Unified School District No. 279 v. Secretary of Kansas Department of Human Resources

802 P.2d 516, 247 Kan. 519, 1990 Kan. LEXIS 187, 136 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2448
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedDecember 7, 1990
DocketNo. 63,805
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 802 P.2d 516 (Unified School District No. 279 v. Secretary of Kansas Department of Human Resources) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Unified School District No. 279 v. Secretary of Kansas Department of Human Resources, 802 P.2d 516, 247 Kan. 519, 1990 Kan. LEXIS 187, 136 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2448 (kan 1990).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Herd, J.:

This is a civil action involving interpretation of the Professional Negotiations Act, K.S.A. 72-5413 et seq., in a dispute between the Jewell-Randall Education Association (Association) and the Board of Education of Unified School District No. 279 (Board).

The Board has appealed the district court’s decisions that (1) the Association had authority to file a prohibited practice complaint after negotiations with the Board were completed and unilateral contracts issued, (2) the Board committed a prohibited practice in reducing the offered teacher salary by the costs of mediation and factfinding, (3) the Secretary of the Kansas Department of Human Resources (Secretary) had authority to order the Board to pay $7,700 to the Association as a remedy for violations of K.S.A. 72-5429, and (4) the authority of the Secretary to grant relief is not violative of the Kansas Constitution. The Secretary and Association cross-appeal the district court’s rulings that (1) it is not a prohibited practice for the Board to include terms in unilateral contracts which were not noticed for negotiation nor negotiated and (2) failure to make the unilateral contracts retroactive was not a prohibited practice.

The facts of this case are not in dispute. Therefore, we adopt the statement of facts of the Court of Appeals:

“In January 1985, both the Association and the Board submitted notice of the items they proposed to negotiate for inclusion in the 1985-86 collective bargaining agreement in accordance with K.S.A. 1989 Supp. 72-5423(a). In the course of negotiations, the parties reached agreement on all issues except base salary and fringe benefits. In May 1985, both parties declared they were at impasse, and the impasse procedures of mediation and factfinding were initiated pursuant to K.S.A. 72-5427 and 72-5428. In October 1985, the Board’s representatives rejected the factfinder’s recommendations and made a counterproposal to the Association. [522]*522The counterproposal offered wage increases of 10.03% and fringe benefit increases, both effective with the December payroll, not retroactive to the beginning of the school year. In April 1985, prior to impasse, the Board had made the same offer except that it was to be effective with the beginning of the school year. The October offer was $8,536 less than the previous offer. The Association’s negotiating team rejected the counterproposal. Since no agreement was reached, the Board issued each teacher in the district a unilateral contract which provided a wage increase of 10.03% and a fringe benefit increase, both effective with the December payroll. Eighteen of the twenty teachers signed the unilateral contracts.

“During the fall of 1985, several articles regarding the Board’s proposal appeared in the Jewell County newspaper. The first discussed the factfinder’s report, the Board’s October proposal, and the Association’s rejection of the proposal. The second article discussed the unilateral contract offer, stating:

“ ‘The Board’s new compensation package will become effective December 1, 1985. . . .

“ ‘To date the Association’s refusal to accept the Board’s 10.03 percent offer has cost the school district over $7,700, not including the cost of the man hours required by the administration and board members to deal with the negotiations deadlock. The School Board does not feel that this cost should be borne by the taxpayers of USD 279. For this reason the Board has deducted the $8,536 to cover the current and future costs of completing this year’s negotiations. The Board does not feel that it is fair for the Association to now expect the Board to offer the same amount of money proposed in good faith by the board over half a year ago.’

“The Association filed a complaint against the district, alleging that the unilateral contract altered certain terms which were not noticed for negotiation and that the Board’s failure to negotiate the terms which were not noticed was a prohibited practice as defined by K.S.A. 72-5430(b)(l), (3), (6), and (7). The Association additionally alleged that the Board’s refusal to make the compensation package retroactive to the beginning of the 1985-86 school year constituted bad faith in professional negotiations in [523]*523violation of K.S.A. 72-5430(b)(l), (5), (6), and (7). The Association requested the Secretary to grant the following relief:

“1. Order the Board to reissue the unilateral contract omitting the changes in the items not noticed for negotiation and to give retroactive effect to the unilateral contract to the beginning of the 1985-86 school year.

“2. Order the Board to issue a statement to the teachers acknowledging it committed the prohibited practices alleged and assuring the teachers that it will refrain from interfering with the rights of the Association in the future.

“3. Order the Board to post a notice in all attendance centers and the administrative offices acknowledging it committed the prohibited practices alleged in the complaint.

“4. Assess a fíne of $500 against the Board payable to the Association.

“A hearing was held before the Secretary during which the parties stipulated to the facts. The Secretary concluded:

“1. The Association had authority or standing to file a timely complaint after the Board tendered a unilateral contract offer to the teachers.

“2. The Board’s act of changing unnoticed subjects in the unilateral contract offer was remedied by subsequent negotiations.

“3. The deduction of $8,536 from the Board’s original salary offer and the salary offered in the unilateral contract, and the suggestion that $7,700 of the deduction was used to pay for the Board’s factfinding services constituted a violation of K.S.A. 72-5430(b)(1) and (5).

“The Secretary ordered the Board to pay $7,700* to the Association for reimbursement of teachers within the district who were employed during the 1985-86 school year. The Association was instructed to place the money with a financial institution pending approval from the Secretary of a proposed payment to the individual teachers.

“The Board appealed the Secretary’s order to the district court. The district court ruled the controversy was moot because contracts were entered for the two years following the year in question. In addition, eighteen teachers signed unilateral contracts for the year in question, and the two remaining teachers chose not to pursue legal action within the six-month statutory period. In [524]*524unpublished opinion No. 62,414, filed January 20, 1989, this court reversed and remanded the case for a determination of whether the Board complied with K.S.A.

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

Related

Johnson County Bd. of Comm'rs v. Jorgensen
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2021
Goldman v. University of Kansas
365 P.3d 435 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2015)
Fort Hays State University v. Fort Hays State University Chapter
228 P.3d 403 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2010)
Fhsu v. Aaup
228 P.3d 403 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2010)
Fort Hays State University v. Fort Hays State University Chapter
195 P.3d 259 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2008)
Dawson v. Bruce
138 P.3d 1234 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2006)
Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Kansas, Inc. v. Praeger
75 P.3d 226 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2003)
Junction City Education Ass'n v. Board of Education
955 P.2d 1266 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1998)
State v. Ponce
907 P.2d 876 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1995)
Home Builders Ass'n v. Johnson County Water District No. 1
914 P.2d 956 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 1995)
City of Hugo v. State Ex Rel. Public Employees Relations Board
1994 OK 134 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1994)
Board of Education v. Kansas Department of Human Resources
856 P.2d 1343 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 1993)
Attorney General Opinion No.
Kansas Attorney General Reports, 1993
Dannenfelser v. Employment Security Board of Review
844 P.2d 41 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 1992)
Churchill Truck Lines, Inc. v. Department of Human Resources
837 P.2d 1322 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 1992)
Golay v. Kansas State Board of Nursing
814 P.2d 970 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 1991)
Kaufman v. STATE DSRS
811 P.2d 876 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1991)
Vakas v. Kansas Board of Healing Arts
808 P.2d 1355 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1991)
Garden City Educators' Ass'n v. Board of Education
805 P.2d 511 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 1991)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
802 P.2d 516, 247 Kan. 519, 1990 Kan. LEXIS 187, 136 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2448, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/unified-school-district-no-279-v-secretary-of-kansas-department-of-human-kan-1990.