Eichman v. Escondido Union High School District

GIBSON, C. J.

Petitioner, who was a probationary teacher for the Escondido Union High School District of San Diego County, received on May 8, 1962, a notice that his services

[101]

would not be required for the next school year. He timely requested a hearing, which was held on July 18, 19, and 24. On August 7 the school board rendered a decision terminating petitioner’s service as of the end of the school year. The decision stated it was “effective immediately upon service,” and copies of it were served on petitioner on August 8. On August 27 petitioner requested a transcript of the hearing and prepaid the cost of it to the Department of Finance of the State, and on October 5, the day after he received the transcript, he filed a petition for a writ of mandate to compel the board to reinstate him.

Petitioner alleged that in the conduct of the hearing the board acted in excess of jurisdiction because the hearing could not legally be held after May 15. He also alleged that the board prejudicially abused its discretion and failed to grant him a fair hearing in several respects among which were that the board based its findings on insufficient evidence, that it erred in the admission and exclusion of evidence, and that it delayed the hearing until after the close of the school year and thereby prevented him from presenting defense witnesses who had left the locality.

A demurrer was sustained without leave to amend on the grounds that the court had no jurisdiction to review the subject matter, that the petitioner had his remedy provided by law, and that the petition for the writ of mandate was not timely filed and was barred by section 11523 of the Government Code. Petitioner has appealed from the judgment denying the writ.

We held in

Horner

v.

Board of Trustees of Excelsior Union High School Dist., ante,

p. 79 [37 Cal.Rptr. 185, 389 P.2d 713], that under section 13444 of the Education Code as amended in 1961 probationary teachers who are not reemployed at the end of a school year are entitled to a hearing and that the hearing need not be held prior to May 15 but that the requirement is only that it be held within a reasonable time.