Brenda Lee-Peery v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County

This is a breach of contract action brought by a nontenured teacher against the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County (“Metro”) for nonrenewal of her teaching contract for the 2018–2019 school year. The teacher alleges that the nonrenewal of her yearly teaching contract was ineffective because the decision to nonrenew was improperly delegated by the Director of Schools to the principal. The school district contends that the decision to nonrenew is delegable and that the teacher lacks a private cause of action because the school district provided her with timely notice of her nonrenewal. The trial court summarily ruled in favor of the teacher, awarding her damages for breach of contract. The school district appeals, reiterating its same arguments. For the nonrenewal of a nontenured teacher to be effective, the proper authority must make the decision to nonrenew, and the school district must provide timely notice to the teacher. Because the decision to nonrenew requires the Director of Schools to exercise his or her independent judgment and discretion, the Director of Schools may not delegate this authority. In this case, the Director of Schools did not exercise his independent judgment and discretion in the decision to not renew the teacher’s contract; thus, the purported nonrenewal was ineffective. Accordingly, we affirm.