Court Opinion

ID: 9796065
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 03:47:31.185901+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:48:54.383607
License: Public Domain

HILL, Justice,
dissenting, with whom KITE, Justice, joins.
[¶17] I respectfully dissent because I do not agree with the majority that the district court was correct in determining that there were no genuine issues of material fact at large in this case. Furthermore, I do not agree that Mrs. Lubhm was not a "teacher," as that word is used in Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 21-7-102(a)(vii), as a matter of law.
[¶18] The majority concludes that Luhm is "unambiguously not a teacher by contract." I do not believe that issue can be dismissed quite so lightly. The contract she was offered described the position as a "Non-Teaching Contract." However, the evidence she offered in support of her resistance to the School District's motion for summary judgment could fairly be read by a reasonable "fact finder" to have been a "conclusion about," and not a "description of," the work actually contemplated by the contract and actually assigned to her under that contract (and which, in effect, exacted a waiver from Luhm of the protections of the WTEL, in exchange for the contract, a strategy which is generally rejected by applicable case law).
[¶19] Luhm was certified by the Wyoming Professional Teaching Standards Board. I do not disagree that statutes relating to the same subject are generally read in pari materia, but in my view the most that can be said about § 21-2-801 is that it recognizes "classroom teachers" as a subset of "teachers," and that cireumstance does not serve to advance an argument that only "classroom teachers" are "teachers." Likewise, I simply cannot accept the leap in logic that "classroom teaching" includes only "traditional academic" subjects. I can find nothing in the statutes that justifies the boundaries of "teacher" as set by the majority opinion. The recitation of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 21-3-110(a)(i)(A) (duties of boards of trustees), used by the majority to delimit the statutory definition of "teacher" is, at best, a debasing of the in pari materia rule.
[¶ 20] The majority also treats this statutory provision as specifically denying "guidance counselors" the status of teacher:
(a) The Wyoming professional teaching standards board is created to consist of thirteen (13) members appointed by the state superintendent as follows:
(1) Six (6) certified public school employee members, two (2) of which shall be classroom teachers in grades kindergarten through six (6), three (8) of which shall be classroom teachers in grades seven (7) through twelve (12) and one (1) of which shall be a certified professional employee not assigned to classroom teaching but providing auxiliary professional services such as librarian, guidance counselor or educational diagnostician; [Emphasis added.]
Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 21-2-801(a)(i) (LexisNexis 2007).
[T 21] In my view, the most that provision does is to disqualify Luhm from being on the board because she was an auxiliary professional service provider who was assigned to elassroom teaching. Furthermore, it announces the very real possibility that certified professional employees may be (and in fact are in some districts) assigned to serve as a "teacher" in a "classroom" setting and/or a "non-classroom" setting.
[¶22] Finally, the majority hangs its hat on a conclusion that Lubm did not teach a "specific recognized academic subject." Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 21-9-101 (LexisNexis 2007) (Courses of Study) provides:
*1298(b) Each school district within the state shall provide educational programs sufficient to meet uniform student content and performance standards at the level established by the state board of education in the following areas of knowledge and skills:
(i) Common core of knowledge:
(A) Reading/language arts;
(B) Social studies;
(C) Mathematics;
(D) Science;
(E) Fine arts and performing arts;
(F) Physical education;
(G) Health and safety;
(H) Humanities;
(J) Career/vocational education;
(K) Foreign cultures and languages;
(M) Applied technology;
(N) Government and civies including state and federal constitutions pursuant to W.S. 21-9-102.
(i) For grades one (1) through eight (8), reading, writing and mathematics shall be emphasized under the common core of knowledge specified under paragraph (b)(i) of this section;
(@i) Common core of skills:
(A) Problem solving;
(B) Interpersonal communications;
(C) Keyboarding and computer applications;
(D) Critical thinking;
(E) Creativity;
(F) Life skills, including personal financial management skills.
[T23] An examination of an accepted definition of "academic" readily demonstrates that that word does not, and should not, play a role in further describing the meaning of "teacher" as set out in the governing statute. Webster's Third New International Dictionary, "academic" 9 (1986); and see, 1 Roget's International Thesaurus, § 563 "TEACHER" (1970).
[T24] For the reasons summarized above, I would reverse the district court's summary judgment order and remand this matter to the district court for full development of a trial record.