Facts of the Case

The Ambridge Area School District appealed an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Beaver County which affirmed a ruling of an arbitrator.  The arbitrator's ruling held that the district did not meet it's burden of proof and improperly furloughed JoAnn Harrington, a professional employee.  Further, the arbitrator directed the district to reinstate Ms. Harrington to her full time teaching position.

The district is appealed the arbitrator's ruling on the grounds that the arbitrator exceeded his authority in reviewing the basis for the furlough to override the school board's decision. The Court of Common Pleas of  Beaver County disagreed and dismissed the school district's petition and affirmed the arbitrator's award.

The district appealed to the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania on the grounds that the legislature specifically reserved the function of deciding the basis for a professional employee suspension to the school board and that the school board could not relinquish this statutory duty through collective bargaining agreements.

Decision of the Court

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania affirmed the order of the Court of Common Pleas of Beaver County, dated August 5, 1994.  The Court held that the arbitrator was given the power to review whether there had been a substantial decline in enrollment by Section 11 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, which guaranteed suspended professional employees all their rights under the School Code, including the right to submit any controversies involving employees suspensions to arbitrators.

Basis of the Court's Decision

The Court based it's decision on the statutory savings clause in the Collective Bargaining Agreement which guaranteed suspended professional employees all their rights under the School Code.  To provide legal foundation for their decision the Court relied on two cases: Rylke v. Portage Area School District, 473 PA. 481, 375 A.2nd 692 (1977) and Greater Johnstown Area Vocation-Technical School v. Greater Johnstown Area Vocational-Technical Education Association, 69 Pa. Cmwlth.208, 450 A.2d 787 (1982).

In Rylke, the Court found that based on the statutory savings clause which incorporated the job security provisions, certification, and other regulatory provisions of the School Code into the collective bargaining agreement and by including the relevant School Code sections in the agreement the parties intended to allow the arbitrator to decide whether the school district complied with those sections in suspending professional employees.  Subsequently, the Court ordered the matter submitted to arbitration.

The second case, Greater Johnstown Area Vocational Technical School v. Greater Johnstown Area Vocational Education Association invoked the statutory savings clause in the collective bargaining agreement to guarantee suspended employees all their rights under the School Code.  This case was a result of an arbitrator's ruling that an employee was improperly suspended before the school received Department of Instruction approval before altering it's program.  Although the Greater Johnstown case deals with the Department of Public Instruction approval the distinction was not thought of as meaningful.

written by,

Kimberly  Hoffman
and
Jeff Robbins