Board of Personnel Appeals Holds Administrator Transferred to Teaching Position Can Maintain Administrative Salary

October 26, 2023

Important Takeaways: When a district administrator is being demoted to a teaching position for reasons other than financial restraints, the district does not have to follow the salary schedule established in its CBA.

Facts: On March 30, 2023, the Montana Federation of Public Employees (the Union) filed an Unfair Labor Practice complaint on behalf of the Baker Education Association against the Baker Board of Trustees and Superintendent (the District). The charge alleged the District Engaged in unfair labor practices when they unilaterally transferred the vice principal to a teaching position while maintaining his administrative salary. The Union argued that his change in position had to be bargained for.

In a March 2023 Board of Trustees meeting, the Superintendent recommended the board adopt a motion to transfer the vice principal to a teaching position with his current salary. The Union argued that this recommendation was incongruent with the Montana Code Annotated § 20-4-208 (Transfer from administrative position) because there was no reduction in the size of the administrative staff, his salary was not changed to reflect the new teaching position, and the vacant administrative position was not offered to him. The complaint alleged that by placing the vice principal in a bargaining unit position at his administrative salary instead of placing him on the salary schedule required under the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), the District violated the MCA.

The other allegations made by the Union were that the District engaged in individual bargaining, interference, or restraint. The District also refused to provide information necessary for the Union to discharge its CBA duties when the Superintendent refused to provide correspondence regarding the transfer before the complaint was filed, which the Union alleges violates MCA 39-31-401 (Unfair labor practices of a public employer).

In their response, the District argued that under the MCA and Montana case law, the District could reassign a tenured principal to a comparable teaching position, even where the administrative position was not eliminated for financial reasons. In response to the second claim, the District argued that because they did not attempt to bargain with the vice principal for a new salary they did not bargain, interfere, restrain, refuse to provide information, or implement a unilateral change in working condition.

The Union’s rebuttal again asserted that the vice principal was not being paid on the same salary bargained for, which is a violation of the CBA.

The Investigator noted that MCA § 20-4-208 was not applicable in this case because the District was not reducing the size of the administrative staff. The Investigator further found that the Union did not show that the District was required to pay the vice principal a lower wage than he made as an administrator according to the express terms of the applicable CBA. The District was required to pay him the same salary for comparable employment according to the MCA. The salary was not a subject that had to be bargained and therefore failure to bargain for it was not an unfair labor practice.

On the direct dealing issue, the Investigator noted that the elements for unlawful direct dealing are that (1) the employer was communicating directly with the Union-represented employees, (2) the discussion was for the purpose of establishing or changing wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment or undercutting the Union’s role in bargaining; and (3) such communication was made in exclusion of the Union. Since the vice president was not represented by the Union at the time the change was made, the communications between the District and him about the transfer were not direct dealing.

Regarding the allegation that the District did not provide information when the Union requested in violation of the law, the Union had the burden of proof to establish that access to the information not ordinarily pertinent to collective bargaining is essential to perform its statutory duties. Since the information requested was not about a bargaining unit member, it was not essential to the Union. The refusal to provide the Union information was not an unfair labor practice.

The complaint was dismissed.

What This Means: If a district is moving an administrator to a tenured teaching position and the move is not due to financial constraints, the individual can be paid their previously agreed upon salary. The individual’s salary does not have to follow the salary schedule outlined in a district’s CBA.

What is the name of this case: MFPE and The Baker Education Association v. Baker K-12 Board of Trustees and Superintendent, State of Montana Employment Relations Division, Board of Personnel Appeals, 2023.

As you consider these and other issues, we recommend you speak with your school lawyer or contact Bea, Megan, Beth, and Kevin at 406-542-1300 to discuss these issues.