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FOR PUBLICATION

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: JOHN P. DALY, JR., Stephenson Morow & Semler Indianapolis, Indiana

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: KIMBERLY D. JESELSKIS Macey Swanson and Allman Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

PIKE TOWNSHIP EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION, INC., d/b/a MSD PIKE TOWNSHIP, a non profit corporation, Appellant-Defendant, vs. DR. ALBERT S. RUBENSTEIN, Appellee-Plaintiff.

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No. 49A02-0501-CV-57

INTERLOCUTORY APPEAL FROM THE MARION SUPERIOR COURT The Honorable S.K. Reid, Judge Cause No. 49D13-0306-PL-1087

July 29, 2005

OPINION - FOR PUBLICATION BARNES, Judge

Case Summary Pike Township Educational Foundation, Inc., d/b/a Metropolitan School District of Pike Township, a non-profit corporation, ("Pike Township"), appeals the trial court's grant of partial summary judgment in favor of Dr. Albert S. Rubenstein, ("Dr. Rubenstein"). We affirm. Issue The sole issue for our review is whether the trial court erred in granting Dr. Rubenstein's partial summary judgment motion. Facts In July 2001, Pike Township hired Dr. Rubenstein to teach biology at Pike High School in Indianapolis for the 2001-02 school year. Although Dr. Rubenstein did not have a standard teaching license, he applied for and received a limited teaching license in August 2001. In November 2001, Dr. Rubenstein signed a teacher's contract with Pike Township that expired on May 30, 2002. On May 7, 2002, Dr. Rubenstein received an e-mail indicating that Mr. Rollins, the Pike High School principal, wanted to meet with Dr. Rubenstein in the principal's office the following day. During the May 8, 2002, meeting, Mr. Rollins verbally

informed Dr. Rubenstein that Pike Township would not be renewing his teaching contract for the following school year. Dr. Rubenstein never received a written notification from Pike Township either in person or at his home through regular or certified mail regarding the nonrenewal of his contract. The 2001-02 school year was the first and only year that Dr. Rubenstein had a teaching contract with Pike Township. 2

Dr. Rubenstein filed a complaint against Pike Township alleging that the school district had violated Indiana Code Section 20-6.1-4-14, a notice provision of the Indiana Code governing teacher's contracts, and breached an implied contract. Thereafter, Dr. Rubenstein filed a motion for partial summary judgment on the count alleging a violation of the statutory provision. The trial court granted the motion, and this court accepted jurisdiction of Pike Township's interlocutory appeal. Analysis Summary judgment is proper if the evidence shows that there is no issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Indiana Trial Rule 56(C); Lake Central Sch. Corp. v. Hawk Dev. Corp., 793 N.E.2d 1080, 1083 (Ind. Ct. App. 2003), trans. denied. Where, as here, the relevant facts are not in dispute and the interpretation of a statute is at issue, such statutory interpretation presents a pure question of law for which summary judgment disposition is particularly appropriate. See Lake Central, 793 N.E.2d at 1084. Further, where the issue presented on appeal is a pure question of law, we review the matter de novo. Id. Indiana Code Chapter 20-6.1-4 governs teacher's contracts. The statute sets forth a hierarchical structure of teacher classification: nonpermanent, semi-permanent, and permanent. Ostrander v. Bd. of Dirs. of Porter County Educa. Interlocal, 650 N.E.2d 1192, 1194 (Ind. Ct. App. 1995), trans. denied. A permanent teacher is one who "serves under contract as a teacher in a public school corporation for five or more successive years . . . and . . . at any time enters into a teacher's contract for further service with that school corporation." Ind. Code

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