Fedele v. Board of Ed. of Town of Branford
| Citation | 394 A.2d 737,35 Conn.Supp. 55 |
| Decision Date | 04 November 1977 |
| Docket Number | No. 106992,106992 |
| Parties | Joseph FEDELE v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF the TOWN OF BRANFORD. |
| Court | Court of Common Pleas of Connecticut |
Ronald Cordilico and Gould, Killian & Krechevsky, Hartford, for plaintiff.
Frank J. Dumark, Branford, for defendant.
The plaintiff was a tenured school teacher in the intermediate school of the town of Branford. His contract was not renewed by the board of education for the school year commencing September, 1976. The plaintiff's contract indicated that he was hired " . . . as a Teacher in the public schools of said Town . . . " He was originally hired for the school year commencing in September, 1972, and his employment thereafter continued until the September, 1976 termination, so that he had achieved tenure in the Branford school system.
On February 18, 1976, the defendant board of education voted to eliminate six intermediate school positions in the Branford school system, and on June 22, 1976, the board identified one of the positions to be eliminated as the vocal music position which was held by the plaintiff.
According to Ernest E. Weeks, the superintendent of schools, who testified at the hearing in court, the board's policy of reducing the professional staff was a result of decreasing enrollments as well as financial considerations in the school system. The board decided to place the emphasis on academics in dismissing teachers in the nonacademic field of unified arts such as music. The defendant board contends that its staff reduction policy as adopted on June 22, 1976, became a part of its rules and regulations for purposes of terminating a teacher's contract.
The Branford school system is divided into three areas: grades K through 4, the elementary school level; grades 5 through 8, the intermediate school level; and grades 9 through 12, the high school level. The board decided to reduce the staff by ten positions and allocated six of those positions to the intermediate school level. The board's staff reduction policy provided, in section B thereof, that "(n)o tenured teacher will be terminated while non-tenured teachers hold positions in the certification area within the organizational level being reduced." The board would define the organizational level as being the intermediate school in the plaintiff's case and would restrict section B to that educational level.
The stipulation of facts entered into by the parties through their attorneys admitted that the same position of vocal music teacher was held in the high school by a nontenured teacher. It is the board's position that the plaintiff was hired as a vocal music teacher in the intermediate school and that as such, upon termination by the board, he was subject to replace only a nontenured music teacher in the intermediate level of grades 5 through 8. In fairness to the board, the plaintiff's employment application form was filled out in the section for the "Elementary School and Intermediate School Applicants Only" and it was left blank in the section entitled "Senior High School Applicants Only." On that application form, the plaintiff set forth his "Teaching Experience" which appeared to be extensive, and he testified in court that his prior teaching experience was at the high school and junior high school levels. The record of the hearing that the board afforded the plaintiff, who was represented by counsel, indicates that he testified that his teacher certification was for secondary school "Music Grades 7 through 12."
The plaintiff's exhibit A is a copy of his long-term contract with the Branford board of education, which states that it may be terminated by the board pursuant to § 10-151 of the General Statutes and which further notes that it is subject to the statutes of the state of Connecticut and the rules and regulations of the board of education.
In the defendant's brief it is admitted that the plaintiff's employment could only be terminated in accordance with the six reasons contained in § 10-151(b). Only the fifth of those reasons applies to this case, i. e., "elimination of the position to which the teacher was...
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