection to which she was entitled.

The Teacher Tenure Act, Ind.Code § 20-6.1-4, et seq. (the "Act") establishes a hierar-chial structure of teacher classification for tenure purposes: non-permanent, semi-permanent and permanent. This structure determines the level of due process which must be provided a teacher. Non-permanent teachers are entitled to minimal due process protections. Semi-permanent and permanent teachers are entitled to comprehensive due process protections. The status of a teacher is determined by the successive years a teacher has served under contract with a public school corporation.

A permanent teacher is one who:

(1) serves under contract as a teacher in a public school corporation for five (5) or more successive years; and
(2) at any time enters into a teacher's contract for further service with that school corporation ...

Indiana Code 20-6.1-4-9.

A semi-permanent teacher is one who:

(1) serves under contract as a teacher in a public school corporation for two (2) sue-cessive years;
(2) at any time thereafter enters into a teacher's contract for further service with that school corporation; and
(3) is not a permanent teacher, as defined in IC 20-6.1-4-9 ...

Indiana Code 20-6.1-4-9.5. Teachers with service less than that enumerated above are non-permanent teachers.

We need look no further than the provisions listed above to resolve Ostrander's teacher status under the Act. Ostrander and the School Corporation commenced their re *1195 lationship when they entered into, in August of 1988, a Teacher's Temporary Contract effective for the first semester of the 1988-1989 school year. Another Teacher's Temporary Contract, effective for the second semester of the 1988-1989 school year, was executed by Ostrander and the School Corporation in February of 1989. Ostrander was next employed by the School Corporation during the second semester of the 1989-90 school year, under a Regular Teacher's Contract executed by the parties in February of 1990. For the 1990-91 school year, the parties once again entered into a Regular Teacher's Contract, executed in February of 1991 for the entire school year.

1988-89 School Year:

Fall of 1988 - Temporary Contract

Spring of 1989 - Temporary Contract

1989-90 School Year:

Fall of 1989 - No Contract-Did Not Teach

Spring of 1990 - Regular Contract

1990-91. School Year:

Fall of 1990 - Regular Contract

A teacher is non-permanent if the teacher has taught for less than two successive years. A teacher is semi-permanent if the teacher has taught under contract for two successive years and has entered into a new contract. Ostrander did not teach during the fall semester of 1989. Thus, at the time of her contract non-renewal, she had not taught for two successive years and was not a semi-permanent teacher.

Ostrander contend that this issue was waived by the School Corporation's failure to argue it on appeal. However, when reviewing an entry of summary judgment, we stand in the shoes of the trial court. We do not weigh the evidence but will consider the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Huff v. Langman (1995), Ind.App., 646 N.E.2d 730. We may sustain a summary judgment upon any theory supported by the designated materials. T.R. 56(C). School Corporation designated its Brief in Support of Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment on the issue of whether Ostrander was a semi-permanent teacher. In that brief, the arguments raised that Ostran-der had not taught for two successive years. Thus, the issue, having been raised in the proceeding before the trial court and properly designated, is available to us on review.

Ostrander also argues that such a construction is in conflict with the case of Sherrod v. Lawrenceburg School City (1938), 213 Ind. 392, 12 N.E.2d 944. In Sherrod, teacher had a contract obligating her to teach art on twelve days in each month and had served the school under substantially similar contracts for more than six years. When the school arbitrarily lowered her salary the question arose whether she was a permanent teacher. Our supreme court held that the teacher tenure act in effect at that time did not require that a teacher teach every day or every hour of every day. The court held that the statute required:

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Bluebook (online)
650 N.E.2d 1192, 1995 Ind. App. LEXIS 610, 1995 WL 319725, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ostrander-v-board-of-directors-of-porter-county-education-interlocal-indctapp-1995.