State ex rel. Hill v. Sinclair

Citations

• 103 Kan. 480
• 175 P. 41
• 1918 Kan. LEXIS 301

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.</p> <p>1. Superintendent of City Schools — Manner of •Election — Waiver of-Rule Requiring Ballot. A board of education in a city of the first or second class may by common consent waive its rule requiring an election of a superintendent to be held by ballot, and may signify its choice by call of the members and the recording of their votes.</p> <p>2. Same — Time for Election. The election of a superintendent at a meeting of thd board called for that purpose will not be held invalid merely because the board had previously adopted a rule fixing a regular and later meeting as the time for selecting a superintendent.</p> <p>3. Same — Tenure of Office — Definite and Certain. Prior to 1911 the act relating to boards of education in cities of the first and second class provided that the superintendent of public schools “shall hold his office during the pleasure of the board.” (Gen. Stat. 1909, § 7607.) By section 4 of chapter 269 of the Laws of 1911 the act was amended, and the tenure of office of the superintendent was fixed at “a term of one or two years, as the board may choose,” the term to begin on the first Monday of August. A rule or by-law adopted by a board of education in 1913 to the effect that the term of office of the superintendent “shall continue during the pleasure of the board,” being in conflict with the statute, is void.</p> <p>4. Same — A Public Officer — Statutory Method of Removal. A superintendent of public schools is a public officer within the meaning of that term as used in the statute of quo warranto (Gen. Stat. 1915, § 7596), ,and he is also an employee of the board; and the board has power to remove him as an employee “for incompetence, negligence, or immorality, after notice and a fair hearing.” (Gen. Stat. 1915, § 9072.)</p> <p>5. Same — Attempted Removal Void. An attempt by the board of education to remove a duly elected superintendent of public schools without notice and a hearing, on the general ground that he is