Potlatch Education Ass'n v. Potlatch School District No. 285

226 P.3d 1277, 148 Idaho 630, 2010 Ida. LEXIS 27
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 3, 2010
Docket35606
StatusPublished
Cited by67 cases

This text of 226 P.3d 1277 (Potlatch Education Ass'n v. Potlatch School District No. 285) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Potlatch Education Ass'n v. Potlatch School District No. 285, 226 P.3d 1277, 148 Idaho 630, 2010 Ida. LEXIS 27 (Idaho 2010).

Opinions

W. JONES, Justice.

I. Nature of the Case

The Potlatch Education Association and Doug Richards, a teacher in Potlatch, Idaho, allege that the Potlatch School District breached the Master Agreement governing the terms of teacher employment in the district. They seek to compel the School District to classify as “professional leave” a day that Richards took off defending his final project in pursuit of his Master’s Degree in Educational Administration.

II. Factual and Procedural Background

Doug Richards is a music teacher for the Potlatch School District in Potlatch, Idaho. In May of 2007, he took a day off work to defend his final project toward his Master’s Degree in Educational Administration from the University of Idaho at Coeur d’Alene. He requested that the school principal classify the day off as “professional leave” under the Master Agreement between the Potlatch Education Association (PEA) and the School District, but the principal refused and instead classified the day as “personal leave.” The PEA filed a grievance on Richards’s behalf, but the Potlatch School District Board of Trustees ultimately affirmed the principal’s decision.

Richards and the PEA (“Appellants”) sued the School District and its Board of Trustees (collectively “School District”) for breach of contract, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, and moved for summary judgment. Both parties waived a jury trial. The School District filed a response and consented to the response being treated as a cross-motion for summary judgment. The district court [633]*633granted summary judgment in favor of the School District.

On appeal, Appellants rely on the Master Agreement, which provides paid professional leave to teachers to “pursue professional development,” so long as the teacher obtained written approval from the school principal. Appellants argue that Richards’s degree in educational administration was a professional-development activity and that the Master Agreement obligated the School District to count his day off as a professional-leave day. The School District responds that the Master Agreement gives it discretion in granting permission to take professional leave, and that, because Richards is a music teacher, the School District properly exercised its discretion in good faith when it refused to grant Richards paid leave to pursue a degree that would enable him to switch into an administrative position.

III.Issues on Appeal

1. Whether the district court properly granted summary judgment dismissing Appellants’ claim for breach of contract.

2. Whether the School District is entitled to attorney fees on appeal.

IV.Standard of Review

When this Court reviews a grant of summary judgment, it does so under the same standard employed by the district court. Boise Tower Assocs. v. Hogland, 147 Idaho 774, 779, 215 P.3d 494, 499 (2009). “The fact that the parties have filed cross-motions for summary judgment does not change the applicable standard of review, and this Court must evaluate each party’s motion on its own merits.” Intermountain Forest Mgmt., Inc. v. La. Pac. Corp., 136 Idaho 233, 235, 31 P.3d 921, 923 (2001). Summary judgment is proper “if the pleadings, depositions, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” I.R.C.P. 56(c). Where the case will be tried without a jury, “the trial court as the trier of fact is entitled to arrive at the most probable inferences based upon the undisputed evidence properly before it and grant the summary judgment despite the possibility of conflicting inferences.” P.O. Ventures, Inc. v. Loucks Family Irrev. Trust, 144 Idaho 233, 237, 159 P.3d 870, 874 (2007). This Court freely reviews the entire record before the district court to determine whether either side was entitled to judgment as a matter of law and whether inferences drawn by the district court are reasonably supported by the record. Id.; Walker v. Hollinger, 132 Idaho 172, 176, 968 P.2d 661, 665 (1998).

V. Analysis

A. The District Court Properly Granted Summary Judgment to the School District on the Breach of Contract Claim

When interpreting a contract, this Court begins with the document’s language. Cristo Viene Pentecostal Church v. Paz, 144 Idaho 304, 308, 160 P.3d 743, 747 (2007). “In the absence of ambiguity, the document must be construed in its plain, ordinary and proper sense, according to the meaning derived from the plain wording of the instrument.” C & G, Inc. v. Rule, 135 Idaho 763, 765, 25 P.3d 76, 78 (2001). Interpreting an unambiguous contract and determining whether there has been a violation of that contract is an issue of law subject to free review. Opportunity, L.L.C. v. Ossewarde, 136 Idaho 602, 605-06, 38 P.3d 1258, 1261-62 (2002). A contract term is ambiguous when there are two different reasonable interpretations or the language is nonsensical. Swanson v. Beco Constr. Co., 145 Idaho 59, 62, 175 P.3d 748, 751 (2007). Whether a contract is ambiguous is a question of law, but interpreting an ambiguous term is an issue of fact. Bakker v. Thunder Spring-Wareham, L.L.C., 141 Idaho 185, 190, 108 P.3d 332, 337 (2005) (quotation omitted).

The Master Agreement describes several different types of leave available to teachers. Section 10.5 of the Master Agreement specifically addresses professional leave, and provides:

Attendance at educational meetings or visiting other schools is permitted at full pay if such absence is approved by the Principal. If any certificated personnel [634]*634wishes [sic] to be absent from duty for a brief period to attend a professional meeting, to visit schools, or otherwise pursue professional development, a written request for approval of such absence should be signed by the Principal and filed in the Superintendent’s office a least two (2) days prior to the first day of anticipated absence. Professional leave is not to exceed two (2) days per year and is non-cumulative. The Principal may make exceptions on the number of days allowed when necessary.

Section 15.1 requires the parties to establish a salary schedule that will “[stimulate professional growth while in service,” and allows teachers to earn a higher salary if they receive certain amounts of academic credit in any field of study, both within and outside of education. Here, the parties do not dispute the underlying facts, and both contend the contract language is unambiguous. This case therefore hinges on an issue of law: the legal effect of the professional-leave terms in the Master Agreement.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
226 P.3d 1277, 148 Idaho 630, 2010 Ida. LEXIS 27, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/potlatch-education-assn-v-potlatch-school-district-no-285-idaho-2010.