Robey v. Cleveland School District

138 So. 3d 230, 38 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 530, 2014 WL 1778004, 2014 Miss. App. LEXIS 246
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMay 6, 2014
DocketNo. 2012-CA-00755-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 138 So. 3d 230 (Robey v. Cleveland School District) 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
Robey v. Cleveland School District, 138 So. 3d 230, 38 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 530, 2014 WL 1778004, 2014 Miss. App. LEXIS 246 (Mich. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

GRIFFIS, P. J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. Walter Robey appeals the decision by the Cleveland School District Board of Trustees not to renew his employment contract as principal of East Side High School. Robey argues that the decision should be reversed because it was arbitrary and capricious, was not supported by substantial evidence, and was in violation of his constitutional and statutory rights. We find no error and affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2. In July 2008, Robey was employed by the Cleveland School District as principal of East Side High School. In February 2011, Robey was advised that the [232]*232Board would not renew his employment contract for the upcoming 2011-2012 school year.

¶ 3. Dr. Jackie Thigpen, the superintendent of the Cleveland School District, gave the Board five reasons for the recommendation: Robey’s failure to follow district policy regarding out-of-state travel, his failure to follow district policy regarding school-activity requests, his failure to follow district financial-procedures policy, his failure to meet the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) goals for his school, and the failure to maintain a clean learning environment.

¶ 4. As required by the Mississippi Education Employment Procedures Law (EEPL), the Board notified Robey of its decision in writing. Robey requested and was granted a hearing. At the hearing, Robey was represented by counsel. He testified along with four other witnesses. Several documents were offered into evidence. Thereafter, the Board upheld Thigpen’s nonrenewal recommendation.

¶ 5. On appeal to the chancery court, Robey challenged the Board’s decision. The chancellor affirmed the Board’s decision of nonrenewal. As to the procedural issues presented, the chancellor determined that any defects in providing the required notice, under Mississippi Code Annotated section 37-9-113(4) (Rev.2012), constituted “harmless error.” As to the substantive legal issues, the chancellor determined that the Board’s nonrenewal decision was supported by the evidence in the record. It is from this decision that Robey now appeals.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶6. When this Court reviews a decision by a chancery or circuit court concerning an agency action, we apply the same standard of review that the lower courts are bound to follow. Hinds Cnty. Dist. Bd. of Trs. v. R.B. ex rel. D.L.B., 10 So.3d 387, 394 (¶ 17) (Miss.2008). Further, Mississippi statutory law sets the standard of review of a school board’s decision not to renew an employment contract:

The scope of review of the chancery court in such cases shall be limited to a review of the record made before the school board or hearing officer to determine if the action of the school board is unlawful for the reason that it was: (a) Not supported by substantial evidence; (b) Arbitrary or capricious; or (c) In violation of some statutory or constitutional right of the employee.

Miss.Code Ann. § 37-9-113(3) (Rev.2012). Uncorroborated hearsay is not substantial credible evidence. Noxubee Cnty. Bd. of Educ. v. Givens, 481 So.2d 816, 820 (Miss.1985).

ANALYSIS

1. Whether the Board violated Robey’s statutory rights and his due-process rights.

¶7. Robey argues that the conduct of the Board in regard to his nonre-newal hearing was clearly erroneous and violated his statutory rights and his due-process rights. Particularly, Robey argues that the Board’s one-day delay in providing notice of his nonrenewal violated provisions of the EEPL.

¶ 8. Mississippi Code Annotated section 37-9-105(a) (Rev.2012) provides:

If a recommendation is made by the school district not to offer an employee a renewal contract for a successive year, written notice of the proposed nonreem-ployment stating the reasons for the proposed nonreemployment shall be given no later than the following:
If the employee is a principal, the superintendent, without further board [233]*233action, shall give notice of nonreem-ployment on or before March 1....

Also, Mississippi Code Annotated section 37-9-113(4) provides that “no relief shall be granted based upon a court’s finding of harmless error by the board in complying with the procedural requirements of [sections 37-9-101 to 37-9-113.” The supreme court has interpreted this provision as providing that any defects in the timeliness of notice and other procedural defects are harmless error when the school board makes a good-faith attempt to follow the applicable procedures. See Ford v. Holly Springs Sch. Dist., 665 So.2d 840, 845 (Miss.1995) (noted that a six-day delay in service would have been harmless procedural error excusable under section 37-9-113(4)); see also Cox v. Thomas, 403 So.2d 135, 137-38 (Miss.1981) (held that certain procedural defects can be excused where there is a “substantial and manifestly good faith attempt by the superintendent and the school board to comply with the law”).

¶ 9. This Court recently affirmed a school district’s employment-nonrenewal decision and found that the school board’s failure to comply with the EEPL when it did not permit the employee to give a closing statement after his hearing before a hearing officer constituted “harmless error.” Alexander v. Reeves, 90 So.3d 1273, 1281 (¶ 22) (Miss.Ct.App.2012). Because the plaintiff employee “was given ample notice of the charges against him, was represented by counsel, and was afforded a full opportunity to address [the charges] on the three separate hearing dates,” he suffered no prejudice, despite the procedural error, as “there was a ‘substantial and manifestly good faith attempt’ to comply with the statute.” Id.

¶ 10. Robey’s claim here is based on the contention that he did not personally receive his notiee-of-nonrenewal letter until March 2, one-day late. Thus, he argues that the Board’s actions were clearly erroneous and his nonrenewal decision should be reversed.

¶ 11. The record indicates that Thigpen prepared Robey’s nonrenewal letter on February 24. She planned to deliver it in person at East Side High School that day. However, Robey was not at school that day. After Thigpen realized Robey was out sick and would not return to work until March 1, she mailed the nonrenewal letter by certified mail to Robey on February 25. She also planned to deliver a copy personally to Thigpen when he returned to work on March 1, as he initially claimed he would.

¶ 12. When Robey failed to return to work on March 1, Thigpen sent a process server to deliver the letter to Robey’s home. The process server made several attempts to deliver the letter on March 1. Although Robey claimed he was home sick, no one answered the door at his house. The process server attempted to serve Ro-bey the next day, but his wife refused service. It was not until Robey’s wife went to the mailbox and accepted the certified letter that Robey actually received the letter.

¶ 13. We find that Thigpen’s efforts to serve Robey with the notice of nonrenewal constitute a substantial good-faith effort, and Robey was not prejudiced by the one-day delay. As a result, we conclude that the one-day delay was harmless error.

¶ 14.

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Bluebook (online)
138 So. 3d 230, 38 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 530, 2014 WL 1778004, 2014 Miss. App. LEXIS 246, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robey-v-cleveland-school-district-missctapp-2014.