Bernstein

Opinion by Judge NOONAN; Dissent by Judge PREGERSON.

The plaintiffs, who are former principals or vice-principals of public schools within the San Diego School District, sued the defendants, who are members of the board governing the District, as well as the superintendent of schools and the chancellor of instruction. The plaintiffs claimed that the defendants’ reassignment of them to their tenured teaching positions at the beginning of a new school year violated property rights in their administrative positions secured to them by the fourteenth amend *905 ment to the constitution of the United States. The defendants moved for summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity. The district court held that there were factual issues in dispute to be resolved by a jury. The defendants appealed. We hold that no further facts need to be determined and that as a matter of law the defendants are protected by qualified immunity because the plaintiffs have no clearly established right to continue in their administrative positions.

FACTS

On June 15, 1999, the board, on the recommendation of the superintendent and chancellor, voted to assign the plaintiffs, then principals or…

dissenting:

I respectfully dissent. I would affirm the district court’s denial of defendants’ motion for summary judgment. I agree with the district court that genuine issues of material fact remain as to whether the defendants are entitled to qualified immunity. Where the determination of qualified immunity depends on material factual disputes, it is appropriate for a court to deny summary judgment so that these disputes may be resolved by the trier of fact. Roth v. Veterans Administration, 856 F.2d 1401, 1408-10 (9th Cir.1988) (whether defendants deprived plaintiff of his property interest required “resolution of several disputed factual issues” and so the court appropriately denied qualified immunity for defendants on summary judgment).

To address the issue whether the defendants are entitled to qualified immunity, an understanding of the basic facts is essential. In the early afternoon of June 15, 1999, before plaintiffs were notified of their demotions, the San Diego Board of Education posted their names in the San Diego Unified District Educational Center informing the public that the Board intended to demote the plaintiffs at a meeting to be held that evening. That…