Forker

Appeal by the Board of Trustees of the Whittier Union High School District from a judgment for issuance of a writ of mandate to compel reinstatement of Imogene Forker as a school librarian. Affirmed.

Background:

In September 1959 the Board of Trustees of the Whittier Union High School District (hereafter board) hired Imogene Forker as a school librarian. Forker acquired permanent status in September 1962.

A school district may terminate employees as a result of either a decline in average daily attendance or a reduction of a particular kind of service. (Ed. Code, § 44955.) The district must give its employees an initial notice by March 15 (§ 44945) and final notice by May 15 (§ 44959).

Prior to March 15, 1981, the board notified Forker she would not be reemployed during the 1981-1982 school year, because of a proposed reduction in librarian services. At that time, the board had employed Forker as a librarian for 21 years. In August 1981 the school district reestablished the librarian services it had reduced earlier, but in a letter dated August 10, 1981, the district notified Forker she would not be rehired, because of her incompetence as a librarian. The notice was…