Alford v. Department of Education

Opinion

THOMPSON, J.

This is an appeal from the denial of a petition for administrative mandate under section 1094.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure to review and vacate a decision of the State Board of Education revoking appellant’s teaching credential and denying her application for a different credential. We affirm the judgment.

Facts

Appellant held a teaching credential issued by the California State Board of Education in the class of Kindergarten-Primary Life Diploma which she received prior to 1950. She was employed in the Los Angeles School District on a continuous basis, except for periods of sick and

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maternity leave, from 1951 until her resignation in 1965. Two instances of sick leave involved hospitalization in Camarillo State Hospital in 1959 and 1961 during which she was diagnosed as a schizophrenic. The second hospitalization was the result of á superior court commitment.

After her resignation from the Los Angeles School District in August of 1965, appellant applied for an added credential from the board in the classification of “General Pupil Services Credential.” Her application was denied on February 15, 1967. Appellant appealed administratively from the denial on March 12, 1967. On March 28, 1967, the board filed an accusation pursuant to Education Code section 13202 seeking revocation of appellant’s “Kindergarten-Primary Life Diploma” credential.

The accusation alleges that appellant has a history of mental or emotional instability and that she presently evidences mental or emotional disability. The first allegation is based upon the two hospitalizations for mental illness and the second upon an examination in February of 1967 by the staff of the Los Angeles State Mental Hygiene Clinic, Department of Mental Hygiene, State of California. During the two periods of hospitalization and at the examination in 1967, appellant was diagnosed as “schizophrenic reaction-paranoid type.”

The board conducted a consolidated hearing upon the accusation and upon a similar statement of issues relating to the denial of appellant’s application for a new and different credential. Appellant did not appear at the hearing. Dr. Conrad, who had conducted the 1967 examination, testified that based upon that examination he had formed the opinion that appellant, by virtue of her diagnosed mental illness, was unable to function as a teacher. Prior to a ruling by the board, appellant moved to set aside her default by failure to appear. The board reopened the hearing and permitted appellant to testify and present evidence. On April 10, 1968, the hearing officer submitted his finding that appellant was “presently unfit to engage in the profession of teaching or in credentialed administrative activities.” Effective June 15,