Powers

The instant case involves the efforts of the Bakersfield City School District (District) to dismiss a tenured permanent teacher, William Henry Powers, Jr. (teacher). Both parties concede if District is successful in its appeal the cause will have to be remanded to the superior court for decision on the merits. For reasons hereinafter stated, we conclude the trial court erred in its ruling on the jurisdictional issues before us and remand the case for further proceedings. For guidance on remand, we conclude: (1) It was not necessary for the commission to make a specific finding of “unfitness to teach” when dismissing the teacher for unprofessional conduct related to classroom activities; (2) the District’s action in transferring teacher out of the classroom pending his hearing did not invalidate the dismissal action; (3) District’s failure to serve its original petition was not grounds for dismissal of its petition; (4) the commission did not fail to make sufficient findings on the issue of limiting teacher’s constitutional rights; and (5) the commission at the time it acted did not have the power to stay the dismissal.

The Case

Pursuant to Government Code section 11503,…