IN THE SUPREPIE COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA 

CHARLES D. RIPPEY, 

Plaintiff and Appellant, 

BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF FLATHEAD 

VALLEY COI~~IUNITY COLLEGE , 

Defendant and Respondent. 

APPEAL FROM: District Court of the Eleventh Judicial District, 

In and for the County of Flathead, 

The IIonorable James M. Salansky, Judge presiding. 

COUNSEL OF RECORD: 

For Appellant: 

Hilley & Loring; Emilie Loring, Great Falls, Montana 

For Respondent : 

Jonathan B. Smith, Deputy County Attorney, Ralispell, 

Montana 

Submitted on Briefs: March 30, 1984 

Decided: J-me 8, 1984 

-- 

Clerk 
Mr. Justice John Conway Harrison delivered the Opinion of the 

Court. 

This appeal originated in the District Court of the 

Eleventh Judicial District of the State of Montana, in and 

for the County of Flathead. Appellant brought this action 

for payment of accumulated unused sick leave at the termination of his employment. The trial court granted the College's motion to dismiss, and this appeal followed. 

Appellant was an instructor at the Flathead Valley 

Community College in Kalispell-, Montana. At the end of the 

1982-1983 academic year, his employment was terminated by the 

College as part of a retrenchment plan. Upon termination, he 

requested payment for the amount of unused sick leave he had 

accumulated to that point. The College refused the request, 

reasoning that appellant was a "schoolteacher" under section 

2-18-601(2), MCA, and, as such, was exempted from the State's 

sick leave plan. Appellant filed a complaint in the District 

Court seeking payment, and the College moved to dismiss the 

complaint for the same reasons it had originally denied 

appellant's request. The District Court dismissed the complaint on the grounds forwarded by the College, and this 

appeal foll-ows . 

The applicable Montana code sections appear in Chapter 

18 of Title 2, entitled "State Employee Classification and 

Benefits." Part 6 of the chapter is titled "Leave Time" and 

section 2-18-618, MCA, sets forth the provisions for entitlement to sick leave. Section 2-18-618, MCA, allows State 

employees compensation for accumulated sick leave. However, 

section 2-18-601(2), MCA, defines a State employee to exclude 

"schoolteachers" for this purpose. The issue thus becomes 

whether community college faculty members are 
"schoolteachers" and therefore excluded from the State's sick 

leave plan under section 2-18-601(2), MCA. 

To decide this issue it becomes necessary to look to 

the history of the community college in this State. Under our 

statutes, the community college legal status is a hybrid. A 

community college is neither a high school nor an admitted 

part of the university system; however, it is answerable to 

the Board of Regents. In addition, and perhaps more important, it is partially financed by State funds. 

This Court in the case of Burlington Northern, Inc. v. 

Flathead County (1978), 176 Mont. 9, 575 P.2d 912, reviewed 

the legal history of the community college in a case involving the financing of teachers1 retirement. There we noted: 

"Prior to 1971, community colleges operated under and were governed by the same 

statutes as were high school districts. 

When first organized, community colleges, 

or junior colleges as they were then 

called, were under the supervision of the 

state superintendent of public instruction. 1939 Mont.Laws, Ch. 158, S7. In 

1965, the legislature placed them under 

the supervision of the state board of 

education. 1365 Mont. Laws, Ch. 274, S2. 

"In 1971, the legislature recodified all 

la.ws relating to school districts. 1971 

Mont.Laws, Ch. 5, SS 1-496. Under this 

recodification, the state board of education initially was to retain supervision 

over community colleges. 1971 Mont.Laws, 

Ch. 5, 450 (codified. at section 

75-8103, R.C.M. 1947, amended 1971). 

Also, community colleges were to be 

budgeted a.n.d financed under high school 

district budgeting and financing provisions. 1971 Mont.Laws, Ch. 5, S 468 

(codified at section 75-8121, R.C.M. 

1947, repealed 1971). Later in the same 

session, however, the legislature passed 

a bill introduced in response to the 1969 

Senate Education Committee ' s d.esire to 

spend State Foundation Program moneys 

exclusively for the public school systems 

through grade twelve and to separately 

finance community college districts. 

Senate Committee on Education, Hearings 

on S.B. 56, A Report to the 1971 Montana 
Legislature (Financing Montana Community 

Colleges) at p. 3, Forty-second Session. 

(January 19, 1971.) 

"As a result the 1971 legislature made 

two changes in its earlier recodification 

of school laws. First, it placed community colleges under the supervision of 

the board of regents, 1971 Mont.Laws, Ch. 

406, 5 1 (codified at section 75-8103, 

R.C.M. 1947). Second, it repealed section 75-8121 (which provided for financing community college districts under 

high school budgeting and financing 

provisions) and replaced it with new 

system for financing community college 

districts separately from the School 

Foundation Program. 1971 Mont.Laws, Ch. 

401, S5 1-8 (codified at sections 75-8127 

to 75-8133, R.C.M. 1947.) If 176 Mont. at 

11-12, 575 P.2d at 913-914. 

As noted above, the legislature has put community 

colleges under the supervision of the Board of Regents, 

section 20-15-103, MCA; the course of instruction, tuition 

and fees must be approved by the Board of Regents, section 

20-15-105, MCA; part of the funding comes from the State 

general appropriations act, section 20-15-310, MCA; and the 

operating budget must be submitted t.o the Board of Regents 

for approval, section 20-15-312, MCA. All of this indicates 

the community college educational staff members are - not in a 

strict legal sense "schoolteachers" since they are ultimately 

answerable to the Board of Regents. 

Counsel for the respondent argues that three cases of 

this Court apply, and their holdings deny appellant sick 

leave. Those cases are: Finley v. School District No. 1 

(1915), 51 Mont. 411, 1.53 P. 1010; Teamsters v. Cascade 

County School District No. 1 (19731, 162 Mont. 277, 511 P.2d 

339; and Bitney v. School District No. 44 (1975), 167 Mont. 

129, 535 P.2d 1273. A reading of those cases shows they are 

not applicable to the facts here. Finley, supra, dealt with 

whether or not a school district could contract to pay a 
grade school teacher on a twelve-month basis. Teamsters, 

supra, involved whether or not custodians were to be entitled 

as teachers to vacation benefits enumerated in section 

59-1.001, R.C.M. 1947. Bitney, supra, involved a school 

superintendent and. whether or not he was allowed sick leave. 

We found he had a contract that "provided regular full. sick 

leave allowed other teachers in the school system." Therefore, these cases are of no assistance in interpreting the 

statute as it relates to a community college faculty member. 

Looking to our statutory provision for interpretation, 

section 1-2-106, MCA states: 

"Words and phrases used in the statutes 

of Montana are construed according to the 

context and the approved usage of the 

language, but technical words and phrases 

and such others as have acquired a peculiar a.nd a.ppropriate meaning in law or 

are defined in chapter 1, part 2, as 

amended, are to be construed according to 

such peculiar and appropriate meaning or 

definition." 

Section 20-1-101(20), MCA, states: 

" 'Teacher' means any person, except a 

district superintendent, who holds a 

valid Montana teacher certificate that 

has been issued by the superintendent of 

public instruction under the provisions 

of this title and the policies adopted by 

the board of public education and who is 

employed by a district as a member of its 

instructional, supervisory, or administrative staff. This definition of a 

teacher shall also include any person for 

whom an emergency authorization of employment of such person has been issued 

under the provisions of 20-4-111." 

We find that the plain and ordinary meaning of "schoolteachers" does not encompass higher education fa.culty, including a 

community college faculty member. This is especially true in 

light of the above-noted relationship between the Board of 

Regents and Montana's community colleges. Community college 
educational staff members are State "employees" for purposes 

of entitlement to payment for accumulated sick leave. 

The judgment of the District Court is reversed and 

remanded. 

We concur: 

h-R& w-4, Chief Justice