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Texas Fourth Court of Appeals (San Antonio)
Elementary Teacher Wins Termination Appeal
Against ISD and Education Commissioner
Upheld: A state judge’s ruling that because an ISD skipped a legal step in firing a continuing contract teacher — and because the education commissioner misapplied the same law in denying the teacher’s appeal — the district must rehire the teacher and pay her back pay and benefits. North East ISD and Texas Commissioner of Education v. Dehann Riou, No. 04-17-00592-CV. Issued July 25.
The justices ruled that NEISD was required by the Texas Education Code (§21.156) to provide specific evidence during Riou’s termination hearing (before an independent hearing examiner) that “similarly situated” Texas districts would have determined there was good cause to fire a teacher for the same conduct for failing to meet the accepted standards of conduct for the teaching profession.
Because NEISD did not provide this evidence (that similarly situated districts would have fired Riou for the same conduct) during the hearing, the district could not terminate her continuing contract no matter how much other evidence the district presented at the hearing to justify her firing, the justices ruled.
No Exceptions
The justices also upheld the trial judge’s ruling rejecting — as not allowed by state law — the contention by the independent hearing examiner (who recommended NEISD’s board fire Riou) and by the education commissioner (who denied her termination appeal) that there are “good cause per se” exceptions to the requirement that districts provide evidence that similarly situated districts would fire teachers for the same conduct.
The justices concluded that state law allows no exceptions and indicated that this may the first time a Texas appellate court has ruled that §21.156 requires strict compliance, with no exceptions.