Schumacher v. Taft Union High School District

JENNINGS, J. This is an appeal from a judgment denying to petitioner a writ of mandate to compel the respondents to reinstate him as a permanent teacher in the Taft Union High School.

Jay Schumacher was appointed by the Taft Union High School District in September, 1926, to serve as a teacher in the machine shop and in the sheet metal and blacksmith shop of the high school and junior college of said district. He continued to serve in this capacity for one or two years when .the work of the machine shop increased to such an extent that another teacher was employed to teach in the sheet metal and blacksmith shop and Schumacher was transferred to the machine shop. In due time petitioner acquired a permanent status under the Teacher’s Tenure Law. See-[733]lion 3.805 of the School Code of 1929 provided that “In addition to other subjects of instruction each high school course of study may include training in athletics, military drill, and tactics, manual training, etc., or other vocational work ...” Apparently the character of service which petitioner was then rendering was thereby classified as training in vocational work. In 1930, an effort was made to reorganize the course of training which petitioner was giving. The primary purpose of such reorganization was to secure state aid funds. The endeavor was successful and state aid was made available to the school for a period of two years. However, in 1932, state aid ceased. The evidence indicates that the cessation of such financial assistance was due to shortening of hours of instruction and discontinuance of technical related work. In any event, upon the cessation of state aid the school district discontinued the particular course in vocational training which had been in effect during the two-year period. Thereupon, a course of instruction which was apparently denominated the “Aviation and Machine Shop Course” was substituted for the course in vocational training which had been abandoned and such substituted course was given by the petitioner for a period of two or three years. On May 7, 1935, the respondents, as trustees of the Taft Union High School District ordered that the aviation and machine shop course be closed and that petitioner be notified that his services would not be required for the ensuing school year. Petitioner was thereafter notified of his dismissal on the stated ground of discontinuance of a particular kind of service. On July 16, 1935, the defendant board of trustees, by unanimous vote, adopted a plan for the reorganization of the machine shop and aeronautics course.

The complaint which was originally filed by the petitioner contained no allegations negativing the actual discontinuance in the schools of the particular kind of service which the petitioner had been performing or alleging that the action taken by the respondents in dismissing petitioner in May, 1935, and in subsequently refusing to allow him to resume his position as a teacher was arbitrary and not done in good faith. After the actual trial of the ease was concluded and it had been submitted for decision the trial court on motion duly made permitted petitioner to file an amendment