Opinion ID: 1764342
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Richard Berland :

Text: Richard Berland is a licensed [1] elementary school teacher and counselor. After serving 6 years as an elementary teacher in other districts and completing a master's degree program in elementary school counseling, Berland was hired by the Minneapolis district in 1974 as an elementary counselor and acquired tenure pursuant to section 125.17, subd. 2, after his 3-year probationary period. He has never taught elementary school classes in the Minneapolis district. When the district determined in 1978 that it would need to discontinue 12 positions in the counseling department, Berland, one of the 12 least senior counselors, was terminated. He does not dispute the discontinuance of his position as a counselor but contends that section 125.17, subd. 11, entitled him to take the position of, or displace, any less senior teacher whose position he is qualified to fill. [2] It is conceded that elementary teachers less senior than Berland were retained, and he contends that, since he is licensed to teach elementary school, the district was required to offer him one of those positions even though he had not previously held a similar position with the district. The district claims, however, that the elementary counseling department or area is different from the elementary teaching department and that the words shall be discontinued in any department in Minn.Stat. § 125.17, subd. 11, preclude any comparison of Berland's seniority as a counselor with that of the district's elementary teachers. We held in Hendrickson v. Independent School District No. 319, 303 Minn. 423, 228 N.W.2d 126 (1975) that the position of a teacher cannot be defined too narrowly. We defined position as that [position] of a teacher at the level and in the curricula for which he is certified   , id. at 426, 228 N.W.2d at 128, in Hendrickson's case secondary teacher of social studies and English. As the Berland trial court noted, a second certification beyond what was currently taught was considered one of his `positions.' We had previously defined position in State ex rel. Ging v. Board of Education, 213 Minn. 550, 7 N.W.2d 544 (1942). There we said position was a teacher's relative place, rank, or standing in the school system. Id. at 585, 7 N.W.2d at 562. [3] Ging was overruled insofar as it referred to elementary teachers in Foesch v. Independent School District No. 646, 300 Minn. 478, 223 N.W.2d 371 (1974). Petitioner in Foesch argued that her position was that of a second grade teacher. We found that too narrow a definition and held that positions in elementary schools cannot be classed as primary, intermediate or grammar school divisions. The district's argument in the instant case must be rejected for the same reason we rejected the petitioner's argument in Foesch. The district has attempted to define Berland's position in a fashion too narrow to be acceptable under the definitions of Foesch and Hendrickson. The school district argues that the statute interpreted in Foesch and Hendrickson referred to schools in cities not of the first class, Minn.Stat. § 125.12, subd. 6b (1980), and that an interpretation of that statute is inapplicable to teacher tenure for schools in cities of the first class. It should be noted that we base our decision here on interpretation of the language in Minn.Stat. § 125.17 and the intent of the legislature in arriving at this language. We refer to Hendrickson and Foesch only insofar as those cases represent this court's view of the legislative intent to protect tenured teachers, either in schools in cities of the first class or those not of the first class. As long ago as 1938, this court elucidated the legislative purpose behind the teacher tenure act. The language bears repeating: Plainly, the legislative purposes sought were stability, certainty, and permanency of employment on the part of those who had shown by educational attainment and by probationary trial their fitness for the teaching profession. By statutory direction and limitation there is provided means of prevention of arbitrary demotions or discharges by school authorities. The history behind the act justifies the view that the vicissitudes to which teachers had in the past been subjected were to be done away with or at least minimized. It was enacted for the benefit and advantage of the school system by providing such machinery as would tend to minimize the part that malice, political or partisan trends, or caprice might play. It established merit as the essential basis for the right of permanent employment. On the other hand, it is equally clear that the act does not impair discretionary power of school authorities to make the best selections consonant with the public good; but their conduct in this behalf is strictly circumscribed and must be kept within the boundaries of the act. The provision for a probationary period is intended for that very purpose. The right to demote or discharge provides remedies for safeguarding the future against incompetence, insubordination, and other grounds stated in the act. The act itself bespeaks the intent. Provisions for notice and hearing, the requirements of specified causes for discharge or demotion, are indicative of the general purpose. With these considerations in mind, it is our duty so to construe such parts of the act which on their face do not clearly delineate the legislative intent as will bring about a result in harmony with the expressed legislative policy. McSherry v. City of St. Paul, 202 Minn. 102, 108, 277, 277 N.W. 541, 544 (1938) (emphasis in original). Cited with approval in Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, Local 59 v. Minneapolis Special School District No. 1, 270 N.W.2d 773, 776 (Minn.1978). We hold that position within the context of Minn.Stat. § 125.17 is that subject area and grade level for which the teacher is qualified as evidenced by licensure from the State of Minnesota. With respect to termination, we believe the legislature intended to protect teachers in cities of the first class to the same extent as those teaching in cities not of the first class. Because the legislature recognized that schools in cities of the first class are more likely to be large enough to be organized into departments, it provided for terminations within departments but continued to allow qualified teachers to take other positions within the district. The interpretation this court gives to the word position does not have the effect, as the school district claims it does, of nullifying the departmental lay-off provision in Minn.Stat. § 125.17, subd. 11. When positions are eliminated due to economic reasons, terminations will be made departmentally, by seniority. Only in the event that the terminated teacher is licensed in another area will the seniority of that teacher be compared to the seniority of the teachers in another department. If the terminated teacher has greater seniority than a teacher retained in a department for which the terminated teacher is qualified, the teacher with less seniority will be bumped. The result advocated by the school district, bumping not allowed or mandated by the statute, would have the inevitable effect of discouraging teachers from ever pursuing specialized training or attaining multiple licensure. Because the school district could arbitrarily assign the teacher with multiple licenses from department to department, the teacher could never attain enough seniority in any one department to be more senior than teachers who stayed in one department. The multiple-licensed teacher, while experienced and tenured in the school district, could not avoid lay-offs or terminations associated with declining enrollments. To allow school boards such discretion in assignments is inconsistent with the clear intent of Minn.Stat. § 125.17 to retain and tenure experienced teachers. We are even more strongly persuaded that the cross-departmental bumping must be allowed in Berland's case because of the nature of his counseling license. Regulations of the Minnesota Department of Education require that elementary school counselors be licensed to teach in elementary school, have 1 year of successful elementary teaching experience and have a master's degree in counseling before a license for elementary school counseling is granted. 5 MCAR § 3.103A (1978). By definition, then, the elementary counseling department personnel are also qualified to teach in regular elementary classes. In hiring an elementary school counselor, the school board would have before it the teaching record of any applicant. It is unlikely that they would hire a counselor whose teaching record was poor. In this case, Berland had not only 1 but 6 years of successful teaching experience before he was hired by the Minneapolis schools as an elementary school counselor. Berland was an elementary teacher who performed counseling services because of his special education and interest in the area. Similar requirements are made for licensure in other elementary school specialties and administrative positions. Experienced teachers should not be prevented from practicing the general teaching skills for which they are licensed simply because the special area in which they had practiced was the victim of budget cuts and population declines. Berland must be given the benefit of his seniority in the school district by comparing his seniority with that of elementary teachers as well as with that of counseling department personnel. A less senior elementary teacher must be bumped so that Berland may move into that position. The district court is affirmed.