Chattooga County Bd. of Educ. v. Searels

Following a hearing before the Chattooga County Board of Education “Local Board”, Fannie Searels, a special education teacher, was terminated from her employment based on charges of insubordination, wilful neglect of duties, and “other good and sufficient cause,” pursuant to OCGA § 20-2-940 a 2, 3, and 8, respectively. Searles appealed to the State Board of Education “State Board”, which affirmed the decision of the Local Board. Searles thereafter appealed the State Board’s decision to the superior court, which reversed the State Board. Following this Court’s grant of the Local Board’s application for discretionary appeal, the Local Board appeals from the superior court order reversing the decision of the State and Local Boards. The Local Board argues that the superior court overstepped its authority by failing to apply the “any evidence” standard of review. We agree and reverse. Not unlike the State Board and the superior court, this Court as an appellate body applies the “any evidence” standard of review to the record supporting the initial decision of the Local Board. Goldwire v. Clark , 234 Ga. App. 579, 581 1 507 SE2d 209 1998; Ransum v. Chattooga County Bd. of Ed ., 144 Ga. App. 783, 785 4 242 SE2d 374 1978; OCGA § 20-2-1160 e.

Viewed in the light most favorable to the Local Board’s decision, the record shows that Searles, a tenured teacher, had taught at Chattooga County High School for 18 years, the last four years of which were as a special education teacher. On August 9, 2007, Searles left a note on the desk of another teacher, indicating that the teacher and another staff member “can put my students into ANY elective class —no matter how advanced —except PE —because they cannot do ANY of it anyway. This is just to please the parents.” The teacher, the father of an autistic student enrolled in the school, became upset when he found the note and turned it in to the principal, Morgan Nugent. On August 10, 2007, Nugent met with Searels to discuss the note and warned her to be more careful in her oral and written comments about her students, which “could be seen by other individuals . . . as inappropriate.”