SYLLABUS

(This syllabus is not part of the opinion of the Court. It has been prepared by the Office of the Clerk for the convenience of the reader. It has been neither reviewed nor approved by the Supreme Court. Please note that, in the interest of brevity, portions of any opinion may not have been summarized.) Bridgewater - Raritan Education Association v. Board of Education of the Bridgewater - Raritan School District (A - 85 - 13) (073873) Argued March 3, 2015 -- Decided May 6, 2015 LaVECCHIA , J., writing for a unanimous Court. In this appeal, the Court considers whether three teachers employed by the Board of Education of the Bridgewater

- Raritan School District (Board) appropriately were denied tenure as a matter of law or equity under circu mstances calling into question the interplay of N.J.S.A. 18A:28

- 5, which establishes the general rule by which teachers obtain tenure, and N.J.S.A. 18A :16

- 1.1, which creates an exception to that general rule. Tamara Manzur was hired by the Bridgewater

- Rari tan School District in September 2006 as a replacement teacher for a full

- time teacher who was commencing parental leave. The school principal informed Manzur that the job would count toward acquisition of tenure, a statement which later was confirmed by the district’s superintendent of schools, Dr. Michael Schilder. Manzur was rehired for the 2007

- 08 school year, although there is no evidence as to whether she was informed that the position was a replacement position. Manzur again was rehired for 2008

- 0 9 and 2009

- 10. In a September 2009 letter, Schilder informed Manzur that only time worked in a permanent position, not as a replacement, counted toward tenure. The letter stated that Manzur’s tenure earning start date was September 1, 2008, since she ser ved as a leave replacement from January 2, 2007 through June 30, 2007. In April 2011, Manzur was informed that her contract would not be renewed. She completed her service in June 2011, less than three months short of her tenure date. Carol O’Neil was hi red by the district in March 2007 as a replacement for a teacher who was on maternity leave. The principal informed O’Neil that her service as a replacement would not count toward tenure. O’Neil was rehired for the 2007

- 08 school year and was told by the principal that her service that year would count toward tenure. However, her evaluation for the 2007

- 08 school year reaffirmed her status as a replacement, as did her evaluation for the following school year. In September 2009, O’Neil received a letter from Schilder stating that, since was a replacement teacher for the 2007

- 08 and 2008

- 09 school years, she would not receive tenure until September 2012. In April 2011, O’Neil was informed that her contract would not be renewed. Maggie Cassidy began workin g as a replacement teacher in September 2007. Cassidy was informed by her building supervisor and Schilder that her position would count toward obtaining tenure. She was rehired for the same position for the 2008

- 09 school year and for a different positi on for the 2009

- 10 school year. Like Manzur and O’Neil, Schilder subsequently informed Cassidy that her 2007

- 08 replacement employment would not count toward tenure, projecting her tenure

- acquisition date to be September 2011. Although Cassidy was rehire d for the 2010

- 11 school year, her contract was not renewed for 2011

- 12. On behalf of Manzur, O’Neil, and Cassidy, the Bridgewater

- Raritan Education Association filed a petition of appeal with the Commissioner. The matter was referred to the Office of Adm inistrative Law as a contested case, and the Board moved for summary decision. The Association maintained that the teachers were entitled to tenure as a matter of law and under the equitable principles of apparent authority and equitable estoppel. An adm inistrative law judge (ALJ) granted the Board’s motion, finding that none of the teachers met the statutory requirement for tenure because they each had served as temporary replacements for other tenured teachers. The ALJ rejected the Association’s equita ble arguments and concluded that the Board was not required to notify teachers of their status as replacement teachers under N.J.S.A. 18A:16

- 1.1. The Commissioner affirmed the ALJ’s decision. The Association appealed, and the Appellate Division, in an unp ublished decision, affirmed. The panel noted that N.J.S.A. 18A:16

- 1.1 did not expressly require that a teacher be given notice of his or her replacement status. The panel also rejected all of the Association’s equitable arguments. It explained that appa rent

- authority theories are disfavored as against government actors, and invoking equitable estoppel would interfere with the essential government function of granting tenure. Moreover, the panel noted that the Board itself had not made any representation s inducing the teachers’ reliance. This Court granted the Association’s petition for certification. 217 N.J. 304 (2014).2

HELD: N.J.S.A. 18A:16

- 1.1 requires a board of education to give an employee notice of his or her designation as a “replacement.” With respect to the claim of Tamara Manzur, a genuine issue of material fact exists regarding whether she was provided such notice as to her status during the 2007

- 08 school year. 1. N.J.S.A. 18A:28

- 5 establishes the general rule by which teachers employe d in a school district acquire tenure. The Legislature created an exception to that rule in situations where an individual is designated to act in the place of an employee during that employee’s absence, disability, or disqualification. In such cases, N. J.S.A. 18A:16

- 1.1 provides that “no person so acting shall acquire tenure in the office or employment in which he acts pursuant to this section when so acting.” It is well

- settled that, in order to acquire tenure, a teacher must demonstrate compliance wit h the conditions set forth in N.J.S.A. 18A:28

- 5. Plaintiffs here fall within the express terms of the statute and are presumptively eligible for tenure in the absence of a statutory exception. (pp. 11

- 12 ) 2. Although it is a settled principle of school law that temporary replacement, or substitute, teachers do not earn credit toward tenure for time spent as a replacement, there is a paucity of case law explaining how someone can be designated as a replacem ent teacher. In order for N.J.S.A. 18A:16

- 1.1 to apply, two criteria must be met: (1) the individual must be acting in place of a teacher; and (2) the teacher must be absent or disabled. Here, the Court must determine if a third criterion is necessary, n amely that the individual be notified that he or she is a replacement teacher. N.J.S.A. 18A:16

- 1.1 repeatedly states that a replacement teacher should be “designated” as such. A natural reading of “designate” contemplates that a person, who is “designate d” as having some conferred status, is informed of the designation or is made aware of the conferred status. Thus, applying the basic rule of statutory construction that plain language is ascribed its ordinary meaning, the Court construes N.J.S.A. 18A:16

- 1.1 to require a board of education to make an employee aware that he or she is being employed as a “replacement.” The Court is unpersuaded that the absence of an express notice requirement means that the Legislature intended to forego a notice obligation under N.J.S.A. 18A:16

- 1.1. Withholding notice of a teacher’s designation as a replacement could allow school districts to manipulate designations to avoid tenure, thereby undermining the Legislature’s efforts to prevent boards from abusing their power ov er teachers in contract negotiations. The Court recognizes that its interpretation of “designate” is the first declaration of the notice obligation contained in N.J.S.A. 18A:16

- 1.1, and it affords the benefit of this interpretation to the Association. (p p. 12

- 17) 3. Turning to the matters at issue here, the Court agrees with the Appellate Division that equitable principles are inapplicable. Under the tenure statutes, only a school board, and not individual members of the administration, may employ teach ing staff members, a fact of which the teachers here were aware. The doctrine of apparent authority, which offers an equitable remedy where a principal’s manifestations of support induce a third party to reasonably rely on an agent’s representations, is i napplicable here because, although the superintendent and administrators acted as agents of the Board, the Board itself never misrepresented those agents’ authority to alter the conditions for tenure acquisition. The doctrine of equitable estoppel is only invoked against government entities to prevent manifest injustice and requires a knowing and intentional misrepresentation by the party sought to be estopped. Again, the Board itself never made misrepresentations that could have misled the teachers. Alt hough the administrators’ misrepresentations of the teachers’ status was inappropriate, they cannot bind the Board. (pp. 17

- 20 ) 4. Here, the three teachers were told that they were replacements for another teacher for each school year of their service, thereby receiving the rudiments of notice that the Court holds must be provided to replacement teachers. However, Manzur’s claim may be an exception. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to Manzur, as the party who did not move for summary d ecision, the Court finds that a genuine issue of material fact exists with regard to her 2007

- 08 teaching status. Specifically, there is no evidence establishing that Manzur was given notice that she continued to work as a replacement during that school y ear. Thus, the Board was not entitled to summary decision on Manzur’s claim. If Manzur ultimately succeeds on her claim that no notice was provided, she is entitled to receive credit for the school year in question. (pp. 20

- 24 ) The judgment of the App ellate Division is AFFIRMED IN PART and REVERSED IN PART , and the matter is REMANDED for further proceedings consistent with this opinion in respect of the claim involving Tamara Manzur. CHIEF JUSTICE RABNER; JUSTICES ALBIN, PATTERSON, FERNANDEZ - VINA, and SOLOMON; and JUDGE CUFF (temporarily assigned) join in JUSTICE LaVECCHIA’s opinion.1 SUPREME COURT OF NEW JERSEY A
- 85 September Term 2013

073873

BRIDGEWATER
- RARITAN EDUCATION ASSOCIATION on behalf of TAMARA MANZUR, CAROL O’NEIL and MAGGIE CASSIDY, Petitioners

- Appellants,

v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE BRIDGEWATER
- RARITAN SCHOOL DISTRICT, SOMERSET COUNTY, Respondent

- Respondent. Argued March 3, 2015

– Decided May 6, 2015 On certification to the Superior Court, Appellate Division. William P. Hannan, II , argued the cause for appellants ( Oxfeld Cohen , attorneys; Mr. Hannan and Sanford R. Oxfeld , of counsel and on the brief). Stephen J. Edelstein argued the cause for respondent Bridgewater

- Raritan Regional B oard of Education ( Schwartz Simon Edelstein & C elso , attorneys; Nicholas Celso, III , of counsel, Mr. Celso and Douglas M. Silvestro , on the brief).
Donna S. Arons , Deputy Attorney General, appeared on behalf of respondent New Jersey Commissioner of Education ( John J. Hoffman , Acting Attorney General of New Jersey, a ttorney; Lewis A. Scheindlin , Assistant Attorney General, of counsel; Frederick H. Wu ,2 Deputy Attorne y General, on letter in lieu of brief). JUSTICE LaVECCHIA delivered the opinion of the Court.
T eacher s ordinarily obtain tenure in a position when they serve for any of the time periods set forth in N.J.S.A. 18A:28

- 5. The Legislature created an excep tion to that general rule in N.J.S.A. 18A:16

- 1.1. Under that exception, a board of education may designate a person to act in the place of an officer or employee during the officer’s or employee’s absence, disability, or disqualification and no person so designated as a replacement shall acquire tenure based on such temporary service. Ibid. In this appeal, the Court is asked to decide whether three teachers employed by the Board of Education of the Bridgewater

Raritan School District (Board) appropriately were denied tenure as a matter of law or equity under circumstances calling into question the interplay of th ose two statutes. The Appellate Division judgment under review affirmed the Commissione r of Education’s dismissal of the action brought on behalf of the three teachers. We now affirm in part and reverse in part.
I.
A. Petitioner Bridgewater

- Raritan Education Association ( Association) appealed on behalf of the teachers after they were notifi ed by the Board that their contracts would not be renewed.3

All three tea chers (1) had been told by high

- level school district administrators

-- including the district’s superintendent of schools

-- that their time working as a replacement teacher counted toward the acquisition of tenure, (2) had worked for the school district for at least three full school years, and (3) had worked for at least one full school year as a replacement teacher. Their individual circumstances are summarized below. 1
Tamara Manz ur initially was hired by the school d istrict in September 2006 as a replacement teacher for a full

- time sixth

grade teacher who was commencing parental leave. She was informed that the job was for the entire school year (from September 2006 to June 2007) , and was told by the school’s principal that the job would count toward acquisition of tenure. Upon Manzur’s inquiry, the district’s superintendent of schools, Dr. Michael Schilder, confirmed to her, at a later date, that time spent replacing a teacher o n maternity leave count ed toward

1 The facts are taken from the teachers’ affidavits an d supporting documents , which were filed in opposition to the Board’s motion for summary decision and must be taken as true for purposes of summary decision. See Brill v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of Am. , 142 N.J. 520, 535 (1995); Contini v. Bd. of Educ. of Newark , 286 N.J. Super. 106, 121 (App. Div. 1995), certif. denied , 145 N.J. 372 (1996).4

tenure acquisition . Manzur received a copy of her 2006

- 07 school

- year contract in January 2007. Manzur was rehired as a sixth

- grade teacher for the 2007

- 08 school year; however, there is no evidence in this record that she was informed that she was replacing another teacher nor was she so notified in her contract or other written materials. There appears in this record no dispute that she taught in the same classroom as she did in the 2006

- 07 school year. Manzur was rehir ed for the same position for the 2008

- 09 school year, but she was notified that she was being transferred to a fifth

grade teaching position prior to the beginning of the school year. Manzur was rehired for the 2009

- 10 school year again as a fifth

- grade t eacher. In a September 2009 letter, Schilder informed Manzur that pursuant to the law governing covering teacher tenure, “only time worked in a permanent position can be counted toward” tenure and that time worked in a position while cover ing another teacher’s absence from that position does not count toward tenure. Schilder’s letter further informed Manzur that her “tenure earning start date” was September 1, 2008 , and that she would receive tenure on September 2, 2011. The letter stated,

“ [s]ince you were a leave replacement for Concetta Fischer from 1/2/07 to 6/30/07, this time does not count toward tenure.” No5

reference was made to the 2007

- 08 school year for which Manzur was rehired as a sixth

- grade teacher . Manzur asserts that she

was not told she was filling in for another teacher for the 2007

- 08 school year . After being rehired as a fifth

- grade teacher for the 2010

- 11 school year, Manzur was informed by letter dated April 27, 2011, that the school district would not be renewing her

c ontract. Manzur completed her service in June 2011, less than three months short of the three years that she would have needed in order to secur e tenure d status . Carol O’Neil was hired by the d istrict in March 2007 as a replacement for a fourth

- grade teac her who was going on maternity leave. The school’s principal told O’Neil that her service as a replacement teacher through the end of the school year would not count toward tenure. O’Neil was not provided a contract for the period of March 2007 to June 2 007. O’Neil was rehired as a fourth

- grade teacher for the 2007

- 08 school year and was assured by the school’s principal that, because she would work under a contract for the entire year, her service for that period would count toward attaining tenure.
Her contract for that school year did not state that she was serving as a replacement teacher ; h owever, her evaluation for the 20 07

- 08 school year , which was provided to her, reaffirmed6

that she worked as a replacement teacher. The 20 07

- 08 evaluation, dated March 31, 2008, states: “Mrs. O’Neil joined our staff this year as a Grade 4 maternity leave replacement for Mrs. Karen Bauer.” O’Neil was rehired for the 2008

- 09 school year and again her 20 08

- 09 evaluation, dated March 31, 2009, referred to her replace ment status: “Mrs. O’Neil has been serving as a Grade 4 maternity leave replacement for Mrs. Karen Bauer.” She received contracts to teach for the 20 09

- 10 and 20 10

- 11 school years also , and “at all times” her principal openly stated O’Neil was on a tenur e track. O’Neil believed that she would acquire tenure at the beginning of the 20 10

- 11 school year. However, like Manzur, O’Neil received a letter from Schilder in September 2009 informing O’Neil of her tenure

- acquisition date. The letter stated that O ’Neil would not receive tenure until September 2012 because she had served as a replacement teacher for the 20 07

- 08 and 20 08

- 09 school years. O’Neil received another letter on April 27, 2011, informing her that her contract would not be renewed. Maggie Ca ssidy began working in the school district on September 1, 2007, as a replacement for a teacher on maternity leave. Cassidy had been serving as a replacement teacher in another district, where she had been informed that her time7

spent serving as a replacement did not count toward tenure. Seeking a tenure

- track position, Cassidy specifically asked whether her position as a replacement teacher in the d istrict would count toward the acquisition of tenure. Both her building

su pervisor and Schilder told her that the position would indeed count toward qualifying for tenure. Cassidy was rehired for the same position in the 20 08

- 09 school year, and she was hired t o fill a different position at another school building for the 20 09

- 10 school year. Cassidy’s contracts made no reference to her being a replacement teacher

or indicate d that her service under those contracts would not count toward tenure. Like Manzur and O’Neil, Schilder informed Cassidy by letter that her 20 07

- 08 emp loyment would not count toward achieving tenure because Cassidy was serving as a replacement. The letter projected her tenure

- acquisition date to be September 2, 2011. After being rehired for the 2010

- 11 school year, Cassidy’s contract was not renewed fo r the 2011

- 12 school year. Both Manzur and O’Neil aver that they would have sought work elsewhere had they known that service as a replacement teacher in the district did not count toward acquiring tenure. Similarly, Cassidy states that she would not have sought employment with the d istrict if she had known that her8

replacement

- teacher status was a bar to accruing time toward
tenure. B. The Association filed a Petition of Appeal with the Commissioner on behalf of Manzur, O’Neil, and Cassidy, arguing that a ll three teachers were entitled to tenure. After the matter was transferred to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) as a contested case, the Board filed a motion for summary decision pursuant to N.J.A.C. 1:1

- 12.5 and N.J.A.C. 6A:3

- 1.12(b ). In opposing summary decision , the Association argued that the teachers were entitled to tenure under the principles of apparent authority and equitable estoppel, noting that they had been told by high

- level administrators that replacement

- t eacher service counts towar d tenure. The Association further contended that Manzur was entitled to tenure as a matter of law because Schi l der’s September 2009 letter

-- written after Manzur had worked the entire 20 07

- 08 and 20 08

- 09 school years

-- stated Manzur was “a leave replace ment for Concetta Fischer from 1/2/07 to 6/30/07,” but made no reference to the 20 07

- 08 school year. According to the Association, even if the administrators’ representations that replacement teaching counted toward tenure are disregarded, Manzur’s 20 07

- 08, 20 08

- 09, and 20 09

- 10 teaching9

time rendered her tenured when she began work for the 20 10

- 11 school year on September 2, 2010 . An administrative law judge (ALJ) assigned to hear the matter granted the Board’s motion for summary decision, finding that none of the teachers met the statutory requirement for tenure because they had each served as t emporary replacements for other tenured teachers. The ALJ concluded that the Board was not required to notify the teachers of their status as replacement teach ers under N.J.S.A. 18A:16

- 1.1 and also rejected the Association’s equitable arguments. The ALJ determined that the Board could not be bound by the representations of its agents and that the Board itself never made any intentional misrepresentations of fac t. The Commissioner affirmed the ALJ’s decision and, in an unpublished decision, the Appellate Division affirmed. The panel noted that the Legislature did not expressly require in N.J.S.A. 18A:16

- 1.1 that a teacher be given notice of his or her replacement status , “despite requiring notice to teachers of other information” in other statutes. The panel added that, “[n]otice or not, Manzur apparently did not serve as a regular teacher for the statutorily

- required period.” The panel noted that Manzur occupied the same position in 20 07

- 08 as in 20 06

- 07, when she had been informed of her status as a10

replacement, and observed further that Schilder’s September 2009 letter’s projected tenure date of September 2, 2011, was consistent with replacement status for 20 07

- 08. The panel stated that Manzur’s affidavit did not assert that she was not serving as a replacement in 20 07

- 08, “but only that she was

never told she was replacing another teacher that year.” Therefore, the panel concluded t hat the Commissioner had rightfully determined that Manzur had not raised a material issue as to her employment status in 20 07

- 08. Further, t he Appellate Division rejected all of the Association’s equitable arguments . The panel noted that under N.J.S.A. 18A:2 7

- 1,

- 4 only the Board could have reduced the time necessary to acquire tenure and did not do so here. It declined to find apparent authority in this setting , noting that the use of apparent

- authority theories are disfavored as against government ac tors. Finally, the panel stated that invoking equitable estoppel to bind the Board would interfere with the “essential government function” of granting tenure, that the Board itself had made no representations that would have induced the teachers’ relianc e, and concluded with the observation that the administrators’ actions did not rise to the level of a “manifest injustice.”
II.11

Because this case requires us to assess the interplay of two statutes affecting the acquisition of tenure, we begin with

a revie w of that background law and our conclusion as to how the statutes were intended to operate together . At all times pertinent to this matter, N.J.S.A. 18A:28

- 5 provided that teachers acquire tenure upon employment in a school district for:

( a ) Three consecutive calendar years, or any shorter period which may be fixed by the employing board for such purpose; or ( b ) Three consecutive academic years, together with employment at the beginning of the next succeeding academic year; or ( c ) The equivalent of more than three academic years within a period of any four consecutive academic years. The Legislature created an exception to that general rule with N.J.S.A. 18A:16

- 1.1, which provides:

In each district the board of education may designate some perso n to act in place of any officer or employee during the absence, disability or disqualification of any such officer or employee subject to the provisions of section 18A:17

- 13. The act of any person so designated shall in all cases be legal and binding as if done and performed by the officer or employee for whom such designated person is acting but no person so acting shall acquire tenure in the office or employment in which he acts pursuant to this section when so acting
.12 [(Emphasis added.)] Several aspe cts of tenure acquisition and the interplay of th o se two statutes are well

- settled. First, “ [ b ] y the express terms of [the Tenure Act], an employee of a board of education is entitled to tenure if (1) she works in a position for which a teaching certifica te is required; (2) she holds the appropriate certificate; and (3) she has served the requisite period of time.” Spiewak v. Bd. of Educ. of Rutherford , 90 N.J. 63, 74 (1982). Second, to acquire tenure a teacher must demonstrate compliance with “the preci se conditions articulated in the statute.” Picogna v. Bd. of Educ. of Cherry Hill , 143 N.J. 391, 400 (1996). The plaintiffs in this litigation fall within the express terms of the statute and “are therefore presumptively eligible for tenure unless a stat utory ex ception applies .” Spiewak , supra , 90 N.J. at 74 (emphasis added). The exception at issue here concerns the tenure statute’s applicability to temporary replacement , or substitute, teachers. The exception enables a school district to “designate some person to act in place of any officer or employee during the absence, disability or disqualification of any such officer or employee,” N.J.S.A. 18A:16

- 1.1, and “no person . . . acting [as a replacement] shall acquire tenure in the office or employment in which he acts pursuant to this section when so acting,” ibid.13

It is a settled principle of school law that substitute teachers who “act in place of” another employee do not earn credit toward tenure for time spent as a replacement. Spiewak , supra , 90 N.J. at 74. Even if a regular teacher’s absence is “protracted,” so long as his or her “return to duty is contemplated,” any teacher acting in place of the on

- leave teacher will not be awarded tenure credit. Sayreville Educ. Ass’n v. Bd. of Educ. of Say reville , 193 N.J. Super. 424, 428 (App. Div. 1984). That said, there is a paucity of case law explaining how someone can be designated as a replacement teacher. In Platia
v. Boa rd of Education of Hamilton , 434 N.J. Super. 382 (App. Div. 2014) , the Appell ate Division discuss ed two requirements in the text of N.J.S.A. 18A:16

- 1.1. Specifically, an individual may not be characterized as a replacement unless the record demonstrates that he or she is (1) “act[ing] in place of” a teacher (2) “who is absent or d isabled.” Platia , supra , 434 N.J. Super. at 391 (quoting Spiewak , supra , 90 N.J. at 74 ) (internal quotation marks omitted)
. Both of those criteria must be satisfied for N.J.S.A. 18A:16

- 1.1 to apply. I bid
. In this matter, we must determine whether a thi rd criterion is necessary, namely that the individual be notified that he or she is being designated as a replacement teacher.14

N.J.S.A. 18A:16

- 1.1 repeatedly states that a teacher serving in place of another should be “designated” as such. To “designate” in common parlance means “[ t ] o indicate or specify,” “[ t ] o give a name or title to,” or “[ t ] o select for a duty, office, or purpose.” Webster’s II New Riverside University Dictionary 367 (1994). Thus, the natural read ing of “designate” contemplates that a person, who is “designated” as having some conferred status, is informed that he or she has been so designated or is made aware of that conferred status. It is a basic rule of statutory construction to ascribe to pla in language its ordinary meaning. See D’Annunzio v. Prudential Ins. Co. of Am. , 192 N.J. 110, 119

– 20 (2007) ( “[W]e look first to the plain language of the statute, and we ascribe to the statutory language its ordinary meaning.” (citations omitted)) ; N.J.S .A. 1:1

- 1 (providin g that words in statute s shall be given their “ generally accepted meaning, according to the approved usage of the language ” unless that reading is inconsistent with “the manifest intent of the legislature” or “different meaning is expres sly indicated”). Applying that pr inciple here

-- to a statute that exists as an exception to the otherwise generally applicable statute that confers tenure upon mere completion of service for a period of time

– - convinces us that the term “designate” in N. J.S.A.15

18A:16

- 1.1 should be given its plain meaning. That meaning incorporates an obligation that the employer give notice to the employee receiving the specialized designation that takes the employee off the normal service road toward tenure. We construe N.J.S.A. 18A:16

- 1.1 to require a board of education to make an employee aware that he or she is being employed as a “replacement.” That construction reasonably and fairly ensures that a person being offered specific employment as a replacement will not have the normal expectation that his or her time in service will count toward the acquisition of tenure, as commonly is the case under N.J.S.A. 18A:28

- 5. The lack of transparency inherent in withholding the fact of such a designation could allow school districts to manipulate those designations to avoid tenure. We have previously noted that keeping teachers in the dark as to their employment status effectively negates what the Legislature has endeavored to address by the tenure statute, namely, “prevent[ing] school boards from abusing their superior bargaining power over teachers in contract negotiations.” Spiewak , sup ra , 90 N.J. at 73. In so concluding, we reject the Board’s argument, accepted by the Appellate Division, that if notice was intended by the Legislature it could have said so. As the Board argued, such16

express notice was included by the Legislature in othe r statutes. See, e.g. , N.J.S.A. 18A:6

- 4.15 (requiring noti ce to applicant of qualification for employment following criminal history background check ); N.J.S.A. 18A:6

- 11 (requiring written noti ce of charges to tenured teachers in order to commence dismiss al or reduction in salary ); N.J.S.A. 18A:27

- 10 (requiring notice to teachers of either renewal or non

- renewal of employment contract by May 15 of each year with continued employment being consequence of non

- notice under N.J.S.A. 18A:27

- 11). We are unpersu aded that the specific type of notice required in those statutes compels the conclusion that the Legislature intended to forgo any notice obligation under N.J.S.A. 18A:16

- 1.1.

In r ecogni tion that our construction is the first declaration of the notice ob ligation we find evident by the use of the term “designate” in th at statute, we shall afford this clear statement of the statute’s notice requirement application to the parties that successfully obtained the judgment in this
matter. See Rutherford Educ. Ass’n v. Bd. of Educ. of Rutherford , 99 N.J. 8, 26 (1985) (“ It has long been our position that fundamental fairness generally requires that champions of the cause should be rewarded for their effort and expense in challenging existing law. ”). That said, w e perceive that only17

Manzur i s entitled to a remand in this matter for the reasons expressed below .
III. The Association , on behalf of the three teachers , asserted a number of equitable arguments that it say s require the Board to grant the t eachers tenure. Essentially for the reasons expressed in the Appellate Division decision , we reject the argument that equitable principles may have any applicability in this matter . Specifically, the teachers claimed that they were entitled to tenure in light of the mis representations by administrators’ explicit statements that their time as temporary teachers would accrue tenure credit, when in fact it did not. However, under the t enure statute s only a school board, and not individual members of an administration, may employ teaching staff members. Despite the misrepresentations made by the superintendent of schools and other school administrators about reduced time periods for tenure acquisition , none of those individuals possessed the authority to alter the teachers’ capability to accrue credit toward tenure. That roadblock is substantial and, ultimately, dooms all but Manzur’s claims in this matter, even in their present posture as having been disposed of on motions18

for summary decision . We briefly dispense with th e equitable arguments advanced on behalf of the teachers . The doctrine of apparent authority, relied upon by the teachers, in general offers an equitable remedy in situations whe n a principal’s manifestations of support induce a third party to reasonably rely on an agent’s representations. See Restatement (Third) of Agency § 2 .03 (2006) ( p roviding that apparent authority arises “when a third party reasonably believes the actor has authority to act on behalf of the principal and that belief is traceable to the principal ’ s manifestations” ); see , e.g. , N.J. Lawyers’ Fund for Client Prot. v. Stewart Title G uar. Co. , 203 N.J. 208, 220

- 21 (2010) ( relying

on Restatement (Third) of Agency , supra , § 2.03 in finding attorney did not act with apparent authority on behalf of title insurance company). Here, the superintendent and other administrators acted as agents of the Board; however, the Board itself never misrepresented the authority of the superintendent or other administrators to offer a shortened period of time or alteration of conditions for t he acquisition of tenure. Moreover, we note that there is no question but that each plaintiff had every reason to believe that it was the Board and only the Board that was employing them, not the individual members of the administration with whom they com municated
.19

Significantly, the doctrine of apparent authority generally is not held to apply to governmental actors. Governmental principals are “bound only by acts within the scope of the agent’s actual authority.” See Restatement (Third) of Agency ,
s upra , § 2.03 comment g . As involved here, the doctrine exceeds its traditional parameters. Although we by no means countenance what the Superintendent of Schools

-- the chief administrator of this school district

-- did here in making representations to these teachers about replacement service being counted toward tenure acquisition , we are constrained by the state of the law that renders apparent

- authority doctrine i napplicab le to the instant matter. Plaintiffs also argue that the doctrine of equitable estoppel should prohibit the Board from denying them tenure, despite that “equitable estoppel is rarely invoked against the government.” In re Johnson , 215 N.J. 366, 386 (2013). Equitable estoppel may be invoked against a governmental entity only “to pre vent manifest injustice.” O ’ Malley v. Dep’t of Energy , 109 N.J. 309, 316 (1987 ). Here, plaintiffs seek to estop the Board from denying them tenure, despite that the superintendent and administrators, not the Board, made the misrepresentations in question. Application of estoppel, however, requires “a knowing and intentional20

misreprese ntation by the party sought to be estopped under circumstances in which the misrepresentation would probably induce reliance, and reliance by the party seeking estoppel to his or her detriment.” Id. at 317 (emphasis added) (citations omitted) . The Board itself never made knowing and intentional misrepresentations that could have misle d the teachers involved here. Nothing in this record suggests that the Board mischaracterized the authority of administrators in respect of decisions regarding tenure. In a n application of estoppel “the focus must be on the conduct of the person or entity who had the authority to act,” which here can only be the Board. Maltese v. Twp. of N. Brunswick , 353 N.J. Super. 226, 245 (App. Div. 2002).
As inappropriate as it was fo r these administrators to mischaracterize the teachers’ status, the Association’s assertion that the statements made by the s uperintendent and

o ther school administrators warrant a finding of estoppel is misplaced. The misrepresentations by the superinten dent, or other administrators who suggested that the teachers would be entitled to tenure credit for their positions as replacements, cannot bind the Board.
IV. In this matter the three teachers were told, with one exception, that they were replacemen ts for another teacher for21

each school year of their service
. T h us , they received the rudiments of notice that we now hold must be provided to a teacher hired as a replacement. Ma n zur’s claim may be an exception
. We turn to analyze more closely her argu ment about the second year of her service in light of the current record
. In that analysis, the procedural posture of this matter and the standa rd of review that applies in this setting must be borne in mind . The Board filed a motion for summary decision, which will be granted by the ALJ assigned to th is contested case if “the pleadings, discovery and affidavits ‘show that there is

no genuine issue as to any material fact challenged and that the moving party is entitled to prevail as a matter of law.’” Contini v. Bd. of Educ. of Newark , 286 N.J. Super. 106, 121 (App. Div. 1995) (quoting N.J.A.C. 1:1

- 12.5(b)), certif. denied , 145 N.J. 372 (1996). Under that standard, “[o]nce the moving party presents suffici ent evidence in support of the motion, the opposing party must proffer affidavits setting ‘forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue which can only be determined in an evidentiary proceeding.’” Ibid. (quoting N.J.A.C. 1:1

- 12.5(b)). The i nitial decision of the ALJ, as well as the final agency action on such a motion, must ultimately “determine ‘whether the competent evidential materials presented, when viewed in the light most favorable to the non

-22

moving party in consideration of the appli cable evidentiary standard, are sufficient to permit a rational factfinder to resolve the alleged disputed issue in favor of the non

- moving party.’” Id. at 122 (quoting Brill v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of
Am. , 142 N.J. 520, 523 (1995)). Here, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to Manzur, a genuine issue of material fact exists with regard to Manzur’s 20 07

- 08 teaching status. Although the Board asserts that replacement status for 2007

- 08 can be inferred from Schi l der’s letter stating that Ma nzur’s service in 20 06

- 07 did not count toward tenure because it was a replacement

- teaching year, the Board produced no evidence to establish that the position Manzur occupied in 20 07

- 08 was one that she was told

was already assigned to another teacher. I ndeed, both parties acknowledge that the record does not demonstrate that Manzur was acting in place of Concetta Fischer for the 2007

- 08 school year, or that Fischer was “absent” for that year. In other words, even if Schi l der’s failure to mention the 20 0 7

- 08 school year evinced his continued belief that Manzur worked as a replacement for Fischer for that year, no evidence proves that Manzur was given notice of the same . Manzur asserted in her affidavit that she was not told that 20 07

- 08 was a replacement year, as she was before beginning work in the 20 06

- 07 teaching year.23

As noted previously, when pronouncing what amounts to a new rule of law

– - here an interpretation of a statute that had not been clear before today’s decision

– - courts give to the party who carried the water and succeeded in securing the legal pronouncement the benefit of their successful argument. Rutherford Educ. Ass’n , supra , 99 N.J. at 26. Here Manzur is entitled to receive credit for the school year in que stion if she succeeds in her claim that no notice or other source of information of her replacement status was provided to her regarding her service for the 2007

- 08 school year. At the very least, the Board was not entitl ed to summary decision because it bears the burden in such a motion generally , and on the question of notice of replacement status specifically, for which it , as the offering employer , is in the best position to pr ove . Here, based on the absence of evidence as to Manzur’s actual status, Schi l der’s letter’s failure to refer to the 20 07

- 08 school year, and Manzur’s assertions that, unlike the 20 06

- 07 school year, she was never informed that she was replacing anyone in the 20 07

- 08 school year, there exists an issue of material fact. A ratio nal factfinder could find for Manzur on this evidence, rendering erroneous the award of summary decision to the Board based on the status of the current24

record . The matter must be remanded for further proceedings as to Manzur’s claim for tenure.
V. For the reasons expressed, the judgment of the Appellate Division is affirmed in part and reversed in part, and the matter is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion in respect of the claim involving Tamara Manzur.
CHIEF JUSTICE RABNER; JUSTICES ALBIN, PATTERSON, FERNANDEZ
VINA, and SOLOMON; and JUDGE CUFF (temporarily assigned) join in JUSTICE LaVECCHIA’s opinion.SUPREME COURT OF NEW JERSEY

NO. A
- 85 SEP TEMBER TERM 2013 ON CERTIFICATION TO Appellate Division, Superior Court

BRIDGEWATER
- RARITAN EDUCATION ASSOCIATION on behalf of TAMARA MANZUR, CAROL O’NEIL and MAGGIE CASSIDY, Petitioners
- Appellants,
v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE BRIDGEWATER
- RARITAN SCHOOL DISTRICT, SOMERSET COUNTY, Respondent
- Respondent.

DECIDED May 6, 2015

Chief Justice Rabner PRESIDING OPINION BY Justice LaVecchia CONCURRING/DISSENTING OPINIONS BY DISSENTING OPINION BY

CHECKLIST AFFIRM IN PART/ REVERSE IN PART/ REMAND CHIEF JUSTICE RABNER X JUSTICE LaVECCHIA X JUSTICE ALBIN X JUSTICE PATTERSON X JUSTICE FERNANDEZ
- VINA X JUSTICE SOLOMON X JUDGE CUFF (t/a) X TOTALS 7