Stephanie Platia v. Board of Education of the Township of Hamilton, Mercer County , 434 N.J. Super. 382 ( 2014 )

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE
APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY
APPELLATE DIVISION
DOCKET NO. A-1730-12T3
STEPHANIE PLATIA,
Petitioner-Appellant, APPROVED FOR PUBLICATION
January 29, 2014
v.
APPELLATE DIVISION
BOARD OF EDUCATION OF
THE TOWNSHIP OF HAMILTON,
MERCER COUNTY,
Respondent-Respondent.
________________________________________________________________
Argued December 17, 2013 – Decided January 29, 2014
Before Judges Fisher, Espinosa and Koblitz.
On appeal from the New Jersey Commissioner
of Education, Docket No. 206-7/11.
Edward A. Cridge argued the cause for
appellant (Mellk O'Neill, attorneys; Arnold
M. Mellk, of counsel; Mr. Cridge, on the
brief).
Sanmathi Dev argued the cause for respondent
Board of Education of the Township of
Hamilton (Capehart & Scatchard, P.A.,
attorneys; Ms. Dev and Joseph F. Betley, on
the brief).
John J. Hoffman, Acting Attorney General,
attorney for respondent Commissioner of
Education (Lauren A. Jensen, Deputy Attorney
General, on the statement in lieu of brief).
The opinion of the court was delivered by
ESPINOSA, J.A.D.
Stephanie Platia was employed as a special education
teacher by the Board of Education of Hamilton Township (Board)
for more than three academic years in a four-year period.
However, the Board denied that she obtained tenure under the
Tenure Act, N.J.S.A. 18A:28-1 to -18, because her employment for
one of those academic years was as a "Long Term Substitute"
pursuant to a contract that stated the position was "non-
tenurial." In this, her appeal from a final decision of the
Commissioner of Education, we consider the application of the
"temporary" employee exception to the Tenure Act, N.J.S.A.
18A:16-1.1. We conclude the exception does not apply and that
Platia obtained tenure as of right.
I.
Platia was hired by the Board to serve as a full-time
special education teacher at Greenwood Elementary School in
Hamilton Township, effective January 28 to June 30, 2008. She
was rehired to serve in the same position for the next two
academic years, 2008-09 and 2009-10. According to the Board,
Platia was not offered a contract for the 2010-11 academic year
"based on reasons of economy."
However, in July 2010, the Board offered Platia a new
contract to serve in the position of "Long Term Substitute" as a
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special education teacher at the Mercerville and Lalor Schools,
effective September 1, 2010, to June 30, 2011. That contract
included the following notice:
You are replacing an employee who is on a
leave of absence and who may be returning to
his/her position at the expiration of this
contract. This position is non-tenurial and
carries no seniority eligibility. You will
be assigned to the Substitute Teacher List
if no position is available at the
expiration of this contract.
Platia signed the contract and accepted the position. When
Platia inquired about her status regarding tenure, she was
informed:
Tenure is not accruable as a Long term
Substitute. Tenure is gained in a full-time
position – it is equal to 3 years and 1 day
– a[nd] must be within a 4 year period – 1
full year as a long term substitute would
make a tenure clock start over again.
In April 2011, the Board notified Platia it would be unable
to offer her a contract for the 2011-12 academic year because
funding for the position she held would expire at the end of
June 2011. The Board added that it was "reviewing . . .
staffing needs for the 2011-2012 school year" and would contact
Platia if its needs changed and her services were desired.
In July 2011, Platia filed a verified petition with the
Commissioner of Education seeking, among other relief, an order
that would direct and compel the Board to recognize her as a
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tenured employee and restore her to the teaching position she
previously held.1 The Board filed an answer in which it denied
Platia had acquired tenure. The matter was transferred to the
Office of Administrative Law as a contested case. Both Platia
and the Board moved for summary decision. Following oral
argument, the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) issued an initial
decision on September 17, 2012, granting the Board's cross-
motion for summary decision and dismissing Platia's appeal.
Thereafter, the Commissioner adopted the ALJ's Initial Decision
as the final decision of the Department of Education.
Both the ALJ and the Commissioner viewed the question as
whether Platia filled a permanently vacant position or one that
was temporarily vacated by a teacher who intended to return.
The Commissioner agreed with the ALJ that Platia was not
entitled to tenure credit during the 2010-11 academic year
because "she filled a position resulting from a leave of
absence, not a permanent vacancy." The Commissioner noted
further that, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:16-1.1, the Board was
"authorized to designate a person" who would "act in the place
of an employee during a leave of absence" but not acquire tenure
credit for that employment.
1
Platia concedes that if she were restored to a tenured
teaching position, her employment would remain subject to a
reduction in force. See N.J.S.A. 18A:28-9.
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Our review in an appeal from a final decision of an
administrative agency is limited. Circus Liquors, Inc. v.
Governing Body of Middletown Twp., 199 N.J. 1, 9 (2009).
However, the issue presented here calls for the interpretation
of the Tenure Act and the exception for temporary employees,
N.J.S.A. 18A:16-1.1. Such interpretation "is primarily the role
of the judiciary and is not an administrative function."
Krayniak v. Bd. of Trs., 412 N.J. Super. 232, 237 (App. Div.
2010). As a result, the Commissioner's interpretation of the
statutes is not entitled to our deference.
II.
"The right to tenure is created and governed entirely by
statute." Merlino v. Borough of Midland Park, 172 N.J. 1, 8
(2002) (quoting Breitwieser v. State-Operated Sch. Dist., 286
N.J. Super. 633, 637 (App. Div. 1996)). The Tenure Act "defines
the conditions under which teachers are entitled to the security
of tenure." Spiewak v. Bd. of Educ., 90 N.J. 63, 72 (1982).
Tenure becomes a "mandatory term and condition of employment"
for "all teaching staff members[2] who work in positions for which
2
"Teaching staff member" is defined in N.J.S.A. 18A:1-1 as "a
member of the professional staff of any district or regional
board of education . . . holding office, position or employment
of such character that the qualifications, for such office,
position or employment, require him to hold a valid and
effective standard, provisional or emergency certificate,
(continued)
5 A-1730-12T3
a certificate is required, who hold valid certificates, and who
have worked the requisite number of years . . . unless they come
within the explicit exceptions in N.J.S.A. 18A:28-5 or related
statutes such as N.J.S.A. 18A:16-1.1." Id. at 72, 81.
Because a "legislative source for tenure rights is
essential," Lukas v. State of New Jersey, 103 N.J. 126, 128
(1986), the right to tenure accrues only when there is
"compliance with the precise conditions articulated in the
relevant legislative enactment." Merlino, supra, 172 N.J. at 8;
see also Picogna v. Bd. of Educ., 143 N.J. 391, 400 (1996);
Zimmerman v. Bd. of Educ., 38 N.J. 65, 72 (1962), cert. denied,
371 U.S. 956, 83 S. Ct. 508, 9 L. Ed. 2d 502 (1963). Thus,
actual service of the time specified in the statute is a
necessary prerequisite to the right to tenure. Tenure will not
accrue for an employee discharged before that time requirement
is satisfied, even if the discharge is in breach of an
employment contract.3 Picogna, supra, 143 N.J. at 401-02;
(continued)
appropriate to his office, position or employment, issued by the
State Board of Examiners . . . ."
3
In addition to the Tenure Act, the Board's power to dismiss is
limited by the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States
Constitution, the New Jersey Constitution, federal and state
anti-discrimination laws, see Picogna, supra, 143 N.J. at 402;
Zimmerman, supra, 38 N.J. at 70-71, and, presumably, by other
(continued)
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Canfield v. Bd. of Educ., 51 N.J. 400 (1968), rev'g on dissent
97 N.J. Super. 483, 490-93 (App. Div. 1967). Similarly, when
the statutory requirement calls for employment for a consecutive
number of years, an interruption in service precludes
satisfaction of the time requirement. See Merlino, supra, 172
N.J. at 12.
Although compliance with the time requirement must be
"absolute," Merlino, supra, 172 N.J. at 8, we are mindful of the
Tenure Act's remedial purpose to "prevent[] school boards from
abusing their superior bargaining power over teachers in
contract negotiations," Spiewak, supra, 90 N.J. at 72, and the
principle that it "should be liberally construed to achieve its
beneficent ends." Id. at 74. Therefore, the Tenure Act
"should not be interpreted to permit avoidance of tenure by
manipulation of job titles." Dugan v. Stockton State Coll., 245
N.J. Super. 567, 573 (App. Div. 1991).
Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:28-5(a), the services of teaching
staff members employed prior to the 2012-2013 school year
shall be under tenure during good behavior
and efficiency and they shall not be
dismissed or reduced in compensation except
for inefficiency, incapacity, or conduct
(continued)
statutory provisions such as the Conscientious Employee
Protection Act, N.J.S.A. 34:19-1 to -14.
7 A-1730-12T3
unbecoming such a teaching staff member or
other just cause . . . after employment[4] in
such district or by such board for:
(1) Three consecutive calendar years, or any
shorter period which may be fixed by the
employing board for such purpose; or
(2) Three consecutive academic years,
together with employment at the beginning of
the next succeeding academic year; or
(3) The equivalent of more than three
academic years within a period of any four
consecutive academic years.
[N.J.S.A. 18A:28-5(a) (emphasis added).]
The Board does not allege any "just cause" such as
"inefficiency, incapacity, or conduct unbecoming" for denying
Platia tenure. N.J.S.A. 18A:28-5(a). It is further undisputed
that Platia worked in a position for which a certificate is
required and that she holds a valid certificate. The thrust of
the Board's argument that Platia did not work the requisite
number of years is that her employment as a "Long Term
Substitute" fell within the exception in N.J.S.A. 18A:16-1.1.
If, however, Platia's year as a "Long Term Substitute" for
the 2010-11 academic year is counted, she qualifies for tenure
4
"Employee" is defined as including "the holder of any position
or employment." N.J.S.A. 18A:1-1. "Employment" includes
"employment in a position." Ibid. N.J.S.A. 18A:28-1 defines
"position" as including "any office, position or employment."
8 A-1730-12T3
pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:28-5(a)(3).5 See Kletzkin, supra, 136
N.J. at 277 ("[T]o obtain tenure" under N.J.S.A. 18A:28-5(a)(3)6,
a teacher must "be 'employed' for thirty months and one day over
four academic years."); Spiewak, supra, 90 N.J. at 71-72, 84(holding that a teacher qualified for tenure under this
provision where she worked in a public school system from
February 1976 through June 1979). If, as the Board argues, that
year may not be counted toward tenure, she does not satisfy the
statutory requirements for tenure.
5
Platia was employed as a teaching staff member from January to
June 2008 and for the academic years 2008-09 and 2009-10. She
argues that unless a tenure exception applies, she is entitled
to tenure under N.J.S.A. 18A:28-5(a)(2). However, she was not
employed for "[t]hree consecutive academic years, together with
employment at the beginning of the next succeeding academic
year" because Platia's employment from January to June 2008 does
not constitute employment for an academic year as defined by
statute. N.J.S.A. 18A:1-1 (An "academic year" is "the period
between the time school opens in any school district or under
any board of education after the general summer vacation until
the next succeeding summer vacation."); see also Kletzkin v. Bd.
of Educ., 136 N.J. 275, 277 (1994) ("An academic year runs for
the ten months between September 1 and June 30 of the school
year."). Therefore, she did not satisfy the criteria set forth
in N.J.S.A. 18A:28-5(a)(2). See also Picogna, supra, 143 N.J.
at 402 (To obtain tenure under relevant provision, "plaintiff
was required to serve three consecutive calendar years on
probation with defendant and then be reemployed by the Board for
at least one day in a fourth year.").
6
At the time Kletzkin was decided, this provision was located
at N.J.S.A. 18A:28-5(c).
9 A-1730-12T3
A.
The Board contends that Platia's employment as a "Long Term
Substitute" fell within the exception in N.J.S.A. 18A:16-1.1,
which provides, in pertinent part:
In each district the board of education may
designate some person to act in place of any
. . . employee during the absence,
disability or disqualification of any such
. . . employee[.]
. . . [N]o person so acting shall acquire
tenure in the office or employment in which
he acts pursuant to this section when so
acting.
[N.J.S.A. 18A:16-1.1 (emphasis added).]
To establish Platia's nontenurial status for purposes of
N.J.S.A. 18A:16-1.1, the Board relies on Platia's contract for
the 2010-11 school year, which stated that Platia would be
"replacing an employee who is on a leave of absence and who may
be returning to his/her position at the expiration of this
contract." As a preliminary matter, we reject the notion that
the language of the contract offered Platia for the 2010-11
academic year precludes consideration of that year's employment
for tenure purposes. A teacher's right to tenure "never depends
on the contractual agreement between the teachers and the board
of education." Spiewak, supra, 90 N.J. at 77.
In Spiewak, the Boards of Education similarly negotiated
contracts with special education teachers that characterized
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their employment as temporary, precluding them from obtaining
tenure notwithstanding their satisfaction of the time
requirements of the Tenure Act. Id. at 67-72; see also Merlino,
supra, 172 N.J. at 11 (applying Spiewak). The Court held that
the teachers obtained tenure as of right because the statute
made tenure after three years of service "a mandatory term and
condition of employment." Spiewak, supra, 90 N.J. at 72. Once
the teachers "fully satisfied the factual prerequisites of the
statute, [they] achieved tenure regardless of any side
agreements that they may have made renouncing their statutory
rights." Merlino, supra, 172 N.J. at 11. The fact that the
Legislature established a specific term of service for tenure to
accrue "leaves no room for discretionary action, [and]
negotiation on that term is fully preempted." Spiewak, supra,90 N.J. at 76; see also Merlino, supra, 172 N.J. at 8("[S]tatutory terms and conditions of employment take precedence
over any side agreement in contravention of the statute.").
Moreover, the statutory right to tenure "may not be forfeited or
waived." Spiewak, supra, 90 N.J. at 77.
B.
We therefore turn to the question whether the exception
regarding temporary employees set forth in N.J.S.A. 18A:16-1.1
applies. Our Supreme Court has instructed that this exception
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"extends only to those who 'act in place of' another employee
who is absent or disabled." Spiewak, supra, 90 N.J. at 74.
According to the Board, Platia was a "Long Term Substitute"
for Michele Snyder for the 2010-11 academic year. However, the
record fails to show that Snyder was "absent" from her
employment or that Platia acted "in place of" her.
It is undisputed that Snyder remained a full-time employee
of the Board throughout the 2009-10 and 2010-11 academic years.
By letter dated July 16, 2009, the Board advised Snyder it had
voted to "transfer" her to the position of "Special Education
Literacy Resource Coach" at the Lalor School and Kuser School,
effective for the academic year from September 1, 2009, to June
30, 2010. The position as literacy resource coach was part of a
grant program funded by the New Jersey Department of Education.
To work in this assignment, Snyder was required to hold the same
instructional certificate issued by the Department of Education,
State Board of Examiners, as that required to work as a special
education teacher. See N.J.A.C. 6A:9-9.2(b)(5) and (6).
Even if Snyder's transfer were construed as an "absence,"
the record also fails to support the conclusion that Platia
acted "in place of" Snyder. Prior to her transfer to the
literary resource coach position in 2009, Snyder was assigned as
a special education teacher at the Robinson School. For the
12 A-1730-12T3
2009-10 academic year, when Snyder was "transferred" to her
duties as a literary resource coach, Platia was employed as a
full-time special education teacher at the Greenwood school, not
as a "Long Term Substitute" and not at the Robinson School. The
record does not reveal who, if anyone, assumed Snyder's duties
at the Robinson School for 2009-10.
When Snyder's assignment as literary resource coach ended,7
she returned to the position she held prior to the 2009-10
academic year, which had now been transferred to the Kuser
School for the 2011-2012 academic year. Platia was never
assigned to the Kuser School, either. From the time of her
initial employment in January 2008 through June 2010, Platia was
assigned to work as a special education teacher at the Greenwood
School. Similarly, the "Long Term Substitute" contract did not
assign her to the school where Snyder worked prior to her
transfer to the literary resource coach position but, rather, to
the Mercerville and Lalor Schools for the 2010-11 academic year.
7
It is unclear from the record exactly when Snyder's assignment
as literary resource coach ended. The Cooperative Grant
Agreement that established the Special Education Literacy
Resource Coach position states the grant program ran only
through the 2009-10 school year, with a final report due on
August 16, 2010. However, in answers to interrogatories, the
Board asserted that the assignment was for a two-year grant
position, which would mean that Snyder continued in that
assignment for the 2010-11 academic year, the term of its "Long
Term Substitute" contract with Platia.
13 A-1730-12T3
The record therefore fails to support findings that Snyder
was "absent" for the year in which Platia was hired as a "Long
Term Substitute" or that Platia filled a position that was
available by virtue of Snyder's "absence." Both of these
criteria must be satisfied for the temporary employee exception
in N.J.S.A. 18A:16-1.1 to apply. Because Platia was employed
for the "equivalent of more than three academic years within a
period of . . . four consecutive academic years," tenure was
conferred upon her as of right pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:28-
5(a)(3).
Reversed.
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