Indianapolis Public Schools v. Review Bd. of Indiana Employment Sec. Div.
| Decision Date | 28 January 1986 |
| Docket Number | No. 2-985A305,2-985A305 |
| Parties | 29 Ed. Law Rep. 1137 INDIANAPOLIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS, Appellant (Claimant Below), v. REVIEW BOARD OF the INDIANA EMPLOYMENT SECURITY DIVISION, John C. Mowrer, David L. Adams, and Joe A. Harris, as members of and as constituting the Review Board of the Indiana Employment Security Division, and Luther E. Horton, Appellees (Respondents Below). |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
John Wood, Bamberger & Feibleman, Indianapolis, for appellant.
Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen., Richard C. Webster, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellees.
Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) appeals the decision of the Review Board of the Indiana Employment Security Division (Review Board) granting unemployment compensation benefits to Luther E. Horton (Horton).
We reverse.
The evidence established the following undisputed facts: Horton taught as a licensed substitute teacher for IPS for several years. As a licensed substitute teacher, Horton could teach a maximum of 180 days per school year. Horton actually taught as many as 142 days during the 1984-85 school year, and as few as two days during the 1982-83 school year.
Horton's regular teaching license expired on August 20, 1984, after the 1984-85 school year had begun. Consequently, Horton was permitted to teach as a licensed substitute for the remainder of the 1984-85 school year. However, Horton was required to renew his teaching license in order to teach as a licensed substitute for 1985-86. His regular teaching license As an unlicensed substitute teacher, Horton could teach a maximum 60 days per semester, or 120 days per school year. In addition, Horton would be paid at a rate of $30 for each day he taught, a decrease from the $35 daily rate paid to licensed substitute teachers.
could be renewed if Horton satisfactorily completed 12 credit hours toward a master's degree. Horton's attempt to satisfy those requirements in the final year covered by his license was unsuccessful because he failed to maintain a "B" average at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, with the result that the university could not recommend renewal of his license.
In May 1985, Martha Engle, IPS supervisor of substitute teachers, sent Horton a letter in which she assured Horton that his services as a substitute teacher would be needed in the coming school year. She invited him to return the Personnel Data Sheet on which he could give his teaching preference and availability. Horton testified he had not returned the Data Sheet, but said he intended to tell IPS that he would teach any days he was needed during 1985-86.
Horton applied for unemployment compensation benefits during the summer months between the 1984-85 and 1985-86 academic years. His application was denied by a deputy of the Employment Security Division. An appeals referee reversed the deputy's determination, and found Horton entitled to benefits. The Review Board affirmed and adopted the findings and decision of the referee on July 31, 1985.
The issue germane to this appeal is whether the Review Board's order finding that Horton had not received reasonable assurance of employment in the next school term was contrary to law?
The basis for the decision of the Review Board is IND.CODE 22-4-14-7(a)(1) (Supp.1984). In pertinent part, that statute makes teachers ineligible for unemployment compensation benefits during the period between academic years or terms if the teacher performed services in the first of the academic years and if there is a "reasonable assurance" that the individual will perform services in the second of the academic years or terms. The Review Board found that the diminution in Horton's daily rate of pay and in the potential number of days he could work, occasioned by the expiration of his teaching license, constituted a substantial change in the character of his employment. The Review Board consequently found there was not a reasonable assurance of employment in the academic year 1985-86.
This court first had occasion to interpret I.C. 22-4-14-7 in Fort Wayne Community Schools v....
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