Decision A452E – Fairfield Unified School District

SF-SV-129-E

Decision Date: August 16, 2017

Decision Type: Administrative Appeal

Description: An employee organization appealed from an administrative determination denying a severance petition that sought to sever speech-language pathologists from a school district’s other certificated employees. The appeal asserted that, based on societal changes that have occurred in special education and speech-pathology, the distinction between certificated and classified personnel in public education is no longer useful in the field of speech pathology.

Disposition: The Board denied the appeal. The community of interest among certificated employees is implicit in the statutory guidelines used for evaluating all certificated personnel, as set forth in the Stull Act, Education Code Article 5.5, sections 13485 through 13490, which are not used for evaluating classified personnel.  Additionally, PERB is not free to disregard the statutory provisions of EERA mandating separate bargaining units for certificated and classified personnel.

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Perc Vol: 42
Perc Index: 34

Decision Headnotes

101.00000 – PERB: OPERATION, JURISDICTION, AUTHORITY; APPLICABILITY OF AND CONFLICTS WITH OTHER STATUTES
101.01000 – In General

The Board denied an appeal from an administrative determination which denied a severance petition that sought to sever speech-language pathologists from a school district’s other certificated employees, based on societal changes that have occurred in special education and speech-pathology. The community of interest among certificated employees is implicit in the statutory guidelines used for evaluating all certificated personnel, as set forth in the Stull Act, Education Code Article 5.5, sections 13485 through 13490, which are not used for evaluating classified personnel. (p. 4.) Additionally, the distinction between certificated and classified personnel in public education is not simply a standard imposed by PERB Regulations and decisional law, but a statutory distinction set forth in EERA and the Education Code, which, in the absence of legislative action, PERB is not authorized to ignore. (pp. 3-5.)

101.00000 – PERB: OPERATION, JURISDICTION, AUTHORITY; APPLICABILITY OF AND CONFLICTS WITH OTHER STATUTES
101.02000 – Conflicts Between PERB-Administered Laws and Other California Statutes; Education Code/Supersession; MMBA Supersession

The Board denied an appeal from an administrative determination which denied a severance petition that sought to sever speech-language pathologists from a school district’s other certificated employees, based on societal changes that have occurred in special education and speech-pathology. The community of interest among certificated employees is implicit in the statutory guidelines used for evaluating all certificated personnel, as set forth in the Stull Act, Education Code Article 5.5, sections 13485 through 13490, which are not used for evaluating classified personnel. (p. 4.) Additionally, the distinction between certificated and classified personnel in public education is not simply a standard imposed by PERB Regulations and decisional law, but a statutory distinction set forth in EERA and the Education Code, which, in the absence of legislative action, PERB is not authorized to ignore. (pp. 3-5.)

101.00000 – PERB: OPERATION, JURISDICTION, AUTHORITY; APPLICABILITY OF AND CONFLICTS WITH OTHER STATUTES
101.04000 – Statutues in Other Jurisdictions

The Board denied an appeal from an administrative determination which denied a severance petition that sought to sever speech-language pathologists from a school district’s other certificated employees, based on societal changes that have occurred in special education and speech-pathology. The community of interest among certificated employees is implicit in the statutory guidelines used for evaluating all certificated personnel, as set forth in the Stull Act, Education Code Article 5.5, sections 13485 through 13490, which are not used for evaluating classified personnel. (p. 4.) Additionally, the distinction between certificated and classified personnel in public education is not simply a standard imposed by PERB Regulations and decisional law, but a statutory distinction set forth in EERA and the Education Code, which, in the absence of legislative action, PERB is not authorized to ignore. (pp. 3-5.)

104.00000 – PERB: OPERATION, JURISDICTION, AUTHORITY; STATUTORY AUTHORITY OF BOARD
104.01000 – Authority of Board In General; Validity and Application of Regulations (See also 102.01)

The Board denied an appeal from an administrative determination which denied a severance petition that sought to sever speech-language pathologists from a school district’s other certificated employees, based on societal changes that have occurred in special education and speech-pathology. The community of interest among certificated employees is implicit in the statutory guidelines used for evaluating all certificated personnel, as set forth in the Stull Act, Education Code Article 5.5, sections 13485 through 13490, which are not used for evaluating classified personnel. (p. 4.) Additionally, the distinction between certificated and classified personnel in public education is not simply a standard imposed by PERB Regulations and decisional law, but a statutory distinction set forth in EERA and the Education Code, which, in the absence of legislative action, PERB is not authorized to ignore. (pp. 3-5.)

1309.00000 – REPRESENTATION ISSUES; UNIT DETERMINATION/CRITERIA (SEE ALSO WHO IS AN EMPLOYEE?, SECTION 200)
1309.01000 – In General/Definition of Appropriate Unit

The Board denied an appeal from an administrative determination which denied a severance petition that sought to sever speech-language pathologists from a school district’s other certificated employees, based on societal changes that have occurred in special education and speech-pathology. The community of interest among certificated employees is implicit in the statutory guidelines used for evaluating all certificated personnel, as set forth in the Stull Act, Education Code Article 5.5, sections 13485 through 13490, which are not used for evaluating classified personnel. (p. 4.) Additionally, the distinction between certificated and classified personnel in public education is not simply a standard imposed by PERB Regulations and decisional law, but a statutory distinction set forth in EERA and the Education Code, which, in the absence of legislative action, PERB is not authorized to ignore. (pp. 3-5.)

1309.00000 – REPRESENTATION ISSUES; UNIT DETERMINATION/CRITERIA (SEE ALSO WHO IS AN EMPLOYEE?, SECTION 200)
1309.03000 – Community of Interest

The Board denied an appeal from an administrative determination which denied a severance petition that sought to sever speech-language pathologists from a school district’s other certificated employees, based on societal changes that have occurred in special education and speech-pathology. The community of interest among certificated employees is implicit in the statutory guidelines used for evaluating all certificated personnel, as set forth in the Stull Act, Education Code Article 5.5, sections 13485 through 13490, which are not used for evaluating classified personnel. (p. 4.) Additionally, the distinction between certificated and classified personnel in public education is not simply a standard imposed by PERB Regulations and decisional law, but a statutory distinction set forth in EERA and the Education Code, which, in the absence of legislative action, PERB is not authorized to ignore. (pp. 3-5.)