Cal. Teachers Ass'n v. Vallejo School Dist.

• Decision Date: 29 March 2007
• Docket Number: No. A110721.,A110721.
• Citation: 56 Cal.Rptr.3d 712,149 Cal.App.4th 135
• Court: California Court of Appeals
• Parties: CALIFORNIA TEACHERS ASOCIATION et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. VALLEJO CITY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT, Defendant and Respondent.

56 Cal.Rptr.3d 712

149 Cal.App.4th 135

CALIFORNIA TEACHERS ASOCIATION et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. VALLEJO CITY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT, Defendant and Respondent.

No. A110721.

Court of Appeal, First District, Division 3.

March 29, 2007.

Beeson, Tayer & Bodine, David N. Weintraub and Sarah Sandford-Smith Batt, for Plaintiffs and Appellants.

Driscoll & Associates, Thomas J. Driscoll, Jr., Lodi, for Bakersfield Elementary Teachers Association as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Plaintiffs and Appellants.

Weinberg, Roger and Rosenfeld and Stewart Weinberg, Alameda, for California Federal of Teachers as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Plaintiffs and Appellants.

Miller Brown & Dannis, Gregory J. Dannis, Lawrence M. Schoenke, San Francisco, Amy R. Levine and Damara Moore, for Defendants and Respondents.

Law Offices of Margaret A. Chidester & Associates, Margaret A. Chidester and Cathie L. Fields, Irvine, for California School Boards Association's Education Legal Alliance as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendants and Respondents.

McGUINESS, P.J.

This appeal raises two interrelated questions: May teachers who serve under provisional credentials be classified as "probationary" for purposes of the Education Code?¹ And, if so, are such provisionally credentialed teachers entitled to the statutory layoff rights the Code provides to fully credentialed probationary teachers?

As part of a district-wide reduction in work force, on March 11, 2004, the Vallejo City Unified School District (District) sent a letter to 214 certificated employees—i.e., teachers (see § 44831; Kavanaugh v. West Sonoma County Union High School Dist. (2003) 29 Cal.4th 911, 917, 129 Cal. Rptr.2d 811, 62 P.3d 54 (Kavanaugh))— notifying them of impending layoffs and advising them of their right to request a hearing to determine if the District's decision to terminate their employment was supported by cause. After calculating exactly how many positions it needed to eliminate, the District sent a letter to many teachers rescinding the prior notice and stating their employment would not be terminated after all. At the same time, on April 12, 2004, the District sent a letter to 43 teachers that rescinded the prior layoff notice but nevertheless terminated their employment. The District explained these teachers had "erroneously [been] given the notice that applies to probationary and permanent employees who are to be dismissed pursuant to the layoff statutes ...." Instead of following such layoff procedures, the District had decided to release them from employment at the end of the school year and not reemploy them the following year. None of the 43 teachers who received this notice held a clear teaching credential. Rather, each of them was either a district intern (see § 44830.3), a "pre-intern," or the holder of an emergency teaching permit or a credentials waiver. The parties have stipulated that none of the 43 teachers was being released for a performance-related issue or any perceived deficiency. The sole reason for their release was "economic considerations."

Acting on behalf of the 43 teachers so released, on July 23, 2004, the California Teacher's Association (CTA) filed a petition for writ of mandate and declaratory relief in the superior court. CTA asserted the teachers were probationary employees who were denied their statutory rights to notice and a pre-termination hearing under sections 44949 and 44955, and as a result were entitled to reinstatement in their positions with back pay and benefits due. The parties reached a stipulation as to nearly all background facts² and agreed "[t]he primary issue for determination" was whether the 43 provisionally credentialed teachers were entitled to the hearing and preferential reappointment rights afforded to probationary teachers who are dismissed for economic reasons. (§§ 44949, 44955, 44957.) The trial court determined they were not. The court reasoned the statutory scheme establishing the rights of probationary employees in a layoff "pre-supposes" that a teacher "is on track to permanent status." Because the provisionally credentialed employees here were not, "and were not automatically entitled to employment in the ensuing year," the court reasoned the District could release them in the manner it did.

We disagree with the trial court's conclusion. Because the Legislature has sharply limited school districts' ability to hire temporary teachers, and there is no evidence the teachers in this case fell within the narrow categories of temporary employment defined in the Education Code, they fell within the default classification of "probationary." (§ 44915.) The Code gives probationary teachers a number of rights and protections, including certain protections in the event of a layoff (§§ 44949, 44955, 44957), and the statutes in question do not distinguish between probationary teachers based on the status of their credentials. Accordingly, because the dismissed teachers were denied their statutory rights as probationary employees of the District, we shall reverse the judgment and remand for further proceedings.

DISCUSSION

CTA sought a writ of mandate. On appeal, we defer to the trial court's factual determinations if they are supported by substantial evidence and independently review the trial court's legal conclusions about the meaning and effect of statutory provisions. (Kavanaugh, supra, 29 Cal.4th at p. 916, 129 Cal.Rptr.2d 811, 62 P.3d 54; Welch v. Oakland Unified School Dist. (2001) 91 Cal.App.4th 1421, 1427, 111 Cal.Rptr.2d 374.) Because the trial court here based its decision on purely legal grounds, and did not attempt to resolve any disputed issues of fact, our review is de novo. (Kavanaugh, supra, 29 Cal.4th at p. 916,129 Cal.Rptr.2d 811, 62 P.3d 54.)

I. Temporary Versus Probationary Classification

"`The Education Code establishes four possible classifications for certificated employees: permanent, probationary, substitute and temporary.' (Taylor v. Board of Trustees (1984) 36 Cal.3d 500, 504[, 204 Cal.Rptr. 711, 683 P.2d 710].) The code authorizes the governing boards of school districts to hire, classify, promote and dismiss certificated employees (i.e., teachers) (see § 44831), but establishes a complex and somewhat rigid scheme to govern a board's exercise of its decision-making power." (Kavanaugh, supra, 29 Cal.4th at pp. 916-917, 129 Cal.Rptr.2d 811, 62 P.3d 54.) In general, this complicated classification system is designed to provide a level of tenure, i.e., job security, commensurate with an employee's seniority. "A certificated teacher's classification ... governs the level of statutory job protection the teacher enjoys and controls the level of procedural protections that apply if he or she is not reelected. In general, permanent employees may not be dismissed unless one or more statutorily enumerated grounds are shown. (§ 44932.) Probationary employees may not be dismissed during the school year except for cause or unsatisfactory performance (§ 44948.3), but, on timely notice, `may be nonreelected without any showing of cause, without any statement of reasons, and without any right of appeal or administrative redress.' (Bellflower Education Assn. v. Bellflower Unified School Dist. (1991) 228 Cal.App.3d 805, 808.)³ `Substitute and temporary employees, on the other hand, fill the short range needs of a school district and generally may be summarily released.' (Taylor v. Board of Trustees, supra, 36 Cal.3d at p. 505[, 204 Cal.Rptr. 711, 683 P.2d 710].) Thus, temporary teachers may be dismissed '[a]t the pleasure of the [governing] board prior to serving during one school year at least 75 percent of the number of days the regular schools of the district are maintained' (§ 44954, subd. (a)), and after that time so long as the temporary employee is notified before the end of the school year (id., subd. (b))." (Kavanaugh, supra, 29 Cal.4th at pp. 917-918, 129 Cal. Rptr.2d 811, 62 P.3d 54.)

Classification also determines an employee's rights in the context of a layoff. "When it becomes necessary, as the result of a reduction or discontinuation of services within a district, to reduce the number of permanent or probationary employees, the district must give notice to the affected employees, setting out reasons for the action and the employees' right to a hearing, no later than March 15. (§§ 44955, 44949; Cousins [supra,] 2A Cal. App.4th [at p.] 1854 [distinguishing procedure to lay off probationary employees for economic reasons from procedure to nonreelect them for subsequent year]; Gassman v. Governing Board (1976) 18 Cal.3d 137, 144-145[, 133 Cal.Rptr. 1, 554 P.2d 321] [distinguishing procedure to lay off probationary employees for economic reasons from procedure to dismiss them for unsatisfactory performance].) If the district fails to give the required notice by March 15, the employee 'shall be deemed reemployed for the ensuing school year.' (§ 44955, subd. (c).)" (Bakersfield Elementary Teachers Assn. v. Bakersfield City School Dist. (2006) 145 Cal.App.4th 1260, 1272, 52 Cal.Rptr.3d 486 (Bakersfield), fn. omitted.) An employee who receives such a notice may also request a hearing to determine if there is cause for the layoff. (§ 44949, subd. (b).) Layoffs proceed down the classification scheme, in accordance with seniority: "No permanent employee may be laid off if a probationary employee, or any other employee of less seniority, occupies a position the permanent employee is certificated and competent to fill. (§ 44955, subd. (c).) Likewise, a probationary employee may 'bump' another probationary employee with less seniority. Seniority is determined as of the date the employee `first rendered paid service in a probationary position.' (§ 44845, italics added.) Temporary employees therefore do not accrue seniority, and so must be released before probationary employees." (Bakersfield, supra, 145 Cal.App.4th at p. 1273, 52 Cal. Rptr.3d 486.)

Finally, the Code establishes...