Opinion
No. 231 C.D. 2012
12-05-2012
Shade-Central City School District, Appellant v. Shade-Central City Education Association
BEFORE: HONORABLE ROBERT SIMPSON, Judge HONORABLE PATRICIA A. McCULLOUGH, Judge HONORABLE JAMES GARDNER COLINS, Senior Judge
OPINION NOT REPORTED
MEMORANDUM OPINION BY SENIOR JUDGE COLINS
Shade-Central City School District (District) appeals from the order of the Court of Common Pleas of Somerset County (trial court), which denied the District's petition to vacate a labor arbitrator's award in favor of the Shade-Central City Education Association (the Association). The arbitrator found that the District did not have "just cause" under the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) to give Melanie Shiley (Grievant) an "unsatisfactory" rating for the 2009-10 school year.
Grievant has been employed by the District for 16 years as a music teacher, and has taught at all grade levels, from kindergarten through high school. During the 2009-10 school year, Grievant taught all elementary grades from kindergarten through sixth grade under the direct supervision of the Elementary School Principal, John Krupper, who was also the Superintendent of the District. Grievant was the school's only music teacher and was responsible for teaching music to all grades, in addition to some individualized musical instrument instruction. She was also responsible for teaching and conducting the Elementary School Chorus and Band, and for directing the fall Holiday Concert and the Spring Concert, to which parents were invited.
The District rated teachers using four critical categories of performance, giving each teacher an overall, end-of-the-year rating and a rating in each of the four categories. On June 11, 2010, Principal Krupper gave Grievant an "unsatisfactory" rating in one of the four categories and an "unsatisfactory" rating for the entire 2009-10 school year. Grievant received "satisfactory" ratings with minimal or no critical comment in the other three categories. According to Krupper, the "unsatisfactory" ratings were based on two events. He concluded that Grievant did a poor job preparing the band and chorus for the Spring Concert in May 2010, and he had some "concerns" about one of the handouts Grievant used during an unannounced observation of Grievant's third grade class on June 3, 2010.
The "unsatisfactory" rating was for Category I, Planning and Preparation. Categories II through IV are, respectively, Classroom Environment, Instructional Delivery, and Professionalism. (Trial Court Opinion at 3.)
The Association timely grieved the unsatisfactory evaluation, and the arbitrator found in favor of Grievant. The arbitrator found that, under the circumstances, the District did not have "just cause" under the CBA to give Grievant an "unsatisfactory" rating for the entire school year, especially considering Grievant's many teaching obligations and her "satisfactory" rating in three of the four rating categories. The award states: "The problem here, however, is that in the context of an entire academic year involving one other concert, in addition to teaching seven grades of elementary school children with varying musical abilities and interests in music, and leading the Band and Chorus, one deficient concert and one asserted inadequate classroom observation hardly justifies an unsatisfactory rating in Category 1. Moreover, when Mrs. Shiley's satisfactory ratings in the other three Categories are taken into account, an unsatisfactory rating for the entire year appears unfair, unwarranted, and without just cause." (Arbitrator's Award at 20-21.)
The District filed a petition to vacate the arbitration award in the trial court, which the trial court denied. The trial court applied the "essence test" set forth in Cheyney University v. State College and University Professional Association (PSEA-NEA), 560 Pa. 135, 149-50, 743 A.2d 405, 413 (1999), and further described in Westmoreland Intermediate Unit #7 v. Westmoreland Intermediate Unit #7 Classroom Assistants Educational Support Personnel Association (PSEA-NEA), 595 Pa. 648, 661, 939 A.2d 855, 863 (2007). The trial court concluded that an unsatisfactory rating is arbitrable under the CBA, that the award was rationally derived from the CBA, and that the award does not violate public policy.
The essence test is a two-pronged approach to judicial review of grievance arbitration awards. "First, the court shall determine if the issue as properly defined by the parties is within the terms of the [CBA]. Second, if the issue is embraced by the agreement, and thus, appropriately before the arbitrator, the arbitrator's award will be upheld if the arbitrator's interpretation can rationally be derived from the [CBA]." Westmoreland, 595 Pa. at 661, 939 A.2d at 863. The arbitrator's award must be respected by the judiciary if "the interpretation can in any rational way be derived from the agreement" and, when reviewing an arbitration award, the court may not substitute its judgment for that of the arbitrator, even if the court's interpretation of the Agreement differs from that of the Arbitrator. Westmoreland, 595 Pa. at 660-61, 939 A.2d at 862-63; Northwest Area Sch. Dist. v. Northwest Area Educ. Ass'n, 954 A.2d 111, 115 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2008) (en banc). --------
On appeal to this Court, the District contends that the arbitrator's award does not draw its essence from the CBA because (1) Grievant's unsatisfactory annual rating was not grievable under the CBA and, thus, was not properly before the arbitrator, and (2) the arbitrator's award was not rationally derived from the CBA. The District also argues that the award cannot be enforced because it would pose an unacceptable risk to the public policy of assuring quality education for students and would cause the district to breach its statutory obligation to rate teachers annually as part of its effort to provide that quality education.
These same issues were raised and argued before the trial court and ably disposed of in the thoughtful and comprehensive opinion of the Honorable David C. Klementik. Therefore, this Court shall affirm on the basis of that opinion: Shade-Central City School District v. Shade-Central City Education Association, (No. 700-Civil-2011), dated January 10, 2012 (attached).
/s/ _________
JAMES GARDNER COLINS, Senior Judge ORDER
AND NOW, this 5th day of December, 2012, the Order of the Somerset County Court of Common Pleas is AFFIRMED.
/s/ _________
JAMES GARDNER COLINS, Senior Judge
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