Opinion

Garfield Heights City School District v. State Board of Education

  • 71 Ohio St. 3d 590
  • 646 N.E.2d 163
  • 1995 Ohio LEXIS 711
Court
Ohio Supreme Court
Filed
Mar 8, 1995
Status
Published
Author
Cook
On the bench
Cook, Douglas, Moyer, Pfeifer, Resnick, Sweeney, Wright
Cited by
4 cases

The opinion

Cook, J.,

concurring. The dissent in this case focuses on the absence of an explicit right to “reject” in R.C. 3311.24. While the word “reject” is not used, the statute allows rejection by permitting a vote on whether to accept.

The statute conditions the completion of the transfer of school territory on the passing of an acceptance resolution by a majority vote of the receiving district’s school board members. By requiring such- a vote to complete the transfer, the General Assembly no doubt envisioned that a school board member could cast a vote against the resolution. To hold otherwise would invoke a concept of statutorily mandating an affirmative vote, a concept that runs contrary to the foremost of our democratic ideals.

With board members invoking their right to vote either “yea” or “nay,” the board of education of the receiving district might not have the votes to pass a resolution accepting the transfer. If the resolution is not passed by a majority vote, the transfer cannot be completed.

The parties to this appeal have not argued that there is any distinction between the effects of a transfer being “rejected” versus “not completed.” Since a *595 receiving board of education cannot be obliged to vote for a resolution accepting a transfer under R.C. 3311.24, it may, therefore, reject the transfer.

Wright, J., concurs in the foregoing concurring opinion.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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