Day v. Floyd County Bd. of Educ.

Because the teacher who was appealing the board of education's decision not to renew her employment contract was employed at a charter school, she was not entitled to the procedural rights and remedies afforded by the Fair Dismissal Act, as the charter system was exempt from the FDA and its administrative appeals process pursuant to the general waiver of O.C.G.A. § 20-2-2065 subsection a.

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Gilda Day’s teaching contract with the Floyd County Board of Education, a/k/a the Floyd County School District “the Local Board”, was not renewed following a system-wide reduction in force, a decision ultimately upheld by the Superior Court of Floyd County.1 In Case No. A15A0401, Day appeals, arguing that the superior court erroneously interpreted Georgia law in reversing the decision of the Georgia Board of Education “the State Board”. In Case No. A15A0402, the Local Board cross-appeals, contending that the State Board did not have jurisdiction to entertain Day’s appeal from the Local Board’s decision because the Local Board, as a charter system, is not bound by the Fair Dismissal Act “the FDA”, OCGA § 20-2-940 et seq. For the reasons that follow, we reverse the order of the superior court and remand with instruction.

The facts relevant to the appeal and the cross-appeal are the same. In 2007, Day was employed as a counselor at Coosa High School, which was part of the Floyd County school district. In 2010, the Floyd County school district became a charter system under the Charter Systems Act of 1998, OCGA § 20-2-2063.2.2 The charter reflects that the Local Board was granted, pursuant to OCGA § 20-2-2065 a, “the broad flexibility allowed by state law from the provisions of Title 20″ of the Georgia Education Code. The charter did not expressly incorporate or allow for the incorporation of any of the provisions of the FDA and there is no evidence in the record that the charter was later amended to adopt any provision of the FDA. The charter did require, however, that each charter school within the system establish a Local School Governance Team “LSGT” for the purpose of “maximizing school level decision making.” The LSGTs are subject to the control and management of the Local Board.

Day v. Floyd County Bd. of Educ.

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