San Juan Teachers Assn. v. San Juan Unified Sch. Dist.

• Citation: 44 Cal.App.3d 232,118 Cal.Rptr. 662
• Court: California Court of Appeals
• Decision Date: 24 December 1974
• Parties: , 88 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3106, 76 Lab.Cas. P 53,592 SAN JUAN TEACHERS ASSOCIATION et al., Plaintiffs and Respondents, v. SAN JUAN UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT, Defendant and Appellant. YUBA CITY UNIFIED EDUCATION ASSOCIATION et al., Plaintiffs and Respondents, v. The BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF the YUBA CITY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT, Defendant andAppellant. Civ. 14010 and Civ. 13924.

Page 662

118 Cal.Rptr. 662

44 Cal.App.3d 232, 88 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3106,

76 Lab.Cas. P 53,592

SAN JUAN TEACHERS ASSOCIATION et al., Plaintiffs and Respondents, v. SAN JUAN UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT, Defendant and Appellant.

YUBA CITY UNIFIED EDUCATION ASSOCIATION et al., Plaintiffs and Respondents, v. The BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF the YUBA CITY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT, Defendant andAppellant.

Civ. 14010 and Civ. 13924.

Court of Appeal, Third District, California.

Dec. 24, 1974.

As Modified Jan. 2 and Jan. 23, 1975.

Hearing Denied March 12, 1975.

Karlton, Blease & Vanderlaan by Lawrence Karlton, Sacramento, for plaintiffs and respondents.

John B. Heinrich, County Counsel by Robert Galgani, Deputy County Counsel, Sacramento, for San Juan Unified Sch. Dist.

Edward F. Buckner, County Counsel by Marianne Heenan, Deputy County Counsel, Yuba City, for Board of Trustees.

Keith V. Breon, Portola Valley, and Robert G. Walters, Sacramento, for A.C. Calif. School Boards Assn.

JANES, Associate Justice.

These appeals, consolidated for decision, involve separate disputes as to the scope of a public school employer's obligation to 'meet and confer' with representatives of certificated employee organizations under the provisions of the Winton Act (Ed.Code, § 13080 et seq.). ¹

In each case, upon the complaint of a teachers' association and the chairman of the certificated employee council which represented that organization, ² the superior court tried the cause without a jury and granted declaratory relief generally adverse to the contentions of the teachers' employer, the defendant school district. Additionally, in the action against the Yuba City Unified School District, the judgment permanently enjoined the district's board of trustees from conduct inconsistent with the court's declaration of rights. Each school district appeals from the judgment against it.

WINTON ACT

To facilitate comprehension of the facts relevant to each appeal, we quote those portions of the Winton Act upon which the rights of the parties depend: ³

'It is the purpose of this article (the Winton Act) to promote the improvement of personnel management and employer-employee relations within the public school systems in the State of California by providing 'Employee organizations shall have the right to represent their members in their employment relations with public school employers. . . .' (§ 13083.) 'The scope of representation shall include all matters relating to employment conditions and employer-employee relations, including, but not limited to wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment.' (§ 13084.)

a uniform basis for recognizing the right of public school employees to join organizations of their own choice and be represented by such organizations in their professional and employment relationships with public school employers and to afford certificated employees voice in the formulation of educational policy. Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to supersede other provisions of this code and the rules and regulations of public school employers which establish and regulate tenure or merit or civil service system or which provide for other methods of administering employer-employee relations. This article is intended, instead, to strengthen tenure, merit, civil service and other methods of administering employer-employee relations through the establishment of uniform and orderly methods of communication between employees and the public school employers by which they are employed. . . .' (§ 13080.)

'A public school employer, or such representatives as it may designate . . ., shall meet and confer with representatives of certificated and classified employee ⁴ organizations upon request with regard to All matters relating to employment conditions and employer-employee relations, and in addition, shall meet and confer with representatives of employee organizations representing certificated employees upon request with regard to procedures ⁵ relating to the definition of educational objectives, the determination of the content of courses and curricula, the selection of textbooks, and other aspects of the instructional program to the extent such matters are within the discretion of the public school employer or governing board under the law. . . .' (§ 13085.) (Emphasis added.)

"Meet and confer' means that a public school employer, or such representatives as it may designate, and representatives of employee organizations shall have the mutual obligation to exchange freely information, opinions, and proposals; and to make and consider recommendations under orderly procedures in a conscientious effort to reach agreement by written resolution, regulation, or policy of the governing board effectuating such recommendations.' (§ 13081, subd. (d).)

'A public school employer shall meet and confer with representatives of employee organizations or the certificated employee council pursuant to Section 13085 with regard to a procedure for the resolution of persistent disagreements which may include factfinding and shall adopt rules and regulations establishing such a prodecure, which procedure shall be mutually acceptable to the parties meeting and conferring. In the event the parties cannot agree on a procedure for the resolution of persistent "Persistent disagreement' means a disagreement between the parties to meeting and conferring required by this article that has not been resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the parties through such meeting and conferring within a reasonable period of time after the initial presentation of proposals, which shall be not less than 30 days, except by mutual consent.' (§ 13081, subd. (e).)

disagreements, the parties, at the request of one of them, shall refer any persistent disagreement to a committee of three persons, one selected by the school employer, one selected by the employee organization or the certificated employee council, as the case may be, and in turn those persons shall select the third member. The committee shall report its findings to the parties at a public meeting of the parties. The committee may report recommendations to the parties at a public meeting upon the prior written agreement of both parties. Such findings and recommendations shall not be binding on the parties.' (§ 13087.1.)

'A public school employer shall adopt reasonable rules and regulations for the administration of employer-employee relations under this article. ( ) . . . (S)uch rules may include provisions for . . . such other matters as are necessary to carry out the purposes of this article.' (§ 13087.)

'The enactment of this article shall not be construed as making the provisions of Section 923 of the Labor Code ⁶ applicable to sublic school employees and shall not be construed as prohibiting a public school employer from making the final decision with regard to all matters specified under Section 13085.' (§ 13088.)

SAN JUAN CASE

(3 Civil No. 14010)

1. Facts in San Juan Case

In May 1971, the San Juan Teachers Association ('Association'), represented by a certificated employee council ('CEC'), proposed to the governing board ('Board') of the San Juan Unified School District ('District') a master agreement for the 1971--1972 school year. The proposed agreement was prefaced by certain 'Governing Clauses' which applied to all of its provisions. The Governing Clauses were as follows:

'1. The Board of Education of the San Juan Unified School District recognizes the Certificated Employees Council as the exclusive representative of all verified certificated employee organizations within the San Juan Unified School District.

'2. The San Juan Teachers Association recognizes that the Board of Education has the responsibility and authority to manage and direct, on behalf of the public, all the operations and activities of the San Juan Unified School District to the full extent authorized by law; Provided that such responsibility and authority shall be exercised by the Board in conformity with the provisions of this Agreement.

'3. The Board of Education hereby declares its intent to Maintain the agreements reached, on the various items in this Master Agreement, as district policy for a period of One year from their date of adoption by the Board of Education.

'4. The members of the San Juan Teachers Association hereby declare their intent to provide their professional services within their individual areas of competence, in accordance with this Agreement and with other adopted District Policies and the laws of the State of California.

'5. Amendments, changes, modifications or other alterations of the terms of this Master Agreement, after its adoption by the Board of Education And its ratification by the Association, may be Proposed by the Board or the Association in order to meet emergencies, to comply with statutory provisions, or to effect other changes deemed important to initiate during the term of this Agreement.

'6. No amendments, changes, modifications or other alterations of the terms of this Master Agreement may be made by an administrative officer of the District or by a representative of the Association; except that such officer or representative may bring to the attention of the Board of Education and the Certificated Employees Council the apparent need for change of a portion of this Agreement.

'7. As a result of meetings held between the designated representative of the Board of Education and the San Juan Certificated Employees Council, it has been Agreed that the foregoing clauses and the attached Master Agreement be submitted to the San Juan Board of Education For adoption in accordance with Education Code Sections 13080--13090 (the Winton Act) and District Policy #4116.2 (Board rules and regulations to be discussed Infra).' (Emphases added.)

The CEC requested the Board's representative to meet and confer on the proposed Governing Clauses, but the Board refused to permit its representative to do so...