Could St. Landry Parish hire central-office staff without advertising the opening?

Plain-English summary

St. Landry Parish School Board asked whether it could create and fill a nonteaching central-office position without announcing the opening inside or outside the school system. In Opinion 03-0083, the Louisiana Attorney General said it could, if no local policy, contractual duty, or federal desegregation decree required advertising. He found no state statute or State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education rule requiring notice for the position described.

The position was twelve-month staff work paid on the teacher salary schedule, not a teaching post, and the person selected met its qualifications. The AG said school boards had statutory authority to create needed positions and adopt their own selection rules. The opinion did not decide whether St. Landry actually had a particular policy, contract, or decree; its answer was expressly conditioned on their absence.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2003. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

What the opinion meant at issuance

School board members

The opinion found no generally applicable state advertisement requirement for the nonteaching job presented. The board's own rules, a contract, or a desegregation decree could have changed the answer.

School staff and applicants

The AG did not say the board was required to advertise every new central-office job. His analysis was tied to the role and qualifications described and to the absence of another binding notice requirement.

Common questions

Q: Did state law require this opening to be advertised internally or publicly? A: The AG found no state statute or state education-board rule requiring advertising for the nonteaching position described.

Q: Could a local school board still require job postings? A: Yes. The AG said a board could adopt its own hiring procedures, including advertisement rules, and his answer assumed no such rule applied.

Background and statutory framework

The letter quoted LSA-R.S. 17:84 on parish school boards appointing necessary personnel and LSA-R.S. 17:81(C) on making local rules consistent with law and state education regulations. The source's month stamp is OCR-damaged, so the exact issue date is blank.

Citations and references

Authorities in the opinion: LSA-R.S. 17:84 and LSA-R.S. 17:81(C). The letter also referred to AG Opinions 78-1309, 81-551, and 96-349.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/03-0083

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain — the linked PDF is authoritative.

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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
One American Place
301 Main Street, Suite 600
CIVIL DIVISION
P.O. Box 94005
BATON ROUGE
TEL.: (225) 342-7013
FAX: (225) 342-2090
RICHARD P. IEYOUB
70804-9005
ATTORNEY GENERAL

NAY 0 1 2003
OPINION NO. 03-0083

94 - SCHOOLS & SCHOOL DISTRICTS - Administration, Government & Officers

       Mr. A. Gerard Caswell             LSA-R.S. 17:81 (C)                  LSA-R.S. 17:84

Attorney at Law
Absent a school board policy, contractual obligation or a
Post Office Box 1600
federal desegregation decree requiring the advertisement
Eunice, Louisiana 70535 of vacant positions, the St. Landry Parish School Board may fill a vacant position without prior advertisement.

Dear Mr. Caswell:

On behalf of the St. Landry Parish School Board, you have requested an opinion from this office as to whether it is legal for the St. Landry Parish School Board to create a new position and hiring someone for that position, without letting it be known inside or outside the school system that the position is available for other applicants. The minutes of the February 6, 2003 St. Landry Parish School Board meeting indicate and you have confirmed that the position in question is not a teaching position, but rather a twelve-month position that will be paid based on the teacher salary schedule. You also stated that this is a position that is considered part of the school board central office staff and the individual hired to fill the position meets all the qualifications required of the position.

The pertinent statutory provisions governing the hiring of an individual to fill the position described are found in LSA-R.S. 17:84 and LSA-R.S. 17:81(C).

LSA-R.S. 17:84 states the following in pertinent part:

The parish school boards may appoint such assistant superintendents, supervisors, stenographers, bookkeepers as may be needed, and such attendance officers, medical directors, and other appointees as may be necessary for the proper and efficient conduct of the schools; they may also fix their salaries and prescribe their duties.

LSA-R.S. 17:81 states the following in pertinent part:

C. Each city or parish school board is authorized to make such rules and regulations for its own government, not inconsistent with law or with the regulations of the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, as it may deem proper.

Page 2

Mr. A. Gerard Caswell
Attorney at Law
Page 2

LSA-R.S. 17:84 grants parish school boards the authority to select and employ personnel it deems necessary for the proper and efficient operation of its schools. This authority includes the creation of necessary positions. LSA-R.S. 17:81(C) permits school boards to adopt their own rules and regulations to carry out their governmental functions provided the policies adopted are not inconsistent with law or the regulations of the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. A school board may choose to adopt rules governing the selection of individuals to fill vacant positions.

This office has found no state law requiring a parish school board to advertise, internally or externally, for positions it is attempting to fill. Additionally, we have found no State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education rule requiring the advertisement of vacant positions in the situation you describe. (Also, see Attorney General Opinion Nos. 78-1309, 81-551 and 96-349.) Pursuant to LSA- R.S. 17:81(C), the St. Landry Parish School Board can establish its own policy governing the procedure to be followed when filling vacant positions, including the advertisement of those positions. In the absence of a local policy, a contractual obligation or a federal desegregation decree requiring the advertisement of vacant positions, it is the opinion of this office that the St. Landry Parish School Board may, pursuant to the grant of authority in LSA-R.S. 17:81(C)and 17:84, fill vacant positions without prior advertisement.

I hope this opinion has sufficiently answered your inquiry. If I can be of further assistance to you, please let me know.

With best regards,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
ATTORNEY GENERAL

BY:
Katherine M. Whitney
Assistant Attorney General

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