Bates v. Board of Education

VAN DYKE, J.

This is an appeal from the judgment dismissing the plaintiff’s application for a writ of mandate.

It appears from the findings in the case that on August 12, 1896, the board of education of the city and county of San

[146]

Francisco, defendant and respondent herein, at a regular meeting, adopted the report of its committee on classification, and thereupon appointed the plaintiff and appellant to the position of teacher of the high-school class to be formed in the Horace Mann evening school, and thereafter, on August 26th, by resolution, discontinued said Horace Mann evening school, and transferred the plaintiff and appellant to the Franklin evening school, and on September 30th of the same year assigned the plaintiff to “teach Latin and French during one half of each day in the high-school class in the Horace Mann grammar school,” and that thereafter such high-school class was transferred to and became a part of the Mission High School. It further appears from the findings that the plaintiff accepted such employment, and became, and was thereafter, until the first day of September, 1900, assistant teacher of Latin and' French in the Mission High School of said city and county; that on the twenty-second day of August, 1900, the defendant board of education adopted a resolution in words and figures following: “Whereas, the work now being done by Mr. George Bates at the Mission High School can be distributed among the other teachers without additional expense; be it resolved that Mr. George Bates be and he is hereby placed on the unassigned high-school list, without pay, to date from September 1, 1900.” It is further found by the court: ‘ ‘ That at the time of the adoption of said resolution of August 22, 1900, there existed and were maintained by the board of education of the city and county of San Francisco, three high schools, in which all the subjects prescribed by law for instruction therein were taught; that said schools were known and■ designated as the Lowell High School, the Girls’ High School, and the Mission High School; that the average daily attendance of pupils in the Lowell High School was 343, and there were twelve teachers employed therein, in the Girls’ High School 345 pupils and fourteen teachers, and in the Mission High School 176 pupils and twelve teachers; that the resolution of August 22, 1900, retiring plaintiff from service in the Mission High School was passed and adopted by the board of education, defendant, in furtherance of the purpose of effecting a more economical administration of the affairs of said school, and as a result of a redistribution of