In re White Mountain Regional School Dist.

• Court: New Hampshire Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: Hicks
• Citation: In re White Mountain Regional School Dist., 908 A.2d 790, 154 N.H. 136 (N.H. 2006)
• Decision Date: 29 August 2006
• Docket Number: No. 2005-490.,2005-490.
• Parties: Appeal of WHITE MOUNTAIN REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT (New Hampshire Public Employee Labor Relations Board).

908 A.2d 790

154 N.H. 136

Appeal of WHITE MOUNTAIN REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT (New Hampshire Public Employee Labor Relations Board).

No. 2005-490.

Supreme Court of New Hampshire.

Argued: May 17, 2006.

Opinion Issued: August 29, 2006.

Soule, Leslie, Kidder, Sayward & Loughman, of Salem (Michael S. Elwell

and Jill A. Desrochers on the brief, and Mr. Elwell orally), for the appellant.

James F. Allmendinger, of Concord, staff attorney, NEA-New Hampshire, by brief and orally, for the appellee, White Mountain Regional Education Association, NEA-New Hampshire.

HICKS, J.

The appellant, White Mountain Regional School District (district), appeals a ruling of the New Hampshire Public Employee Labor Relations Board (PELRB) that it committed an unfair labor practice under RSA 273-A:5 (1999). The PELRB ruled that the district breached its collective bargaining agreement with the appellee, White Mountain Regional Education Association (association), when it issued letters of renewal with reservations to several of its teachers and required them to develop improvement plans for the upcoming school year. We affirm.

The record supports the following facts. The association is the exclusive representative of teachers employed by the district. The association and the district were parties to a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) in effect from July 1, 2002, to June 30, 2004. In April 2004, several tenured teachers employed by the district were given letters of renewal with reservations by the superintendent of schools. These letters informed the teachers that they were renominated for employment for the upcoming school year, but with reservations about their performance. The letters further stated that the teachers were required to prepare improvement plans before the end of the 2003-2004 school year.

The association filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the PELRB, alleging that the district unilaterally changed the procedures outlined in the CBA concerning teacher evaluation and performance reviews. The association relied upon article XVI of the CBA, entitled "Employee Evaluation," which details the procedures for evaluating teacher performance and providing feedback. It provides that tenured teachers are to be observed at least once per year, with discretion to the administration to conduct additional visits. A written evaluation must be prepared and placed in the teacher's file as a result of the observation, and a copy must be provided to the teacher.

The district maintained that its actions were consistent with the terms of the CBA, the past policies of the district, and RSA 189:14-a, III (Supp.2005), which requires, among other things, notice to teachers that "unsatisfactory performance may lead to nonrenomination." The PELRB disagreed, ruling that the district breached the parties' CBA by using new procedures to communicate teacher deficiencies. It ordered the district to remove all evidence of the letters and improvement plans from the teachers' files. The district redacted certain portions of the teachers' files in accordance with the PELRB order and filed this appeal.

On appeal, the district argues that: (1) the PELRB's decision is contrary to RSA 189:14-a; (2) the CBA impliedly permits it to issue such letters and to require improvement plans; and (3) its actions constituted "managerial policy within the exclusive prerogative of the public employer" under RSA 273-A:1, XI (Supp.2005).

Our review standard is governed by RSA 541:13 (1997). The PELRB's findings of fact are deemed prima facie lawful and reasonable, and its decision will be set aside only for errors of law or if it is shown to be unjust or unreasonable by a clear preponderance of the evidence. Appeal of State of N.H., 138 N.H. 716, 719, 647 A.2d 1302 (1994).

Following submission of the briefs but prior to oral argument, the association moved to dismiss this case as moot due to the expiration of the old agreement. Specifically, the association asserted that the case is moot because the teachers affected by the actions of the district were renewed and are under a new CBA that specifically addresses improvement plans. The new CBA, however, does not resolve whether the letters of renewal with reservations and improvement plans must remain redacted from the teachers' files. Accordingly, we deny the appellee's motion and address the merits of the appeal.

The district first argues that the PELRB's decision is contrary to RSA 189:14-a, III (Supp.2005) because this statute obligated the district to issue renewals with reservations in order to provide notice to the teachers that they may not be renewed. We disagree.

RSA 189:14-a, III became effective on August 29, 2003, and provides that:

In cases of nonrenomination because of unsatisfactory performance, the superintendent of the local school district shall demonstrate, at the school board hearing, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the teacher had received written notice that the teacher's unsatisfactory performance may lead to nonrenomination, that the teacher had a reasonable opportunity to correct such unsatisfactory performance, and that the teacher had failed to correct such unsatisfactory performance.

RSA 189:14-a. The district asserts that this statute applied to the CBA on August 29, 2003, and therefore the district was required to take the action it did in order to comply with the terms of the statute in anticipation of the eventual nonrenomination of the teachers. The association counters that the provisions of this statute do not apply because of RSA 273-A:4 (Supp. 2005), which addresses arbitration and other binding resolution provisions under grievance procedures adopted under a collective bargaining agreement.

RSA 273-A:4 provides that:

Every agreement negotiated under the terms of this chapter shall be reduced to writing and shall contain workable grievance procedures. No grievance resulting from the failure of a teacher to be renewed pursuant to RSA 189:14-a shall be subject to arbitration or any other binding resolution, except as provided by RSA 189:14-a and RSA 189:14-b. Any such provision in force as of the effective date of this section shall be null and void upon the expiration date of that collective bargaining agreement.

RSA 273-A:4. The "effective date of this section" was August 29, 2003. See Laws 2003, 204:5. The association asserts that the last sentence of this statute precluded application of RSA 189:14-a until the CBA expired on June 30, 2004.

While RSA 189:14-a is not directly applicable to this case because the teachers were all renominated, we recognize the district's concern that were the teachers not renominated for the following school year, the renewals with reservations policy would be evaluated to determine if it complied with the requirements of the statute. However, we hold that the notice provisions of RSA 189:14-a did not apply to the parties' CBA, which was already in existence at the time the notice provisions became effective. This dispute arose in April 2004, while the 2002-2004 CBA was in effect. An amendment to an existing law that affects existing contract rights is presumed to operate prospectively unless the language of the amendment or surrounding circumstances express a contrary legislative intent. Hayes v. LeBlanc, 114 N.H. 141, 144, 316 A.2d 187 (1974). We find no such language or circumstances here indicating that RSA 189:14-a was intended to affect existing contract rights. Indeed, the companion amendment to RSA 273-A:4 demonstrates the legislature's intent not to affect existing contract rights— the amendment specifically provides that its prohibition of arbitration or other binding resolutions does not apply to existing CBAs prior to their expiration dates. Therefore, we conclude that the language in RSA 189:14-a regarding procedures for notifying teachers of unsatisfactory performance did not apply to the district until the expiration of the CBA in June 2004. Accordingly, the district was under no obligation to comply with its provisions.

Next, the district argues that the PELRB's decision was contrary to the parties' CBA because letters of renewal with reservations and improvement plans are impliedly permitted by its provisions. Article...