Dillon v. Board of Educ. of County of Mingo

MILLER, Justice:

In this appeal from an order of the Circuit Court of Mingo County denying a writ of mandamus, we are asked to decide whether teachers could receive pay for days absent when they were prevented from entering the school as a result of parents’ picketing. The lower court declined to order a pay award and we reverse. The legal issue centers on an interpretation of W.Va.Code, 18A-5-2, relating to school closures and in particular whether there existed a “calamitous cause over which the board has no control.”

The appellants were employed as teachers at the Marrowbone Grade School in…