The significance of judicial decisions for the British Columbia public school system
Date
1981
Authors
Nicholls, Alan C.
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Abstract
The primary objective of the study was to research the nature and significance of judicial decisions relevant to British Columbia public school operations. The methodology was based on Yogis and Christie's four-part procedure for research of case law: analysis of the problem area, research of the relevant law, synthesis of principles, and ·expression of findings and conclusions. The analysis followed basic divisions into areas of school operations, the method used by Bargen and Volente, as the study's emphasis was on educational administration rather than jurisprudence.
The basic information was gathered from legal encyclopedia and digests, law reports, and texts and studies on school law; also from discussions with officials of the B.C. School Trustees Association, the B.C. Teachers' Federation and the B.C. Ministry of Education, and from a review of the trustee association's legal files for the last ten years. Decisions made by courts of law in Canada, England and the United States, and by quasi-judicial bodies in British Columbia, were reviewed and studied. Evaluations were made of those decisions relevant to B.C. public school operations, and the decisions deemed significant were selected.
Twelve major findings resulted from the study. The existence of a substantial body of court of law decisions relevant to B.C. public school operations was identified, and forty-nine of these were determined significant. Also identified were several significant decisions by quasi-judicial bodies. It was found that many of the significant decisions were not included in law reports, and information concerning them was obtained from the teachers' and trustees' associations. An additional finding confirms that the nature of the statute law governing public schools affects the number and nature of judicial decisions.
In addition to reporting these findings, speculations were made concerning four critical issues identified during the study:
(a) whether the school "arena" in British Columbia is likely to become more litigious;
(b) whether education problem solving in the Province is likely to change even more from a political and/or pedagogical process to a judicial function;
(c) the extent to wh ich courts and quasi-judicial bodies are the best way for society to make decisions about education; and
(d) whether teachers and school boards are over exposed to litigation for injuries to students, with inhibiting effects upon educational programs.
The study concludes with a series of recommendations concerning: the need for an improved school law information system for educational administrators and policy makers; greater awareness and involvement by educators in the "selection" process for cases which are to be reported; more certain and comprehensible school statute law; and, further specific studies into the role and significance of judicial decisions in public school education.