Stansbury v. School District

50 Pa. D. & C.2d 348, 1970 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 101
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Delaware County
DecidedOctober 8, 1970
Docketno. 3346 of 1970
StatusPublished

This text of 50 Pa. D. & C.2d 348 (Stansbury v. School District) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Delaware County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stansbury v. School District, 50 Pa. D. & C.2d 348, 1970 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 101 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1970).

Opinion

DIGGINS, J.,

This is an equity action by the parents of five1 school-expelled or school-suspended youngsters on behalf of themselves and members of their class in order to enjoin the School District of the City of Chester from:

1. Preventing named and class plaintiffs from attending public schools in the City of Chester;

[349]*3492. Suspending/expelling2 named and class plaintiffs before they are given a proper hearing, except when the student presents a manifest danger to persons or property at the school;

3. Conducting suspension/expulsion hearings until the district promulgates and adheres to regulations sanctioned by the laws of Pennsylvania and the United States Constitution which guarantee fundamental rights of due process for all students;

4. Conducting suspension/expulsion hearings with persons other than school directors, hilly participating as members of the hearing committee;

5. Conducting suspension/expulsion hearings with school board members who are neither impartial nor competent;

6. Suspending/expelling named and class plaintiffs from school and subsequently filing a petition with juvenile court on the same charges that led to the suspension/expulsion;

7. Indefinitely excluding named and class plaintiffs from the public schools pending juvenile court adjudication; and

8. Preventing named and class plaintiffs from attending public schools after a juvenile court judge has dismissed the charges against them.

The procedural and substantive aspects of each case vary, but the issues are essentially identical. The defense contends that equity has no jurisdiction. We disagree and we find that equity has jurisdiction.

The focal point of this case is an allegation brought by plaintiffs, through the Delaware County Legal As[350]*350sistance Association, Inc., a socially oriented legal assistance group, that pupils in the school system of the City of Chester are suspended or expelled without regard to the fundamental principles of due process. The school board, in an attempt to provide these safeguards, adopted the following resolution:

“BE AND IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED, by the Board of School Directors of the School District of the City of Chester, in accordance with Section 1318 of Article 13 of the Public School Code, that:
“1. Every Principal or Teacher in charge of a Public School may temporarily suspend any pupil on account of disobedience or misconduct.
“2. In any such case, the Principal or Teacher shall give immediately a signed written statement of the facts and the name and address of the pupil to the Principal, (unless the temporary suspension is made by the Principal himself), and to the Superintendent of Schools, and to the School District Suspension and Expulsion Committee, notice to the said Committee to be given to the Director of the Home School Relations Office.
“3. The powers of the Board are hereby delegated to a committee of three (3) members of the Board, appointed by the President of the Board from time to time, which Committee shall be known as Committee on Suspension and Expulsion of Pupils, and the appointment by the President to the said Committee of Clarence H. Roberts, Edward Parry and Anthony Przedzial as the present members, is hereby approved.
“4. Upon receipt by the said Committee of a written report of the suspension of any pupil, the Committee shall, by written notice to the parents or guardian of the said pupil, fix a time and place for a hearing upon the suspension, enclosing a copy of the reported facts. Said notice shall be sent by certified mail and shall request the attendance of the pupil at the hearing. In [351]*351addition the said notice shall state that the pupil and any person acting for him will have the right to hear the testimony of the accuser or accusers, examine witnesses, and offer testimony, and that the pupil may be represented by counsel.
“5. The Committee shall make and retain a written record of the proceedings at the hearing and with the names of the persons in attendance.
“6. As promptly as possible after the conclusion of the hearing, the Committee by written order may reinstate the pupil, suspend the pupil for as much fiirther time as it may determine, or may permanently expel him.
“7. A copy of the order of the Committee shall be sent by certified mail to the pupil in care of his parents or guardian, and to the Superintendent and Principal.”

In the opinion of the chancellor, the intent and purpose of this resolution is good. It was promulgated to safeguard the interests of the pupils. However, the record amply discloses that the administrative group, acting under the authority of the resolution, almost totally disregards its provisions, with the result that heretofore the procedures leading to the suspension or expulsion are little, if any, better than those in vogue before the resolution. Oftentimes the provisions for notice are omitted. Other times notice is orally given to the child only. Other times, a written notice to the parents is had, but even there these notices have been woefully deficient. They do not state the nature of the hearing or of the offense charged, the name of the accuser, that the student may be represented by counsel and, if indigent, counsel will be provided, that the student may produce witnesses, etc. Witnesses are not sworn; incompetent and unverified testimony is allowed; participation of lawyers, when present, is unduly limited; right against self-incrimination dis[352]*352regarded; and there are no guidelines on how the hearing should be conducted.

Counsel for plaintiffs agrees with the chancellor that the basic intent and purpose of the resolution are good. Indeed, section 1318 of the Public School Code of March 10, 1949, P. L. 30, 24 PS §13-1318, provides that before a student can be placed on prolonged suspension or expelled from school, he must first have a proper hearing. This resolution is an implementation of that mandate. It is the failure to properly implement the resolution which is the principal thrust of the attack and the chancellor agrees that the record supports this position.

The chancellor is informed dehors the record from both sides that since the hearing, and the attitude of the chancellor expressed at the time of the hearing, things have improved in this area in the defendant school district, but still leave much to be desired, and they think and urge upon the chancellor that the resolution should be amended and expanded. While the chancellor does not think that he has the right or duty to legislate for the school district, nevertheless he feels that in many instances the suggestions made by plaintiffs have merit and should be implemented by the school board. Several of the requests which plaintiffs make of the court in this action are legislative in nature and the chancellor must be careful not to legislate.

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Bluebook (online)
50 Pa. D. & C.2d 348, 1970 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 101, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stansbury-v-school-district-pactcompldelawa-1970.