Linwood Bennett, appellee, Central Montgomery County Area Vocational-Technical School, appellant,

704 A.2d 623 ( Pa 1997)

Facts about the case:

Linwood Bennett was a full time instructor at the Central Montgomery County Area Vocational Technical School in the auto body program during the 1989-1990 school year. He was then demoted to a part-time position due to a small enrollment. Samual Stearly, a colleague, took a sabbatical during the 1990-1991 school year. This sabbatical created a shifting of teachers to fill positions. In 1991-1992 an in-school suspension program was created. There was no specific teacher certification established for this position. Stearly was appointed to this program instead of returning to his previous position. All other teaching positions remained the same as in the 1990-1991 school year.

Bennett protested the decision to appoint Stearly because he remained in a part-time position while he had more seniority than Stearly. Even though they had different certifications the new program required no specific certification. He requested a hearing before the Joint Operating Committee to review his case. The Committee ruled that the school had not violated the school code and denied Bennett's request to be returned to full-time status. The common pleas court dismissed Bennett's request for a review of the committee's decision. Bennett appealed to the Commonwealth Court, which reversed the decision and ordered the committee to reinstate Bennett and grant him back pay. The Committee appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which reversed the order of the Commonwealth court.

Decision of the court:

On December 29, 1997, the Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Commonwealth Court. The Supreme Court stated that the Public School Code does not require that an available suspended or demoted professional employed be reinstated in a newly created position which does not require a certification.

Basis for the decision:

The court based it's decision on its interpretation of Section 1125.1(d)(2) of the Public School Code. It distinguished this case from Colonial Education Association v.Colonial School District, 644 A.2d 211 (1994), because the position in Colonial required a certification but the position in the present case did not require a certification. Two other cases were cited: Dallap v. Sharon City School District ,571 A.2d 368 (1990) and Dilly v.Slippery Rock Area School District , 625 A.2d 153 (1993).

Written by Ellen Batdorf, July, 1998