Andover Public Schools and the Andover School Committee broke state labor law when it denied three high school teachers permission to use professional development leave to attend an arbitration hearing, according to a ruling issued last month by the Massachusetts Department of Labor Relations.
The Andover Education Association, which represents the district’s teachers, filed its complaint in June 2021 after the district made the three teachers use personal leave to attend arbitration hearings in December 2020 and January 2021. The union said members had been allowed to use professional leave for such hearings since at least 2015.
The school district argued the collective bargaining agreement with the union prohibited the use of professional leave for “non-professional matters,” and that it had erroneously allowed members to use professional leave to attend a separate, November 2020 hearing.
But hearing officer Holly L. Accica ruled a precedent had been established where union members had been allowed to use professional time for hearings, and the school committee should have given AEA prior notice and a chance to bargain before changing the practice, despite the language in the collective bargaining agreement. She noted paid leave is a “mandatory subject of bargaining.”
“I conclude that the Employer altered an existing past practice when it denied three employees’ use of this leave to attend their arbitration hearings in 2020 and 2021,” Accia wrote in her ruling. “Because the school principal is responsible for monitoring and approving employee leave requests, and the employees rely on his or her determination, the school principal’s consistent approval for professional leave in this context supports the Union’s claim that an obvious, reasonable expectation existed 13 among bargaining unit employees that such practice would continue.”
According to the ruling, former Assistant Superintendent Sandra Trach told former Andover High School Principal Caitlyn Brown to deny requests from the three employees to use professional leave for their hearings. In a Jan. 5, 2021 letter to AEA President Matt Bach, Trach said APS would “continue to deny all future requests for professional leave inconsistent with” the collective bargaining agreement.
As a result of Accia’s ruling, APS will have to continue granting professional leave to union members attending arbitration and other labor hearings. The district will also have to restore any personal or vacation leave to the three teachers and post notices to employees outlining the decision.