Plymouth Public Schools v. Education Association of Plymouth & Carver, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-077-16)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us 15-P-906 Appeals Court PLYMOUTH PUBLIC SCHOOLS vs. EDUCATION ASSOCIATION OF PLYMOUTH & CARVER & another.[1] No. 15-P-906. Plymouth. April 11, 2016. – June 30, 2016. Present: Cypher, Katzmann, & Massing, JJ. School and School Committee, Professional teacher status, Maternity leave, Arbitration, Termination of employment. Arbitration, Arbitrable question, School committee. Public Employment, Paid leave, Termination. Family & Medical Leave Act. Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on February 18, 2014. The case was heard by Frank M. Gaziano, J., on motions for summary judgment. Matthew D. Jones (Ashley F. Call with him) for the defendants. Michael J. Long for the plaintiff. MASSING, J. Defendant Kristen Bilbo taught in the plaintiff Plymouth Public Schools (district) over the course of five consecutive school years. She took maternity leave during two of them. The district tendered a notice of nonrenewal at the end of the fifth year. Bilbo asserts that her service, interrupted only by her leave permitted under the Family and Medical Leave Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 2601 et seq. (FMLA), entitles her to professional teacher status,[2] giving her rights including arbitration of her dismissal.[3] The district contends that Bilbo is not entitled professional teacher status or arbitration because she did not serve three consecutive full years. We conclude that whether Bilbo has attained professional teacher status is for the arbitrator to decide. Background.[4] Bilbo worked full-time as a special education teacher at Plymouth North High School starting on March 10, 2008, through the end of the school year in June, 2013. She took maternity leave during her first and fourth full years as a teacher, for sixty days in 2009 and for fifty-six days in 2012. Bilbo’s leave was authorized under the FMLA. She was paid during both absences using accumulated sick time and a sick-leave bank available under the governing collective bargaining agreement. Toward the end of her fifth year of teaching, by letter dated May 31, 2013, the district provided Bilbo with notice that she would not be reappointed to a teaching position for the next school year.[5] The letter explained, “You are not being appointed to a teaching position based upon the recommendations of your supervising principal and program manager and the concerns about continuity of instruction and the education of our students.” Asserting that she possessed professional […]