Opinion ID: 2001280
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Fair Lawn Education Association, et als. v. Board of Education of the Borough of Fair Lawn

Text: This action (Fair Lawn) was initiated by verified complaint on September 9, 1980 on behalf of the Fair Lawn Education Association and twenty-seven teachers, only seven of whom are involved in this appeal. The petition alleged that as Title 1, S.C.E., and supplemental teachers the plaintiffs were entitled to tenure pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:28-5 and the same salary and benefits granted to other teaching staff members in their district. Some of the teachers have been employed since 1969. The State Board of Education held that the positions held by Levy, Pavon, Stolar, Albalah, Solomon, Smotzer, and Jasnow were tenurable, but that any emoluments accruing with tenure should be awarded only prospectively. The Board further held that Levy never achieved tenure, that Jasnow's tenure ended with her voluntary termination prior to our Spiewak decision, and that Smotzer's tenure ended when she died prior to our Spiewak decision. None of these three women was granted further relief. Solomon, Albalah, Pavon, and Stolar were found to have achieved part-time tenure status, and salary level and other benefits were ordered to be adjusted prospectively. The Appellate Division affirmed the decision of the State Board, holding that it was in accord with Spiewak, and directed that the prospective relief awarded to the teachers be calculated from June 23, 1982. F. All of these matters were heard with the appeal known as Rutherford. The Appellate Division affirmed the State Board in Levinsky, Currier, and McGovern. With the exception of Joanne Ross' case in the matter of Rutherford Education Association, et als. v. Board of Education of the Borough of Rutherford, Bergen County, and with the exception of the cases of Levy, Jasnow, and Smotzer in the matter of Fair Lawn Education Association, et als. v. Board of Education of the Borough of Fair Lawn, the Appellate Division remanded the cases of the remaining teachers in Rutherford and Fair Lawn to the Commissioner of Education to determine what prospective benefits are owed to the teachers, consistent with that court's opinion. We granted the teachers' petition of certification. 97 N.J. 595 (1984). We now affirm the judgment of the Appellate Division in Levinsky, McGovern, and Fair Lawn to the extent it denied retroactive tenure or emoluments to teachers terminated prior to our decision in Spiewak. We reverse the judgment of the Appellate Division in Currier, Rutherford, and Fair Lawn to the extent that it denied retroactive tenure to teachers still employed at the time of the Spiewak decision. We remand Currier, Rutherford, and Fair Lawn to the Commissioner of Education for a determination of when each teacher achieved tenure, the emoluments each teacher is entitled to receive due to his or her tenured status, and the calculation of such benefits in accordance with this opinion.