In the Matter of GRANT SPRINGER, Appellant, v BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK et al., Respondents.
Court of Appeals of New York
April 5, 2016
27 N.Y.3d 102, 49 N.E.3d 1189, 29 N.Y.S.3d 897
Argued February 17, 2016
OPINION OF THE COURT
Chief Judge DIFIORE.
The issue presented on this appeal is whether a tenured school teacher who resigns from teaching, and then subsequently applies and is hired to teach at another school, is automatically entitled to tenure in the new position. Specifically at issue in this determination is paragraph (29) of New York City Board of Education Chancellor‘s Regulation C-205 (C-205 [29] or the regulation). The regulation provides that a tenured teacher who resigns “remain[s] tenured,” but requires the teacher to first submit a written request to withdraw his or her resignation, subject to a medical examination and the approval of the Chancellor. We hold that a tenured teacher who resigns, and later seeks to return as a tenured teacher, must strictly comply with the regulation and submit a written request to withdraw his or her prior resignation.
I.
Petitioner was employed as a teacher in the catering license area at M288—Food and Finance High School, located in Community School District No. 2 in Manhattan, beginning in
In October 2011, petitioner was hired as a teacher in the catering license area at M415—Wadleigh Secondary School for the Performing and Visual Arts, located in Community School District No. 3 in Manhattan. He was hired under his prior license and file number and at the same salary he received at the time of his resignation. Herma Hall, the principal of Wadleigh who hired petitioner, knew that he had resigned with tenure in January 2011.
During the 2011-2012 school year, Hall was replaced by a new principal, Tyee Chin. In April 2012, Chin informed petitioner that he believed petitioner did not have tenure. At that time, six months after his reinstatement, upon the advice of his union representative, petitioner submitted a form to withdraw his resignation. Respondents told petitioner that the form would not be processed because it was submitted too late. In May 2012, petitioner received a rating of “unsatisfactory” for the 2011-2012 school year. As a result, petitioner was terminated effective June 22, 2012. Prior to his termination, petitioner was not served with disciplinary charges in accordance with the procedures for removing a tenured teacher set forth in
Petitioner never filed a grievance or other administrative proceeding related to the events detailed above. Instead, in October 2012, petitioner brought this
The Appellate Division unanimously affirmed, but on a different ground (121 AD3d 473 [1st Dept 2014]). The Court concluded that “[t]here is no question that petitioner failed to comply with . . . C-205 (28) and (29), which govern withdrawal of a resignation and restoration to tenure. Hence, when petitioner was rehired by a principal, his tenure was not ipso facto restored” (id. at 473-474). That same panel granted the portion of petitioner‘s subsequent motion seeking leave to appeal to this Court, certifying the following question of law: “Was the [Appellate Division] order . . . properly made?” We now affirm.
II.
Pursuant to
There is no dispute that petitioner was a tenured teacher upon his resignation in January 2011; the question is whether, upon his hire at a new school in October 2011, he was reinstated with tenure. C-205 (29) provides, in relevant part:
“[A] non-supervisory pedagogical employee who had attained permanent tenure prior to the date of resignation shall . . . remain tenured and, upon written request, be permitted to withdraw such resignation subject only to medical examination and the approval of the Chancellor, provided that reinstatement is made on or before the opening of
school in September next following five years after the effective date of resignation. If reinstatement is made after this date, a two year probationary period will be required.”
By its very terms, C-205 (29) provides that a tenured teacher who has resigned may avoid a probationary term in a new position by submitting a “written request” to withdraw the prior resignation. That request will be “subject only to medical examination and the approval of the Chancellor,” so long as reinstatement is made in accordance with the timing requirements set forth in the regulation. The CBA between the Board and the teachers’ union contains a parallel provision.
Petitioner argues that he complied with the requirements of the regulation when he applied in writing for various teaching positions. He maintains that when the Board rehired him in October 2011, within five years of his prior resignation, the Board effectively accepted the withdrawal of his resignation. Therefore, petitioner submits that he was a tenured teacher at the time of his termination in June 2012 and that the Board violated his due process rights by failing to provide him with the procedural protections required by
According to respondents, petitioner ignores the important role of the written request for withdrawal, most notably the Chancellor‘s role in the process. By virtue of the written request, the Chancellor is afforded the opportunity to assess the teacher‘s work history and competence and may reject a request to withdraw a resignation. Further, the procedure permits important hiring information to be conveyed to a hiring principal, including the fact that the teacher would have full tenure rights in the teacher‘s new position.
III.
The tenets of statutory construction apply equally to administrative rules and regulations (Matter of Cortland-Clinton, Inc. v New York State Dept. of Health, 59 AD2d 228, 231 [4th Dept 1977]). We construe the regulation in accordance with its plain language (see Matter of Raritan Dev. Corp. v Silva, 91 NY2d 98, 107 [1997]). By its plain terms, C-205 (29) requires submission of a written request for withdrawal of resignation prior to a teacher‘s reinstatement with tenure. “It is an accepted rule that all parts of a statute are intended to be given effect and that a statutory construction which renders one part meaningless should be avoided” (Rocovich v Consolidated Edison Co., 78 NY2d 509, 515 [1991]). If, as petitioner
Because petitioner did not withdraw his resignation through the mechanism of a written request, the requirements of C-205 (29) were not met and petitioner was not reinstated with tenure.
This result does not minimize the public policy interests that have prompted this Court to “construe the tenure system broadly in favor of the teacher, and to strictly police procedures which might result in the corruption of that system” (Ricca v Board of Educ. of City School Dist. of City of N.Y., 47 NY2d 385, 391 [1979]; see Matter of Gould v Board of Educ. of Sewanhaka Cent. High School Dist., 81 NY2d 446, 454 [1993]). Nor does it undermine this Court‘s recognition that a tenured teacher has a “protected property interest in [his or] her position” and right to retain that position absent discharge in accordance with
We do not address the effect of petitioner‘s April 2012 written request to withdraw his resignation, which he submitted six months after he was hired at Wadleigh. Any argument related to that request is not before the Court in this proceeding.
Judges PIGOTT, RIVERA, ABDUS-SALAAM, STEIN, FAHEY and GARCIA concur.
Order affirmed, with costs, and certified question not answered upon the ground that it is unnecessary.