AP Wins Claim On DOE Summer Hire

By HOWARD MEGDAL

A high school Assistant Principal was improperly denied summer school positions on two occasions by the Department of Education and is entitled to retroactive pay for both summers, an arbitrator has ruled.

Two-Time Victim

According to the decision, which was provided with the grievant's name withheld by her union, the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, the Assistant Principal was twice passed over for summer school positions when she applied, once in 2001, then again in 2004.

Each city high school has one AP mandated to work a 12-month, or annualized, year. In addition to these positions, DOE posts a number of summer school positions available to non-annualized APs.

In both cases, the grievant, a non-mandated AP, lost out on summer school positions in favor of those already required to work the 12 months. Arbitrator Arthur A. Riegel found that the grievant was "the only applicant not given a nonmandated AP position in the summers of 2001 and 2004."

The arbitrator went on to rule that since DOE "violated the 1999 [Memorandum of Agreement between DOE and CSA] ... such that one person held two positions simultaneously, it acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner."

Following the decision, DOE spokeswoman Margie Feinberg said in a statement, "We will abide by the ruling of the arbitrator, though we respectfully disagree with his opinion."