New York Court of Appeals, 1979

Sarro v. New York City Board of Education

New York Court of Appeals · Decided June 26, 1979

47 N.Y.2d 913; 393 N.E.2d 477; 419 N.Y.S.2d 483; 1979 N.Y. LEXIS 2171

Cases that cite this one

2 later published cases cite this decision.

Boyea v. Board of Education of Madrid-Waddington Central School District (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1994)
Giles v. Schuyler-Chemung-Tioga Board of Cooperative Educational Services (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1993)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion of the Court

OPINION OF THE COURT

Memorandum.

The judgment of the Appellate Division should be reversed, with costs, the determination of the board of education confirmed and the petition dismissed.

It was error for the Appellate Division to have reduced the suspension imposed by the board of education from five to three years (Matter of Pell v Board of Educ., 34 NY2d 222, 234; Matter of Bott v Board of Educ., 41 NY2d 265). The courts should show particular deference in matters of internal discipline to determinations made by boards of education which possess a peculiar sensitivity to and comprehension of the complexities and nuances of personnel administration and have responsibility for appropriate accommodation of the points of view of administration, teachers, pupils, parents and the community. (Cf. Matter of Ahsaf v Nyquist, 37 NY2d 182, 184-185; see Matter of Harris v Mechanicville Cent. School Dist., 45 NY2d 279, 285.)

Chief Judge Cooke and Judges Jasen, Gabrielli, Jones, Wachtler and Fuchsberg concur in memorandum; Judge Meyer concurs on constraint of Matter of Pell v Board of Educ. (34 NY2d 222).

Judgment reversed, etc.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.