JACKSON – The Mississippi Court of Appeals denied a request on Tuesday by the Hinds County School District to reconsider its ruling that a former elementary school administrator was wrongfully fired for reading a children’s book about flatulence to second graders.
The court denied the rehearing motion without comment in the case of Toby Price v. Hinds County School District.
Price, a former assistant principal at Gary Road Elementary School, was terminated by the Hinds County School Board after he read “I Need a New Butt!” to approximately 240 second graders on Read Across America Day.
The school board upheld Superintendent Stephanie Martin’s decision to fire Price, citing five reasons including that the book contained nudity and inappropriate illustrations, that Price had shown poor professional judgment, that the reading negatively affected at least one student, that Price violated the Mississippi Code of Ethics, and that Price lacked credibility as a witness.
Hinds County Chancery Court Judge Tiffany Grove upheld the board’s decision in July 2024, writing that while she was “sympathetic to Mr. Price’s circumstances of termination for a single instance of admittedly poor judgment,” the board’s decision was supported by substantial evidence and she lacked authority to substitute her judgment for the board’s.
The Court of Appeals reversed that ruling, finding the board’s decision was not supported by substantial evidence and was arbitrary and capricious. The appeals court found no “stark contrast” between the book Price read and other books already in the school’s library, several of which also contained references to nudity or the word “butt.”
The school district then filed a motion for rehearing, arguing the appeals court had improperly substituted its judgment for the school board’s, failed to address all five reasons for termination, and misread the legal standard governing appeals of school board decisions.
The district’s attorneys argued that under Mississippi precedent, a board’s termination decision should stand if even one valid reason supports it, and contended the court had ignored Price’s own admission that he had used “poor judgment.”
Price’s attorney, Joel Dillard, opposed the rehearing request, calling it “a fairly wholesale recapitulation” of arguments the court had already considered. Dillard argued the book’s content and the board’s allowance of similar materials in the school library made the case straightforward.
The court’s denial of rehearing leaves the appeals court’s ruling in favor of Price in place. It is unclear whether the school district intends to seek further review from the Mississippi Supreme Court.
