Phillips v. South Range Local School District Board of Education
1989 Ohio LEXIS 211, 45 Ohio St. 3d 66, 543 N.E.2d 492 (1989)
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Rule of Law:
Under Ohio law (R.C. 3319.17), a school board may not suspend a tenured teacher's contract on the basis of decreased student enrollment unless the decline in enrollment is actual and current at the time of the suspension; a long-term historical decline that has ceased is an insufficient basis.
Facts:
- Catherine Phillips was a tenured teacher in the Business Education Department of the South Range Local School District.
- The school district experienced a 22% decline in student enrollment over a ten-year period from 1976 to 1985.
- In the 1985-1986 school year, when Phillips's contract was suspended, the district-wide student enrollment had stabilized and was the same as the prior year.
- Enrollment in the high school, where Phillips taught, had been increasing each year since 1983.
- The Board of Education consolidated courses and eliminated shorthand within the Business Education Department, which Phillips was certified to teach.
- The South Range Local School District Board of Education suspended Phillips's continuing teaching contract in 1985, citing a decline in enrollment.
Procedural Posture:
- Catherine Phillips sued the South Range Local School District Board of Education in the trial court after her contract was suspended.
- The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the Board of Education.
- Phillips, as appellant, appealed the trial court's decision to the court of appeals.
- The court of appeals affirmed the judgment of the trial court in favor of the Board of Education, the appellee.
- The Supreme Court of Ohio then accepted the case for review.
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Issue:
Does R.C. 3319.17 permit a school board to suspend a tenured teacher's contract based on a long-term historical decline in student enrollment when district enrollment has stabilized or is increasing in the year of the suspension?
Opinions:
Majority - Resnick, J.
No. A school board cannot suspend a teacher's contract under R.C. 3319.17 based on a historical decline in enrollment that is no longer occurring. The statute is an emergency measure that must be construed narrowly and applies only when there is an actual and current decline in enrollment at the time of the reduction. A board cannot use a prior decline as a pretext for suspension when enrollment has stabilized. Furthermore, a board cannot justify a suspension based on a decline in enrollment within a specific department that the board itself caused by reorganizing courses. To permit such actions would allow boards to circumvent the due process protections of the Teacher Tenure Act.
Dissenting - Holmes, J.
Yes. A school board should be permitted to suspend a teacher's contract based on a significant long-term decline in enrollment. The statute requires a 'decreased' enrollment, not a currently 'decreasing' one, and a 22% drop over ten years clearly qualifies. This court's precedent in Dorian v. Euclid Bd. of Edn. supports allowing boards flexibility to respond to such long-term trends. The majority's decision improperly strips local school boards of the necessary control to manage their staffing and budgets in response to sustained enrollment losses, which is a widespread issue.
Dissenting - Wright, J.
Yes. The board's reduction was reasonable and permissible under the statute. The statute refers to a 'decreased' enrollment, which logically requires a comparison of current enrollment with past years; a ten-year decline satisfies this language. The majority’s new requirement of a decline in the actual year of suspension is shortsighted and unwise. This rule will pressure school boards to make hasty staff reductions during any minor, temporary dip in enrollment rather than making informed decisions after a long-term trend has stabilized, which is contrary to the spirit of teacher tenure.
Analysis:
This decision significantly strengthens teacher tenure protections in Ohio by narrowing the grounds for contract suspension under R.C. 3319.17. It establishes a 'current decline' rule, preventing school boards from using historical enrollment data as a justification for layoffs once enrollment has stabilized. The ruling also limits a board's ability to orchestrate layoffs through departmental restructuring, thereby closing a potential loophole for circumventing the more rigorous termination procedures of R.C. 3319.16. This precedent forces school boards to base suspension decisions on immediate, demonstrable needs rather than long-term historical trends, prioritizing job security for tenured educators.
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