SANDLIN v. JOHNSON

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Docket Number

No. 80-1213.

Attorney(S)

Fred D. Smith, Jr., Martinsville, Va. (Gendron, Kirby Smith, Martinsville, Va., on brief), for appellant. Frank O. Meade, Danville, Va. (Meade, Tate Daniel, Danville, Va., on brief), for appellees.

Judges

Francis Dominic Murnaghan

Acts

The Public Health And Welfare — Civil Rights — Generally — Civil Action For Deprivation Of Rights

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Smart Summary

Factual and Procedural Background

Four second grade students filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of themselves and eighteen similarly situated second graders against the principal of their school, the superintendent of schools, and the school board of Pittsylvania County, Virginia. The plaintiffs attended Whitmell Elementary School. At the end of the 1977-1978 school year, only one member of their class was promoted to the third grade. The denial of promotion was based solely on the students' failure to complete the required level of the Ginn Reading Series.

The plaintiffs acknowledged their failure to meet the required reading level but contended that they were nonetheless capable of reading at the third grade level. They sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging a denial of equal protection of the law due to negligent supervision or arbitrary grading, which effectively denied them third grade educational opportunities commensurate with their abilities and those provided to similarly situated students in the Pittsylvania County School System.

Plaintiffs claimed damages for delayed education completion, lost employment opportunities, and stigma from failure. They sought $25,000 each in damages and a permanent injunction requiring the defendants to provide them with third grade educational opportunities comparable to those of similarly situated students, including a curriculum and classes designed to prepare them for fourth grade admission in the 1979-80 school year at no cost.

Defendants argued that they had provided equal opportunities and that promoting students before mastering the requisite reading skills would be counterproductive. The district court initially denied defendants' motion to dismiss but later, on its own initiative, dismissed the case based on the principle that federal courts should abstain from intervening in state administrative affairs. Plaintiffs appealed this dismissal.

Legal Issues Presented

Whether the denial of promotion based on failure to complete the required reading level constituted a denial of equal protection under the law.
Whether the classification of students by reading level was rationally related to a permissible governmental objective.
Whether negligent supervision or grading by school officials could constitute a constitutional violation cognizable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
Whether federal courts should abstain from reviewing educational promotion decisions made by state or local educational authorities.

Arguments of the Parties

Appellants' Arguments

Defendants negligently supervised instruction or arbitrarily graded and classified the plaintiffs, effectively denying them educational opportunities appropriate to their abilities.
The denial of promotion damaged plaintiffs by delaying education completion, foreclosing employment opportunities, and stigmatizing them as failures.
Requested injunctive relief to compel defendants to provide appropriate third grade educational opportunities and curricula at no cost.

Appellees' Arguments

Plaintiffs were provided equal opportunities and were classified according to attained reading level.
While plaintiffs might be capable of third grade reading, they had not mastered the required skills, and promoting them prematurely would worsen their deficiencies.
Defendants moved to dismiss the suit, asserting federal courts should abstain from interfering with state educational administration.

Table of Precedents Cited

Precedent	Rule or Principle Cited For	Application by the Court
San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 1 (1973)	Public education is not a fundamental right triggering strict scrutiny in equal protection claims.	The court applied the rational basis test to the classification of students by reading level because no suspect classification or fundamental right was implicated.
Tucker v. Duncan, 499 F.2d 963 (4th Cir. 1974)	42 U.S.C. § 1983 does not provide a federal remedy for ordinary state tort claims.	The court held that claims sounding in negligence or breach of duty by teachers or school boards do not rise to constitutional claims under § 1983.
Vinnedge v. Gibbs, 550 F.2d 926 (4th Cir. 1977)	An official cannot be held liable under § 1983 on a respondeat superior theory without actual participation or acquiescence.	The court noted the possibility that some defendants lacked direct involvement and thus may not be proper defendants, but did not decide this issue.
Board of Curators of University of Missouri v. Horowitz, 435 U.S. 78 (1978)	Decisions about academic performance and promotion are within the expertise of educators and are inappropriate for judicial review.	The court affirmed dismissal, emphasizing judicial deference to educational authorities in promotion decisions.

Court's Reasoning and Analysis

The court recognized that plaintiffs were not classified based on any suspect category such as race or other bases warranting heightened scrutiny, nor is education a fundamental right triggering strict scrutiny. Therefore, the court applied the rational basis test to evaluate the equal protection claim.

The defendants classified students according to attained reading levels with the permissible governmental purpose of providing instruction appropriate to students’ abilities, aiming to further their education and preparation for life. This classification was deemed rationally related to a legitimate governmental objective.

The plaintiffs’ claim that defendants negligently supervised or graded instruction was characterized as a tort claim rather than a constitutional violation. The court held that such claims are not actionable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, which does not cover ordinary state tort claims.

The court further emphasized that academic promotion decisions are within the special expertise of educators and are not suitable for judicial intervention. Accordingly, the district court’s dismissal was affirmed.

Holding and Implications

Affirmed.

The court held that the denial of promotion based on failure to meet reading level requirements did not violate the Equal Protection Clause because the classification was rationally related to a legitimate educational purpose. Claims of negligent supervision or grading do not constitute constitutional violations under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Furthermore, judicial review of academic promotion decisions is inappropriate due to the specialized expertise of educators.

The decision directly results in dismissal of the plaintiffs’ claims and affirms the school authorities’ discretion in academic classifications and promotions. No new constitutional precedent was established.

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MICHELLE SANDLIN, BY HER PARENTS, MR. AND MRS. GLENN SANDLIN, GARY STACY, BY HIS PARENTS, MR. AND MRS. DAVID E. STACY, REVONDA FERRELL, BY HER MOTHER, MRS. MOZETTA FERRELL, TINA WOOD, BY HER PARENTS, MR. AND MRS. JAMES RAY WOOD, APPELLANTS v. EARL JOHNSON, SUPERINTENDENT, PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY SCHOOLS, RICHARD HUFFMAN, PRINCIPAL, WHITMELL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, E. B. FITZGERALD, CHAIRMAN, PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD, DR. D. E. BURNETTE, VICE-CHAIRMAN, PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD, OBIE G. ADAMS, MEMBER, PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD, KOYETON H. BEAVERS, JR., MEMBER, W. S. EASLEY, JR., MEMBER, CARTER G. LAYNE, MEMBER, GEORGE A. MARTIN, MEMBER, CALVIN C. OAKES, MEMBER, CARL A. OBUCHOWSKI, MEMBER, EDITH W. SMITH, MEMBER, HAROLD E. TERRY, MEMBER, AND WILLIAM K. PEARSON, MEMBER, APPELLEES.

MURNAGHAN, Circuit Judge:

Four second grade students filed the case as a class action on behalf of themselves and eighteen other similarly situated second graders against the principal of their school, and the superintendent of schools and school board of Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Plaintiffs attended the Whitmell Elementary School. Only one member of their class was promoted to the third grade at the end of the 1977-1978 school year. The stated and undisputed ground for denial of promotion was the students' failure to complete the requisite level of the Ginn Reading Series. While plaintiffs do not deny that they failed to demonstrate the required reading level, they argue that they are nevertheless capable of reading at the third grade level. They sued pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claiming a denial of equal protection of the law because, as their Complaint had it:

No class was ever certified, Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(c), and certification or its denial is not an issue on appeal.

By either the defendants' negligent and careless supervision of the instruction of plaintiffs or by their arbitrary and negligent grading and classification of these plaintiffs, plaintiffs have been effectively denied third grade educational opportunities commensurate with their abilities and in accord with educational opportunities provided other students similarly situated in the Pittsylvania County School System.

Plaintiffs contended that defendants' actions damaged them by delaying the completion of their education and their obtaining employment, by foreclosing "certain lucrative employments . . . because of a lack of education provided them commensurate with their abilities," and by burdening them with the stigma of failure. Plaintiffs sought $25,000 each in damages and a permanent injunction prohibiting defendants from denying to plaintiffs educational opportunities commensurate with their abilities and comparable to the opportunities provided other similarly situated students in the Pittsylvania County Public School System. The students further requested an order requiring the school authorities

to provide plaintiffs with third grade educational opportunities they have been denied in the form of a curriculum and classes designed to accomplish this training by September of 1979 at no cost whatsoever to the plaintiffs or their parents with this curriculum and class plan designed to prepare plaintiffs and others similarly situated for admission into the fourth grade for the school year 1979-80.

Defendants responded that they had provided equal opportunities to plaintiffs, that while plaintiffs' intelligence was such that they were capable of reading at the third grade level, they had failed to progress to that level of mastery, and that promoting plaintiffs before they had mastered the requisite reading skills would be counter-productive and would increase plaintiffs' reading deficiencies.

Defendants moved to dismiss; the motion was denied. Prior to trial, however, the district court sua sponte issued an order dismissing the suit on the ground that federal courts should abstain from resolving controversies which involve the administration by a state or subdivision of its own affairs. Plaintiffs have appealed.

There is no allegation in the case that plaintiffs were classified on the basis of race or any other basis calling for heightened scrutiny, i. e., religious affiliation, alienage, illegitimacy, gender or wealth. Nor is public education a fundamental right which would trigger strict scrutiny of claims of denial of equal protection. San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 1, 35-40, 93 S.Ct. 1278, 1297-1300, 36 L.Ed.2d 16 (1973). Thus, in reviewing the equal protection claim, the only question, as recognized by all parties, is whether the classification by the governmental entity which is at issue here is rationally related to a permissible governmental end.

"Of the 22 students not promoted to the third grade, 14 (including all 4 plaintiffs) were white, the other 8 black." So appellees have asserted in their Brief. Appellants have not contested the accuracy of the statement.

Defendants here classified plaintiffs according to their attained reading level. The stated purpose for the classification was to enable the school to provide students with the level of instruction most appropriate to their abilities and needs. The objective was to further the education, the preparation for life of the plaintiffs. The governmental end is a permissible one, and defendants' classification scheme is clearly rationally related to achieving it. Defendants, therefore, have not implicated any constitutional right of plaintiffs by classifying them according to their reading level.

Plaintiffs also claim that defendants or the teachers under their supervision negligently and carelessly failed to ensure that plaintiffs were properly and appropriately taught. What appellants denominate a denial of equal educational opportunity sounds rather in tort as a breach of some duty owed by teachers or school boards to their pupils to give them an education. If there is any such cause of action, it does not rise to the level of a constitutional claim and, therefore, is not cognizable in an action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Tucker v. Duncan, 499 F.2d 963, 965 n. 1 (4th Cir. 1974) ( 42 U.S.C. § 1983 is not a federal remedy for ordinary state tort claims).

An official may not be held liable on a respondeat superior theory in suits filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, Vinnedge v. Gibbs, 550 F.2d 926, 928 (4th Cir. 1977), unless he actually participates or acquiesces in the subordinate's actions. No defendant has argued this point in the district court or on appeal. We note (without expressing an opinion) the possibility that the school board had no direct involvement in the decisions complained of here and therefore was not a proper defendant.

Decisions by educational authorities which turn on evaluation of the academic performance of a student as it relates to promotion are peculiarly within the expertise of educators and are particularly inappropriate for review in a judicial context. Board of Curators of University of Missouri v. Horowitz, 435 U.S. 78, 90-91, 98 S.Ct. 948, 955, 55 L.Ed.2d 124 (1978). ("We decline to further enlarge the judicial presence in the academic community and thereby risk deterioration of many beneficial aspects of the faculty-student relationship.") We, therefore, affirm the district court's dismissal.

AFFIRMED.