Board of Education v. Oakland Education Ass'n

Opinion

SCOTT, J. The question presented here is whether a school district may grant leaves of absence to certificated employees for nonsick leave purposes in excess of the six days permitted by Education Code [505]sections 44981 and 44978.5.1 We conclude that in addition to the absences authorized by those sections of the Education Code, a school district may grant additional leave of absence under the authority of section 44963.

During 1977 appellant Oakland Education Association representing certificated employees of respondent Board of Education of the Oakland Unified School District negotiated a collective bargaining employment contract. The contract contained a tentative provision allowing certificated employees an additional two days of paid leave for “major personal observance” beyond the maximum of six days of accumulated sick leave available for certain purposes set forth in section 44981. The district removed this tentative provision prior to adopting the agreement after concluding that the provision violated section 44978.5. A new section providing for two days paid leave for “major personal observance” was then added making the leave chargeable to sick leave. The new clause also provided that should a court of competent jurisdiction render a declaratory judgment or decree that the district has the lawful authority to ratify the agreement as it existed prior to the amendment, then the agreement would be reformed to conform to the judgment of the court. We conclude that the court erred in granting summary judgment for respondent in declaring that respondent was without authority to grant the two additional leave of absence days as provided in the tentative provision.

Section 44978 provides in relevant part that “every certificated employee employed five days a week by a school district shall be entitled to 10 days’ leave of absence for illness or injury. ...” Section 44981 allows district employees to use up to six days of the sick leave allowed under section 44978 in cases of “personal necessity.” Section 44978.5 authorizes the governing board of a school district to adopt rules whereby certificated employees can use sick leave earned pursuant to section 44978 in cases of “compelling personal importance.” That section further provides that any leave taken pursuant thereto, together with any “personal necessity” leave taken pursuant to section 44981, shall not exceed six days in any school year. Respondent contends that the additional two days leave negotiated by the parties violated the six-day maximum provision of sections 44981 and 44978.5. We disagree.