Raney v. Board of Trustees

CONLEY, P. J.

Joseph F. Raney, a former probationary school teacher of the Coalinga Junior College District, was denied a writ of mandate directing respondent to reemploy him and to pay his back salary for the 1964-65 school term. The superior court found that Mr. Raney had been a probationary teacher of the Coalinga Junior College District for two previous years and was teaching for the third year when on or about May 11, 1964, the board of trustees of the college district caused written notice to be given him that his services would not be required for the 1964-65 school year; that upon request, the board gave him a written statement of the reasons for not hiring him and that on or about June 11, 1964, it served him with a formal accusation; that following the filing of his notice of defense and request for a hearing, such hearing was regularly held by the school board on July 9, 1964, and that thereafter the board made findings of fact and rendered a decision, copies of which are attached to the petition for the writ of mandate. The trial court found that the matters set forth in paragraphs 1, 2, and 3 of the board’s findings of fact are supported by substantial evidence in the light of the whole record, as follows:

“1. That the philosophy of the said Joseph F. Raney with respect to grading is unsuitable for the junior college level and is contrary to the accepted practices of the administration of the Coalinga College in that he has an extremely ‘tough’ attitude toward his students which causes excessive

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dropouts during the semester and between semesters; that his severity of grading as aforesaid, his tough philosophy, his sarcasm towards his students, particularly those who may disagree with his philosophy, results in many students either failing to take his course or failing to complete them, resulting in said students missing an important basic course.

“2. That originally employed as a counselor, he proved ineffective as such with extremely poor rapport with his students, necessitating his reassignment to classroom work; that he would not ever be suitable for counseling.

“3. That he has a general reputation among students, faculty and the community as a contentious person which lessens their respect for him, thereby reducing his effectiveness as a teacher.”