Tobe-Williams v. New Hanover County Board of Education

NO. COA13-679
NORTH CAROLINA COURT OF APPEALS
Filed: 17 June 2014
TIFFANY N. TOBE-WILLIAMS,
Petitioner,
v. New Hanover County
No. 12 CVS 3128
NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF
EDUCATION; a/k/a NEW HANOVER
COUNTY SCHOOLS,
Respondent.
Appeal by respondent from order entered 4 January 2013 by
Judge W. Allen Cobb, Jr. in New Hanover County Superior Court.
Heard in the Court of Appeals 7 November 2013.
The Leon Law Firm, P.C., by Mary-Ann Leon; and The
McGuinness Law Firm, by J. Michael McGuinness, for
petitioner-appellee.
Tharrington Smith, L.L.P., by Deborah R. Stagner, for
respondent-appellant.
N.C. School Boards Association, by Allison B. Schafer and
Christine T. Scheef, for Amicus Curiae North Carolina
School Boards Association.
N.C. Association of Educators, by Ann McColl and Carrie
Bumgardner, for Amicus Curiae North Carolina Association of
Educators.
GEER, Judge.
Respondent New Hanover County Board of Education ("the
Board") appeals from an order reversing the Board's decision not
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to renew the contract of petitioner Tiffany N. Tobe-Williams.
We conclude that the process employed by the Board in reaching
its decision violated Ms. Tobe-Williams' procedural rights under
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-287.1(d) (2013) and under N.C. Gen. Stat.
§ 115C-325(b) (2013) when it based its decision not to renew Ms.
Tobe-Williams' contract on evidence not contained in her
personnel file and without giving her notice of that evidence
and an opportunity to respond to it. Accordingly, we affirm the
trial court's conclusion that the Board's decision was made upon
unlawful procedure.
However, the grounds for nonrenewal asserted by the Board
are not arbitrary, capricious, personal, or political, and the
record contains evidence that would support the Board's decision
even though some of the Board's specific findings of fact are
unsupported. We, therefore, reverse the trial court's order of
reinstatement and remand to the Board for reconsideration of its
decision after giving Ms. Tobe-Williams notice of the
information that the Board intends to consider in making its
decision and an opportunity to respond to that evidence.
Facts
Ms. Tobe-Williams was employed by the Board as an assistant
principal in the New Hanover County School District under a
four-year contract from July 2008 to 30 June 2012. During the
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2008-2009 academic year, Ms. Tobe-Williams worked at Myrtle
Grove Middle School. During the course of that academic year,
Ms. Tobe-Williams' relationship with her immediate supervisor,
principal Robin Meiers, deteriorated due, in large part, to Ms.
Tobe-Williams' concerns about the financial practices of the
school treasurer, which Ms. Tobe-Williams believed were not in
compliance with Board policies. Although Ms. Tobe-Williams
expressed her concerns to Ms. Meiers on several occasions, she
did not feel that Ms. Meiers adequately addressed the problem.
The Human Resources Department encouraged Ms. Tobe-Williams to
work with Ms. Meiers to resolve the issues.
On 19 June 2009, Ms. Tobe-Williams attempted to file a
grievance by emailing Dr. John A. Welmers, Jr., the assistant
superintendent for Human Resources, and expressing her
dissatisfaction with the lack of response or guidance from Human
Resources regarding her allegations of unethical financial
practices. In the email, Ms. Tobe-Williams stated that if the
matter was not resolved by the following Tuesday, she would
contact the Department of Public Instruction to request a full
investigation. She indicated that "resolved MINIMALLY mean[t],"
among other things, that she be transferred to another school.
Dr. Welmers responded that Ms. Tobe-Williams' allegations
concerning the treasurer were being investigated and that an
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internal auditor and Ms. Meiers had taken "personnel action
concerning the improvement of the treasurer's performance and
put in place steps to ensure that the treasurer meets all of the
school system's guidelines and regulations . . . ." Dr. Welmers
notified Ms. Tobe-Williams that her email did not constitute a
formal grievance and explained to Ms. Tobe-Williams the
guidelines of the Board's formal grievance policy, concluding
that "[i]f you believe one of these conditions [for which a
grievance may be filed] exists that has not already been
addressed by the school system, you certainly have every right
to begin the formal grievance procedure."
On 10 July 2009, Ms. Tobe-Williams filed a formal grievance
against Ms. Meiers, Dr. Welmers, and Dr. Susan Hahn, the
Director of Human Resources. On 19 August 2009, then-
superintendent Dr. Alfred H. Lerch, Jr. granted Ms. Tobe-
Williams a transfer to Wrightsville Beach Elementary School
("WBES"), and Ms. Tobe-Williams agreed to drop her grievance.
Superintendent Lerch requested that Ms. Meiers not complete an
evaluation for Ms. Tobe-Williams for the 2008-2009 academic
year.
During the 2009-2010 academic year, Ms. Tobe-Williams had a
successful year as an assistant principal at WBES, working under
Principal Pansy R. Rumley. During her second year at WBES, on
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21 and 25 January 2011, Ms. Tobe-Williams suffered allergic
reactions while participating in a school clean up. Ms. Tobe-
Williams came to believe that these allergic reactions and her
subsequent health issues were related to the uncleanliness of
the school and the possibility of black mold growing in the
building. On 1 February 2011, Ms. Tobe-Williams' doctor wrote
her a note stating she "needs time off from school until dust
and black (mold?) [sic] cleaned up."
In response to an incident report relating to Ms. Tobe-
Williams, the New Hanover County Schools Maintenance Operations
Department completed an indoor air quality ("IAQ") observation
report on 28 January 2011. The N.C. Department of Environmental
and Natural Resources Division of Environmental Health also
inspected the school on 16 February 2011, while the New Hanover
County Health Department conducted an inspection and tested for
mold, allergens, and other health issues on 22 February 2011.
None of the reports from these inspections indicated that mold
was present in the school.
On 23 February 2011, Ms. Tobe-Williams met with Dr.
Welmers; Mr. Bill Hance, the assistant superintendent of
maintenance; and Dr. Jim Markley, the new superintendent of New
Hanover County Schools. At the meeting, Ms. Tobe-Williams
expressed her concerns regarding the presence of mold, the lack
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of cleanliness of WBES, and her dissatisfaction with the
administration's response to her concerns. She believed the
administration had deceived her by failing to timely provide her
with information concerning the mold investigation, by failing
to return her emails, and by not sharing with her pictures of
the school that Mr. Hance had taken. Ms. Tobe-Williams
requested that an IAQ examination be done at the school.
Mr. Hance explained to Ms. Tobe-Williams that no mold or
other significant health issues had been found at the school by
the Health Department. Regarding the cleanliness of WBES, Dr.
Markley acknowledged that WBES's previous inspection reports
showed that WBES had received the lowest overall score in the
school system, but he explained that WBES nevertheless met the
school system's general guidelines for cleanliness.
On 25 February 2011, Dr. Markley temporarily transferred
Ms. Tobe-Williams to Alderman Elementary School ("AES"),
effective 28 February 2011, to fill the position of an assistant
principal who was on maternity leave. His letter to Ms. Tobe-
Williams indicated the transfer was "as a precaution for your
health and safety due to the fact that you have alleged that you
have become sick at work and that you believe it is due to poor
indoor air quality . . . at [WBES] . . . ." He told Ms. Tobe-
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Williams that they were having the IAQ at WBES tested and that
he would reassess her assignment once he received the results.
Ms. Tobe-Williams did not report to work at AES. Instead,
she filed a grievance against Dr. Markley and sent an email to
the Board's attorney maintaining that the transfer was "in
violation of federal OSHA regulations which prohibit employers
from transferring employees due to workplace hazard complaints."
She informed Dr. Markley that she would be out the first week of
her temporary transfer due to multiple doctor appointments.
Additional IAQ testing of WBES was completed by Phoenix
EnviroCorp on 25 February 2011, 7 March 2011, and 11 March 2011.
Mr. Hance notified Ms. Tobe-Williams when he received the
testing reports from Phoenix EnviroCorp and made copies of the
reports available to Ms. Tobe-Williams. The results revealed
that there were elevated levels of mold in one classroom, mobile
classroom seven ("MC-7"). Phoenix EnviroCorp also conducted
carbon dioxide monitoring in all the classrooms on 11 March
2011. The report concluded that the readings indicated
"possible ventilation issues," but noted that all the
measurements were "well below" the OSHA Permissible Exposure
Limit and the NIOSH Recommended Exposure limit for carbon
dioxide. On Saturday, 12 March 2011, custodians throughout the
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New Hanover County School District conducted a "thorough
cleaning" of WBES from 7:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.
On 22 March 2011, Ms. Rumley sent a letter to the parents
of the students assigned to MC-7 explaining why the students had
been moved from MC-7 to the library. The letter explained that
the school was replacing the HVAC unit and that "[o]nce
everything is operational and a final air quality inspection is
approved, the students will return to MC-7." Chris Peterson,
the director of maintenance operations, reviewed the letter
prior to its being sent to the parents and concluded that the
information in the letter was accurate.
On 24 March 2011, Dr. Markley informed Ms. Tobe-Williams
that the maintenance department had completed a thorough
cleaning of the school, and the air quality in the building was
"good" with respect to levels of carbon dioxide and mold. He
noted that the most recent tests had indicated that elevated
mold spore levels were only found in one location, MC-7, and
were "not elevated to a significant degree." As a
"precautionary measure," Dr. Markley requested that Ms. Tobe-
Williams not work in that area until further testing had been
completed. Dr. Markley requested that Ms. Tobe-Williams return
to WBES on 28 March 2011 unless her doctor advised her not to.
Additionally, he noted that "[i]f your doctor states that you
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should not return to that specific building or upon your return
you experience any difficulties with breathing, anaphylaxis, or
other health conditions, we will take that information into
consideration for accommodating your condition which may involve
making other arrangements for your work site."
Ms. Tobe-Williams returned to work, and continued to pursue
her grievances against WBES regarding cleanliness and IAQ. On
10 May 2011, Ms. Tobe-Williams testified and presented evidence
at a hearing before the Board. After considering all the
evidence presented at the hearing, the Board adopted and sent
Ms. Tobe-Williams a written resolution, which concluded that Ms.
Tobe-Williams' concerns did not rise to the level of a valid
grievance.
After the hearing, Ms. Tobe-Williams continued to raise
complaints about the conditions at WBES, including a complaint
on 25 May 2011 that a window in the media center had been
screwed shut and posed a fire hazard. Ms. Tobe-Williams
believed that the window was purposefully screwed shut as
retaliation against her. The screws were removed promptly upon
Ms. Tobe-Williams' request.
The following day, 26 May 2011, Ms. Tobe-Williams,
appearing "visibly angry," confronted Ms. Rumley in her office
and told Ms. Rumley that "she was the angriest that she had ever
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been, and it was up to [Ms. Rumley] whether the next ten days
would be pleasant and amicable or not" and that Ms. Tobe-
Williams "could make life miserable by going to the news media
regarding the issues with Mobile Classroom 7." Specifically,
Ms. Tobe-Williams was upset about the window being screwed shut
and about the letter that Ms. Rumley had sent to parents
regarding MC-7. Ms. Tobe-Williams called Ms. Rumley a "liar"
for stating in the letter that MC-7 had received "A" ratings on
health department inspections.
Regarding the window, Ms. Rumley informed Ms. Tobe-Williams
that maintenance had screwed the window shut in an attempt to
follow the energy policy of not opening windows when the air-
conditioning was on. Ms. Rumley also produced for Ms. Tobe-
Williams the inspection reports that she believed showed the "A"
ratings for MC-7. Ms. Tobe-Williams explained that the "A" did
not refer to the rating, but rather the "status code."
Following the meeting, Ms. Rumley notified Dr. Markley that she
had misinterpreted the information on the inspection reports.
Due to a reduction in funding, Ms. Tobe-Williams was
transferred to Ogden Elementary School ("OES") as an assistant
principal for the 2011-2012 school year. Ms. Tobe-Williams
completed the year under Principal Tammy Bruestle and received
"Proficient" and "Accomplished" ratings on her final evaluation.
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The evaluation noted, however, that Ms. Tobe-Williams could "be
intimidating to staff members especially if they are under
performing [sic]."
At a Board meeting on 5 June 2012, Dr. Markley submitted to
the Board a list of principals and assistant principals,
including Ms. Tobe-Williams, with a recommendation that the
Board renew their contracts. Prior to the Board's vote on the
contracts, however, the Board requested additional time to
review Ms. Tobe-Williams' personnel file and other records
concerning Ms. Tobe-Williams' performance over the course of her
four-year contract "because [the Board] was aware of serious
concerns about" Ms. Tobe-Williams. As a result, the
superintendent removed Ms. Tobe-Williams' name from
consideration, and the Board did not vote on her contract at the
5 June 2012 meeting.
After the 5 June 2012 meeting, the Board reviewed Ms. Tobe-
Williams' personnel file, other information maintained by the
New Hanover County Schools' Human Resources Department, and a
memorandum submitted by Ms. Meiers regarding Ms. Tobe-Williams'
performance during the 2008-2009 school year. Ms. Tobe-Williams
was not contacted by the Board during this time. At the 10 July
2012 meeting, the superintendent again recommended that Ms.
Tobe-Williams' contract be renewed. Nonetheless, the Board
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unanimously voted not to renew Ms. Tobe-Williams' contract and
adopted a written resolution reflecting its decision.
Ms. Tobe-Williams appealed the nonrenewal decision to New
Hanover County Superior Court on the grounds that the decision
was arbitrary and capricious, not supported by substantial
evidence, in excess of statutory authority, and affected by
errors of law. The matter was heard on 17 December 2012 by the
trial court. On 4 January 2013, the court entered an order
reversing the Board's decision on the grounds that it was not
supported by substantial evidence in the record, was arbitrary
and capricious, and was based upon unlawful procedure in
violation of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-287.1. The Board timely
appealed to this Court.
Discussion
"On appeal of a decision of a school board, a trial court
sits as an appellate court and reviews the evidence presented to
the school board." Davis v. Macon Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 178 N.C.
App. 646, 651, 632 S.E.2d 590, 594 (2006). The Board's decision
not to renew an assistant principal's employment contract is
subject to judicial review in accordance with Article 4 of the
North Carolina Administrative Procedure Act ("APA"). N.C. Gen.
Stat. § 115C-287.1(d).
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Under Article 4, N.C. Gen. Stat. § 150B-51(b) (2013), a
trial court may reverse or modify the agency decision if it is:
(1) In violation of constitutional
provisions;
(2) In excess of the statutory authority or
jurisdiction of the agency or
administrative law judge;
(3) Made upon unlawful procedure;
(4) Affected by other error of law;
(5) Unsupported by substantial evidence
admissible under G.S. 150B-29(a), 150B-
30, or 150B-31 in view of the entire
record as submitted; or
(6) Arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of
discretion.
Errors alleged under subsections (1) through (4) are
reviewed de novo. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 150B-51(c). "When
conducting de novo review, the court considers the matter anew
and may freely substitute its own judgment for the board's."
Moore v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Bd. of Educ., 185 N.C. App. 566,
572, 649 S.E.2d 410, 415 (2007).
The whole record test applies to claims that the Board's
decision was unsupported by substantial evidence or was
arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion. Davis, 178
N.C. App. at 652, 632 S.E.2d at 594. "Pursuant to the whole
record test, the reviewing court examines all competent evidence
to determine whether a school board's decision was based upon
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substantial evidence." Id. "Substantial evidence is such
relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate
to support a conclusion." State ex rel. Comm'r of Ins. v. N.C.
Fire Ins. Rating Bureau, 292 N.C. 70, 80, 231 S.E.2d 882, 888
(1977).
"A court applying the whole record test may not substitute
its judgment for the agency's as between two conflicting views,
even though it could reasonably have reached a different result
had it reviewed the matter de novo." Watkins v. N.C. State Bd.
of Dental Exam'rs, 358 N.C. 190, 199, 593 S.E.2d 764, 769
(2004). "Only when there is no substantial evidence supporting
administrative action should the court reverse an agency's
ruling." Mendenhall v. N.C. Dep't of Human Res., 119 N.C. App.
644, 650, 459 S.E.2d 820, 824 (1995).
This Court reviews the trial court's order for error of
law. Moore, 185 N.C. App. at 572-73, 649 S.E.2d at 415. "Our
task is essentially twofold: '(1) determining whether the trial
court exercised the appropriate scope of review and, if
appropriate, (2) deciding whether the court did so properly.'"
Id. at 573, 649 S.E.2d at 415 (quoting Alexander v. Cumberland
Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 171 N.C. App. 649, 655, 615 S.E.2d 408, 413
(2005)).
I
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The Board first argues that the trial court erred in
failing to dismiss the petition for lack of personal
jurisdiction. The APA provides that "the person seeking review
must file a petition within 30 days after the person is served
with a written copy of the decision." N.C. Gen. Stat. § 150B-
45(a) (2013). Additionally, "[w]ithin 10 days after the
petition is filed with the court, the party seeking the review
shall serve copies of the petition by personal service or by
certified mail upon all who were parties of record to the
administrative proceedings." N.C. Gen. Stat. § 150B-46 (2013).
Here, Ms. Tobe-Williams filed her petition on 9 August
2012, but the Board was not served by personal service or by
certified mail until 5 September 2012, more than 10 days later.
Service was, therefore, defective. In the Board's response to
the petition, the Board asserted the defenses of insufficiency
of process, insufficiency of service, and lack of personal
jurisdiction pursuant to Rules 12(b)(4), (5), and (6) of the
Rules of Civil Procedure, and moved to dismiss the petition.
However, the issue of service and personal jurisdiction
over the Board was not raised by either party at the 17 December
2012 hearing, and both parties presented arguments concerning
the merits of the case. The Board did not request a ruling on
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its motion to dismiss, and the trial court proceeded to enter a
decision on the merits.
"Jurisdiction over the person of a defendant can be
acquired only in two ways: (1) By service of process upon him,
whereby he is brought into court against his will; and (2) by
his voluntary appearance and submission." In re Blalock, 233
N.C. 493, 503, 64 S.E.2d 848, 855 (1951).
An appearance merely for the purpose of
objecting to the lack of any service of
process or to a defect in the process or in
the service of it, is a special appearance.
In such case the defendant does not submit
his person to the jurisdiction of the court.
On the other hand, a general appearance
is one whereby the defendant submits his
person to the jurisdiction of the court by
invoking the judgment of the court in any
manner on any question other than that of
the jurisdiction of the court over his
person.
A general appearance waives any defects
in the jurisdiction of the court for want of
valid summons or of proper service thereof.
Id. at 503-04, 64 S.E.2d at 855-56 (internal citations omitted).
In this case, by failing to raise the issue of jurisdiction
at the hearing and by arguing the merits of the case, the Board
submitted to the jurisdiction of the trial court and waived its
personal jurisdiction defense. Accordingly, we hold that the
trial court properly asserted jurisdiction over the Board, and
we review the merits of this appeal.
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II
The Board next contends that the trial court erred in
concluding that the Board's decision was made upon unlawful
procedure. Because this question raises issues of law, we
review it de novo.
The procedure for hiring school administrators, including
assistant principals, is set out in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-
287.1. A school administrator is employed by the local board of
education "upon the recommendation of the superintendent" for an
initial contract term of up to four years "ending on June 30 of
the final 12 months of the contract." N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-
287.1(b). During the term of the contract, a school
administrator may not be dismissed or demoted "except for the
grounds and by the procedure by which a career teacher may be
dismissed or demoted as set forth in G.S. 115C-325." N.C. Gen.
Stat. § 115C-287.1(c). This procedure includes the "right to
receive notice of an adverse recommendation by the
superintendent, to be heard before a case manager and/or the
board of education, to present evidence, and generally to defend
against whatever the charges or allegations might be." Moore,
185 N.C. App. at 570, 649 S.E.2d at 413-14 (citing N.C. Gen.
Stat. § 115C-325(h)-(j3) (2005)).
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However, the General Assembly has provided a different
procedure for the decision whether to renew a school
administrator's contract. If the superintendent intends to
recommend that the school administrator's contract be renewed,
the superintendent must "submit the recommendation to the local
board for action," and the Board "may approve the
superintendent's recommendation or decide not to offer the
school administrator a new, renewed, or extended school
administrator's contract." N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-287.1(d).
On the other hand,
[i]f a superintendent decides not to
recommend that the local board of education
offer a new, renewed, or extended school
administrator's contract to the school
administrator, the superintendent shall give
the school administrator written notice of
his or her decision and the reasons for his
or her decision no later than May 1 of the
final year of the contract. The
superintendent's reasons may not be
arbitrary, capricious, discriminatory,
personal, or political. No action by the
local board or further notice to the school
administrator shall be necessary unless the
school administrator files with the
superintendent a written request, within 10
days of receipt of the superintendent's
decision, for a hearing before the local
board. Failure to file a timely request for
a hearing shall result in a waiver of the
right to appeal the superintendent's
decision. If a school administrator files a
timely request for a hearing, the local
board shall conduct a hearing pursuant to
the provisions of G.S. 115C-45(c) and make a
final decision on whether to offer the
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school administrator a new, renewed, or
extended school administrator's contract.
If the local board decides not to offer
the school administrator a new, renewed, or
extended school administrator's contract,
the local board shall notify the school
administrator of its decision by June 1 of
the final year of the contract. A decision
not to offer the school administrator a new,
renewed, or extended contract may be for any
cause that is not arbitrary, capricious,
discriminatory, personal, or political.
Id. (emphasis added).
Thus, when the superintendent recommends nonrenewal, the
school administrator is entitled to notice of the grounds for
the nonrenewal recommendation and, upon timely request, to a
hearing before the Board. However, when the superintendent
recommends renewal, the statute is silent as to the procedure by
which the Board may accept or reject the recommendation and,
more specifically, as to the school administrator's right to
notice and a hearing.
We are not required to decide, in this case, whether a
Board must conduct a full-blown hearing whenever a
superintendent recommends renewal but the Board decides
otherwise. It is apparent that the procedure that the Board
used in this case is not one authorized by the statute and is
not consistent with Chapter 115C when read as a whole.
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In construing other provisions of Chapter 115C of the North
Carolina General Statutes, our Supreme Court has emphasized:
"In the exposition of a statute the
intention of the lawmaker will prevail over
the literal sense of the terms, and its
reason and intention will prevail over the
strict letter. When the words are not
explicit, the intention is to be collected
from the context, from the occasion and
necessity of the law, from the mischief felt
and the remedy in view, and the intention is
to be taken or presumed according to what is
consonant with reason and good discretion."
Taborn v. Hammonds, 324 N.C. 546, 553, 380 S.E.2d 513, 517
(1989) (quoting Faulkner v. New Bern–Craven Cnty. Bd. of Educ.,
311 N.C. 42, 58, 316 S.E.2d 281, 290–91 (1984)).
The Supreme Court further emphasized that when construing
provisions in Chapter 115C, the following well-established
principle of statutory construction applies: "'[A]ll statutes
relating to the same subject matter shall be construed in pari
materia and harmonized if this end can be attained by any
reasonable interpretation.'" Id. (quoting Faulkner, 311 N.C. at
58, 316 S.E.2d at 291)). Accordingly, in deriving the meaning
of a particular provision of Chapter 115C, "we must examine it
in the general context of North Carolina's public school laws .
. . ." Id., 380 S.E.2d at 517-18.
In Taylor v. Crisp, 286 N.C. 488, 496, 212 S.E.2d 381, 386
(1975), the Supreme Court held that "[t]he manifest purpose" of
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the statute then governing employment of teachers "was to
provide teachers of proven ability for the children of this
State by protecting such teachers from dismissal for political,
personal, arbitrary or discriminatory reasons." It follows that
the manifest purpose of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-287.1(d) in
prohibiting the nonrenewal of administrators' employment
contracts for "arbitrary, capricious, discriminatory, personal,
or political" reasons is to ensure that North Carolina's schools
are staffed with administrators of proven ability.
The procedural protections explicitly provided in N.C. Gen.
Stat. § 115C-287.1(d) further this purpose. Specifically, the
notice of an adverse recommendation by the superintendent alerts
the school administrator that her future employment status is at
risk and, more importantly, of the potential grounds for
nonrenewal. The school administrator may then request a hearing
before the school board in order to have an opportunity to
contest the validity of the asserted grounds for nonrenewal and
to specifically address the concerns of the superintendent and
the school board.
In this case, however, the superintendent recommended the
renewal of Ms. Tobe-Williams' contract and, therefore, the
statute did not expressly require that she be given an
opportunity to request a hearing. The Board urges that it was,
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under the plain language of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-287.1, free,
without conducting a hearing, to "decide[] not to offer the
school administrator a new, renewed, or extended school
administrator's contract." However, in this case, the Board did
not simply reject the superintendent's recommendation.
Instead, the Board determined that it needed more
information. As its resolution regarding the nonrenewal of Ms.
Tobe-Williams' contract stated, the Board, upon receipt of the
superintendent's 5 June 2012 recommendation, "chose not to renew
Ms. Tobe-Williams' contract at that time because it was aware of
serious concerns about Ms. Tobe-Williams. The Board asked for
an opportunity to review documentation of Ms. Tobe-Williams'
performance and conduct." The resolution indicated that the
Board members "then reviewed extensive documentation concerning
Ms. Tobe-Williams which was maintained by the Human Resources
Department, including rebuttals and explanations provided by Ms.
Tobe-Williams." At the 12 July 2012 Board meeting, "Board
Members discussed Ms. Tobe-Williams' performance and conduct
with the Superintendent and others and discussed the
documentation they had reviewed." (Emphasis added.)
Nothing in the Board's resolution indicates that it limited
its review to materials in Ms. Tobe-Williams' personnel file --
materials of which Ms. Tobe-Williams would have had notice. See
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N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-325(b) (2013) (providing "[t]he personnel
file shall be open for the teacher's inspection at all
reasonable times" and requiring five days' notice to teachers
before material is placed in personnel file). Indeed, even
though, after a dispute arose between principal Robin Meiers and
Ms. Tobe-Williams, a prior superintendent had expressly
determined that Ms. Meiers should not prepare an evaluation for
academic year 2008-2009, Ms. Meiers was asked to provide the
Board with a memo describing, three years after the fact, what
Ms. Tobe-Williams' ratings would have been had Ms. Meiers
evaluated her formally.1 Moreover, our review of the
administrative record suggests that additional documentation
reviewed by the Board was likely not included in Ms. Tobe-
Williams' personnel file prior to the superintendent's having
recommended her renewal.
Review of the Board's resolution also reveals that the
Board in fact relied on documentation, including Ms. Meiers'
memo, in makings its nonrenewal decision. The Board even found
that "[f]urther investigation by the Board has revealed that at
least two teachers at Ogden Elementary School asked the
Principal not to let Ms. Tobe-Williams evaluate them because Ms.
1
Significantly, as the formal evaluations in Ms. Tobe-
Williams' personnel file indicate, if Ms. Meiers had prepared a
formal evaluation, Ms. Tobe-Williams would have seen the
evaluation and had an opportunity to comment in writing.
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Tobe-Williams had intimidated them and they did not believe they
could be evaluated fairly by Ms. Tobe-Williams." (Emphasis
added.) In short, the Board conducted, unbeknownst to Ms. Tobe-
Williams, its own investigation and then, at a Board meeting,
interviewed unspecified witnesses about her performance and
discussed documentation related to that performance. In other
words, the Board effectively conducted a hearing without notice
to or participation by Ms. Tobe-Williams.
The procedure followed by the Board in this case -- in
which the Board conducted its own investigation, solicited the
creation of documentation, reviewed documentation not contained
in the personnel file, and interviewed witnesses -- is not
specifically authorized by the statute and is not consistent
with Chapter 115C when read as a whole. Moreover, our research
has failed to uncover any decision by our courts suggesting that
such a procedure is permissible.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-325 "governs the hiring, firing,
tenure and resignations of public schoolteachers; and its
definition of 'teacher' includes those who directly supervise
teaching," such as principals and assistant principals. Warren
v. Buncombe Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 80 N.C. App. 656, 658, 343
S.E.2d 225, 226 (1986). Before setting out the procedures for
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the hiring and firing of employees, the statute provides the
following regarding personnel files:
The superintendent shall maintain in his
office a personnel file for each teacher
that contains any complaint, commendation,
or suggestion for correction or improvement
about the teacher's professional conduct,
except that the superintendent may elect not
to place in a teacher's file (i) a letter of
complaint that contains invalid, irrelevant,
outdated, or false information or (ii) a
letter of complaint when there is no
documentation of an attempt to resolve the
issue. The complaint, commendation, or
suggestion shall be signed by the person who
makes it and shall be placed in the
teacher's file only after five days' notice
to the teacher. Any denial or explanation
relating to such complaint, commendation, or
suggestion that the teacher desires to make
shall be placed in the file. Any teacher
may petition the local board of education to
remove any information from his personnel
file that he deems invalid, irrelevant, or
outdated. The board may order the
superintendent to remove said information if
it finds the information is invalid,
irrelevant, or outdated.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-325(b) (emphasis added).
Thus, employees, including administrators, are expressly
provided notice of the inclusion of any materials in their
personnel files and receive an opportunity to address those
materials. It is evident by the inclusion of this provision at
the beginning of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-325 -- the section of
Chapter 115C governing employment contracts -- that the General
Assembly intended to protect employees from the inclusion of
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unfair, untrue, incomplete, or outdated information in their
personnel files that might adversely affect their employment
status. This provision is also inconsistent with a construction
of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-287.1(d) that would allow a school
board unfettered discretion regarding what it may consider when
making an employment decision without a hearing.
While we recognize that school boards have wide discretion
to consider evidence introduced at a hearing, Baxter v. Poe, 42
N.C. App. 404, 409, 257 S.E.2d 71, 74-75 (1979) ("While a Board
of Education conducting a hearing . . . must provide all
essential elements of due process, it is permitted to operate
under a more relaxed set of rules than is a court of law[]"),
there was no hearing in this case. Therefore, the Board's
decision was based, at least in part, upon information --
including documentation and interviews -- to which Ms. Tobe-
Williams had never been given any opportunity to respond. We
cannot conclude that the General Assembly intended such a result
given the careful protections that the legislature has granted
regarding the contents of an employee's personnel file.
Further, "[i]t is fully established that the language of a
statute will be interpreted so as to avoid an absurd
consequence. . . . Where a literal reading of a statute will
lead to absurd results, or contravene the manifest purpose of
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the Legislature, as otherwise expressed, the reason and purpose
of the law shall control and the strict letter thereof shall be
disregarded." Taylor, 286 N.C. at 496, 212 S.E.2d at 386(internal quotation marks omitted).
In N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-287.1(d), the General Assembly
has specifically provided for a hearing before the Board only if
the superintendent has recommended nonrenewal, as the Board
argues. Nevertheless, to allow the Board, when the
superintendent has in fact recommended renewal, to conduct its
own investigation, to consider documentation outside of the
administrator's personnel file, and to question witnesses
without notice to the administrator, would lead to an absurd
consequence that is inconsistent with "[t]he manifest purpose"
of the statute to provide administrators "of proven ability for
the children of this State by protecting such [administrators]
from dismissal for political, personal, arbitrary or
discriminatory reasons." Taylor, 286 N.C. at 496, 212 S.E.2d at
386.
The construction urged by the Board in this case would
provide extensive procedural protections to an administrator
whose performance was poor enough to merit a nonrenewal
recommendation from the superintendent, but deny an
administrator actually recommended for renewal by the
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superintendent of any opportunity to ensure simply that
information considered by the Board was not "invalid,
irrelevant, [or] outdated," N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-325(b), or
"arbitrary, capricious, discriminatory, personal, or political,"
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-287.1(d).
Furthermore, the Board's construction would grant more
procedural protection when the concerns originated with the
superintendent, whose recommendation is only advisory, than when
the concerns originated with those who have the ultimate
decision making authority -- the Board itself. See Abell v.
Nash Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 71 N.C. App. 48, 52, 321 S.E.2d 502,
506 (1984) (holding that superintendent's recommendation for
renewal of probationary teacher is only advisory and "ultimate
responsibility rests with the board").
We recognize that in the context of a renewal of a
probationary teacher's contract, this Court rejected the
teacher's argument that she had a statutory right to a hearing
where "N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-325(m)(2) [(2005)] -- the
provision specifically setting forth the rights of probationary
teachers -- fails to expressly provide any right to a hearing
before the Board." Moore, 185 N.C. App. at 573, 649 S.E.2d at
415.
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This Court explained that, in contrast to the provision
providing the rights of probationary teachers, the General
Assembly expressly requires prior notice to school
administrators and career teachers from the superintendent
"regarding a recommendation that may adversely affect the
employee's future status." Id. at 574, 649 S.E.2d at 415. In
reference to the provisions of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 287.1(d), the
Court reasoned "[t]he existence of language granting
administrators the right to a hearing 'pursuant to the
provisions of G.S. 115C–45(c)' confirms that when the General
Assembly intended to afford notice and hearing rights, it did so
in unambiguous terms." 185 N.C. App. at 577-78, 649 S.E.2d at
418.
In Moore, however, the contract renewal procedures in N.C.
Gen. Stat. § 115C-325(m)(2) (2005) did not provide notice and
hearing rights to probationary teachers under any circumstances,
thus showing an intent on the part of the General Assembly to
treat probationary teachers differently from school
administrators and career teachers and provide them with less
procedural protection. Here, in contrast to Moore, the question
is not whether the General Assembly intended to afford school
administrators, as a class of employee, with notice and hearing
rights in the contract renewal process, but rather under what
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circumstances are such procedural protections triggered. To
hold that when a superintendent recommends renewal, a Board may
conduct its own investigation, and an administrator has no right
to notice or an opportunity to be heard in any form regarding
that investigation, would be an absurd result inconsistent with
other provisions in Chapter 115C. We decline to adopt such a
construction of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-287.1(d).
Reading N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-287.1(d) in pari materia
with other provisions in Chapter 115C and considering the
overall purpose of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-287.1(d), as directed
by Taylor and Taborn, we hold that in deciding whether "to offer
the school administrator a new, renewed, or extended school
administrator's contract," N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-287.1(d), if
the superintendent recommends that an administrator's contract
be renewed, the Board is limited to reviewing the
administrator's personnel file as it exists at that time and the
superintendent's recommendation. In the event the Board has
concerns regarding renewal that cannot be resolved by review of
the administrator's personnel file, we hold that the Board may
not consider documentation outside the administrator's personnel
file or question witnesses -- effectively holding a hearing --
without providing (1) notice of the Board's concerns and of the
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information that the Board is considering and (2) an opportunity
to the administrator to respond to that information.
Here, the superintendent recommended that Ms. Tobe-
Williams' contract be renewed at the 5 June 2012 board meeting.
The Board asked the superintendent to remove Ms. Tobe-Williams
from the list of assistant principals he recommended for renewal
because "it was aware of serious concerns" about Ms. Tobe-
Williams and needed more time to "review documentation of Ms.
Tobe-Williams' performance and conduct." The Board's removal of
Ms. Tobe-Williams from the recommendation list had the same
effect as a recommendation for nonrenewal: it placed Ms. Tobe-
Williams' future employment status at risk based upon certain
concerns about Ms. Tobe-Williams. Therefore, to carry out the
intent of the General Assembly, the Board should have notified
Ms. Tobe-Williams of her removal from the recommendation list
and given her an opportunity to respond to any information that
the Board was considering that was not included in her personnel
file.2
Accordingly, we hold that the procedure employed by the
Board in this case violated Ms. Tobe-Williams' procedural rights
2
We note that Ms. Tobe-Williams learned only on 12 July 2012
that material had been added to her personnel file -- two days
after the Board had already decided not to renew her contract.
She received a copy of her personnel file on 18 July 2012, more
than a week after the decision.
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under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-287.1(d) and N.C. Gen. Stat. §
115C-325(b). Those violations resulted in a record that does
not include any information that Ms. Tobe-Williams might have
submitted had she been given the opportunity to do so, and, to
that extent, is insufficient for a determination whether the
Board's non-renewal decision was "arbitrary, capricious,
discriminatory, personal, or political." N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-
287.1(d).
The trial court, however, concluded that the Board's
decision was not supported by substantial evidence in the record
and was arbitrary and capricious. Accordingly, it reversed the
Board's decision and ordered Ms. Tobe-Williams' reinstatement.
After carefully reviewing the record, we hold that, although
some of the Board's specific factual findings are not supported
by evidence in the record, there is substantial evidence to
support the Board's ultimate findings. Those findings
articulate grounds for nonrenewal that are not arbitrary,
capricious, discriminatory, personal, or political. Since the
record reveals that there may be a non-prohibited basis for
nonrenewal, we reverse the trial court's order of reinstatement.
Nevertheless, because Ms. Tobe-Williams has not yet had an
opportunity to respond to the evidence gathered and considered
by the Board, we reverse the Board's decision and remand for the
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Board to reach a new decision after properly allowing Ms. Tobe-
Williams an opportunity to be heard regarding the information
that the Board intends to consider that was not included in her
personnel file at the time the superintendent recommended
renewal of her contract. See Taborn v. Hammonds, 83 N.C. App.
461, 469, 350 S.E.2d 880, 885 (1986) (vacating Board's decision
and remanding for new hearing where deficiencies in Board's
findings and failure to resolve material conflicts in the
evidence "prevent[ed] [the Court] from discerning a substantive
reason for the decision to terminate plaintiff"). Because of
our resolution of this appeal, we need not address the remainder
of the Board's arguments.
Affirmed in part; reversed in part; and remanded.
Judges STEPHENS and ERVIN concur.