Meck v. Carlisle Area School District

625 A.2d 203, 155 Pa. Commw. 469, 1993 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 285
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMay 5, 1993
DocketNo. 1242 C.D. 1992
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 625 A.2d 203 (Meck v. Carlisle Area School District) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Meck v. Carlisle Area School District, 625 A.2d 203, 155 Pa. Commw. 469, 1993 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 285 (Pa. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

DOYLE, Judge.

Frank Meek appeals from the order of May 15, 1992, of the Court of Common Pleas of Cumberland County, which [471]*471quashed Meek’s appeal from the decision of the School Board of the Carlisle Area School District (District) demoting Meek.

Since 1979, Meek has been a full-time tenured professional employee of the District. Meek is only certified to teach drafting. During the 1990-91 school year, Meek taught drafting for a total of six periods out of a possible seven periods per day. The District’s Collective Bargaining Agreement provided that each teacher receive one “prep” period per day, in which to plan the following day’s courses. Teachers are also routinely assigned “extra duty” periods to supervise study halls or similar activities if they have any remaining unused periods out of their total of seven periods per school day.

During the 1991-1992 school year, Meek was scheduled to teach four separate classes. However, due to declining student enrollment in Meek’s courses, these classes were consolidated into two classes of two periods each for a total of four periods per day. At its regular meeting of July 18, 1991, the School Board adopted a resolution “demoting” 1 Meek from a full-time to a 70% schedule for the 1991-1992 school year pursuant to Section 1147 of the Code.2 Meek appealed the decision and a hearing was held on August 1, 1991 before the School Board.

Before the Board, Meek did not directly challenge the propriety of his demotion, but instead argued that his workload was improperly reduced because teachers with less seniority were assigned extra duty periods for which Meek was qualified. Meek based this argument on Section 11 — 1125.1(c) [472]*472of the Code,3 which requires school districts, when there has been a consolidation of departments or programs, to realign their professional staff to ensure that senior employes fill positions for which they are certified before they are filled by less senior employes. The Board rejected Meek’s argument that the District failed to properly realign its staff and concluded that Meek was demoted and that such demotion was rational and not based upon improper or arbitrary considerations.

Meek then filed an Application for Relief pursuant to Section 751 of the Local Agency Law, 2 Pa.C.S. § 751, with the Court of Common Pleas of Cumberland County, not challenging his demotion, but arguing a failure to properly realign the professional staff under Section 1125.1(c) of the Code. On September 5, 1991 the common pleas court issued a Rule against the District to show cause why the court should not grant Meek’s Application. On September 19,1991 the District filed a Motion to Quash the Application arguing that the appeal should have been taken to the Secretary of Education and that common pleas court lacked jurisdiction. The common pleas court found no evidence of a consolidation under Section 1125.1 of the Code, and further found that Meek was, in fact, demoted under the Code. Consequently, the common pleas court found that the Secretary of Education had jurisdiction over Meek’s appeal from the School Board’s decision under Section 1131 of the Code.4 Based on those findings, the [473]*473common pleas court granted the District’s Motion to Quash on May 15,1992, dismissing Meek’s appeal. Meek now appeals to this Court.

The sole issue before us is whether the common pleas court had jurisdiction over Meek’s appeal from the adjudication of the School Board or erred in dismissing it. The proper route of Meek’s appeal depends entirely of course upon whether Meek was demoted under Section 1151 of the Code or whether there was an improper realignment of professional staff after a “consolidation of departments or programs” under Section 1125.1(c). On appeal, Meek argues that the reduction in his salary and workload was an improper realignment of the District’s professional staff in violation of Section 1125.1(c), specifically claiming that the District should have assigned him “extra-duty” periods such as study hall supervision which are currently assigned to less senior employes. Meek contends that, had he been assigned more extra-duty periods as Section 1125.1(c) requires, he would have remained a full-time employe.

Meek correctly states that the exclusive method of appeal from a “realignment” of school staff is to the common pleas [474]*474court and that the school is obligated to realign its staff according to seniority. Shestack. He also acknowledges that unfortunately, the School Code does not specifically define the terms “realignment” or “demotion.” It is undisputed that the Board’s action at issue, here, only affected Meek. Meek cannot cite to a realignment case affecting only one employee, and indeed, none exists. In all cases cited by Meek for authority to establish that the Board’s action was a realignment, more than one professional employe was involved in the Board action at issue. The cases of employee realignment usually involve a group of teachers or administrators whose positions have been changed due to declining enrollment in their school or district. Shestack (23 employees); Gibbons v. New Castle Area School District, 93 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 28, 500 A.2d 922 (1985) (5 employees), reversed on other grounds, 518 Pa. 443, 543 A.2d 1087 (1988). In contrast, demotions involve teachers reduced in rank or status as a result of lack of enrollment in the specific courses taught by them or as a result of negative evaluations. Green v. Jenkintown School District, 65 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 68, 441 A.2d 816 (1982). Patchel v. Board of School Directors of Wilkinsburg School District, 42 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 34, 400 A.2d 229 (1979).

The common pleas court based its ruling that Meek was demoted on Green. In Green, the teacher had been demoted from full-time to part-time status because of the lack of student enrollment in her courses. We held this to be a proper and valid demotion. Meek attempts to distinguish Green by noting that Green did not argue that there was an improper realignment of staff. However, the language cited by Meek does not negate the holding that such a reduction to part-time status is a demotion. Indeed, like Meek, Green established before the school board that less senior teachers, who held positions for which she was qualified, were not demoted. Id. 65 Pa.Cmwlth Ct. at 70, 441 A.2d at 817. Green, therefore, is “on all fours” with Meek’s factual situation.

Meek’s situation is also similar to that of the appellants in Reed v. Juniata-Mifflin Counties Area Vocational School, 112 [475]*475Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 529, 535 A.2d 1229 (1988), petition for allowance of appeal denied, 518 Pa. 652, 544 A.2d 963 (1988). In Reed, the appellants were full-time teachers who had been reduced to part-time status after a lack of enrollment in their respective courses.

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Bluebook (online)
625 A.2d 203, 155 Pa. Commw. 469, 1993 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 285, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/meck-v-carlisle-area-school-district-pacommwct-1993.