BD. OF EDUC NORTH PALOS ELEMENTARY SCH. DIST. v. Williams

454 N.E.2d 773, 118 Ill. App. 3d 256, 73 Ill. Dec. 676, 1983 Ill. App. LEXIS 2329
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedSeptember 22, 1983
Docket82-1979
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 454 N.E.2d 773 (BD. OF EDUC NORTH PALOS ELEMENTARY SCH. DIST. v. Williams) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
BD. OF EDUC NORTH PALOS ELEMENTARY SCH. DIST. v. Williams, 454 N.E.2d 773, 118 Ill. App. 3d 256, 73 Ill. Dec. 676, 1983 Ill. App. LEXIS 2329 (Ill. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinion

JUSTICE LINN

delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff, the Board of Education of North Palos Elementary School District No. 117 (Board), filed an action in the circuit court of Cook County seeking a stay of arbitration and a declaratory judgment against defendants, the North Palos Education Association, IEA-NEA (Association) and two of its officers, Carole Williams and Eileen Grimmer. A dispute concerning class substitution and teacher evaluation had resulted in the Association’s filing grievances with' the Board on behalf of two member teachers, William Englemann and Barbara Dahlkemper. After the Board denied both grievances, the Association, following the procedure outlined in the Professional Negotiation Agreement (PNA) between the parties, submitted the grievances to arbitration. The Board’s suit sought a stay of arbitration and a declaratory judgment that the grievances were inarbitrable.

Both the Board and the Association filed cross-motions for summary judgment with supporting affidavits and memoranda; the trial court granted the Board’s motion for summary judgment, denied the motion of the Association, and then denied the Association’s motion to vacate. The Association has appealed, claiming that the trial court erred by (1) deciding the issue of arbitrability instead of leaving that initial question to the arbitrator, and (2) holding that the grievances seeking to enforce two provisions of the PNA were inarbitrable.

We. reverse the trial court’s entry of summary judgment in favor of the Board and remand with directions to enter summary judgment in favor of the Association. We find no disputed issue of material fact pertaining to either grievance.

Facts

William Englemann and Barbara Dahlkemper were teachers at Conrady Junior High School, one of the schools in District No. 117 whose faculty was covered by the PNA, a collective bargaining agreement between the teachers and the Board. The provisions of the PNA pertinent to this appeal are as follows:

“II. PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS
* * *
2.5 EXTRA-CURRICULAR ASSIGNMENTS Any assignments in addition to the normal school day during the regular school term shall not be obligatory but shall be with the consent of the teacher.
* * *
III. TEACHER EVALUATION
3.1 NOTIFICATION - ASSIGNED AND TRAVELING TEACHERS
Within 20 days after the beginning of each school term the building principal, or immediate supervisor, shall acquaint each teacher under his supervision with the teacher evaluation procedures, standards and instruments, and *** shall attempt to explain the evaluation process in sufficient detail so that a teacher can reasonably know what is expected ***.
* * *
IV. TEACHER RIGHTS - BOARD RIGHTS
* * *
4.12 BOARD AUTHORITY
The Board, on behalf of the electors of the District, retains and reserves the ultimate responsibilities for proper management of the District *** including but not limited to the responsibilities for the right:
1. To maintain executive management and administrative control of the District *** and the professional activities of its employees ***;
* * *
5. To determine class schedules, non-teaching assignments, the hours of instruction, and the duties, responsibilities, and assignments of faculty members.
* * *
VII. TEACHING HOURS AND ASSIGNMENTS
* * *
7.2 VOLUNTARY INTERNAL SUBSTITUTION
Any teacher who accepts a class above the normal assigned load shall be compensated at the rate of five dollars ($5.00) per hour. (Jr. High per period);
* * *
7.3 ADDITIONAL LOAD COMPENSATION
If a teacher shall teach more than the normal teaching load as set forth in this agreement, said teacher shall receive additional compensation on an hourly basis. This amounts to 0.07722 percent of the annual salary per hour.
This section pertains only to Jr. High School teachers who agree to teach each day an additional subject in lieu of the scheduled preparation period.
* * *
VIII. PROFESSIONAL GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES 8.1 DEFINITION
A grievance shall mean a complaint that there has been an alleged violation, misinterpretation, or misapplication of any provision of this Agreement.
* * *
8.3 PROCEDURES
* * *
E. Fifth step. *** [I]f the grievance is not settled in accordance with the foregoing procedure, the Association (but not the teacher) may refer the grievance to arbitration ***.
The Association or the Board may submit the grievance to final and binding arbitration under the Voluntary Labor Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association ***.
The arbitrator shall have no right to amend, modify, nullify, [or] ignore *** the provisions of this Agreement or any applicable Board policy. *** The arbitrator shall be without power to make decisions' contrary to or inconsistent with or modifying or varying in any way the applicable laws and rules and regulations having the force and effect of law.”

In addition, the Board cites the following sections of the School Code as the source of powers beyond those contained in the PNA and thus not subject to arbitration:

“Sec. 10 — 22.10. Control and supervision of school houses and school grounds. To have the control and supervision of all pub-lie school houses in their district ***.” Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 122, par. 10 — 20.5.
“Sec. 10 — 20.5. Rules. To adopt and enforce all necessary rules for the management and government of the public schools of their district.” Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 122, par. 10 — 20.5.
“Sec. 24 — 24. Maintenance of discipline. Teachers and other certificated educational employees shall maintain discipline in the schools ***.” Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 122, par. 24 — 24.

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Bluebook (online)
454 N.E.2d 773, 118 Ill. App. 3d 256, 73 Ill. Dec. 676, 1983 Ill. App. LEXIS 2329, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bd-of-educ-north-palos-elementary-sch-dist-v-williams-illappct-1983.