[Cite as Princeton City School Dist. Bd. of Edn. v. Princeton Assn. of Classroom Educators, 2013-Ohio-
667.]
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS
FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT OF OHIO
HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO
PRINCETON CITY SCHOOL : APPEAL NO. C-120469
DISTRICT BOARD OF EDUCATION, TRIAL NO. A-1008305
:
Plaintiff-Appellant,
:
vs. O P I N I O N.
:
PRINCETON ASSOCIATION OF
CLASSROOM EDUCATORS, :
Defendant-Appellee. :
Civil Appeal From: Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas
Judgment Appealed From Is: Reversed and Final Judgment Entered
Date of Judgment Entry on Appeal: February 27, 2013
Ennis Roberts & Fischer and C. Bronston McCord III, for Plaintiff-Appellant,
Cloppert, Latanick, Sauter & Washburn, Robert Sauter and Lora A. Molnar, for
Defendant-Appellee.
OHIO FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEALS
Please note: this case has been removed from the accelerated calendar.
S YLVIA S IEVE H ENDON , Presiding Judge.
{¶1} The Princeton City School District Board of Education (“the Board”) appeals
the judgment of the trial court confirming an arbitration award in favor of Princeton
Association of Classroom Educators (“PACE”).
Background Facts
{¶2} The Board is required to offer vocational education to its students. R.C.
3313.90. One of the ways that the Board may meet this requirement is to contract for
vocational-education services with a joint vocational school district, such as the Great Oaks
Joint Vocational School District. R.C. 3313.90(A)(3). Because Great Oaks is separately
funded by taxpayers, its programming would be provided at no cost to the Board.
{¶3} Faced with a projected $67.9 million deficit by 2014, the Board sought to
replace its own vocational-education programs with programs taught by instructors from
Great Oaks. On April 30, 2009, the Board adopted a resolution abolishing 13 teaching
positions and authorizing a contract with Great Oaks to provide vocational-education
services. The reduction in force was expected to save the Board an estimated $1.3 million.
{¶4} PACE filed a grievance challenging the Board’s action. PACE contended that
the Board had violated the parties’ collective-bargaining agreement by failing to first offer
the vocational-education teaching positions to PACE members under Section 5.17 of the
agreement. That section, entitled “Employment of Substitute Licensed Members,"
provided:
5.171 The Board may employ as instructors or teachers either directly
through a personal contract or indirectly though a contract with a
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service company, agency or institution to supply instructors, persons
who will teach subjects or courses which members are not certified to
teach or have declined the opportunity to teach.
5.172 Prior to the employment or engagement of [a] non-member employee,
the position(s) sought to be filled shall be posted for not less than
fifteen days, and offered to members.
5.173 The Board shall not employ or engage a non-member employee if a
qualified member has offered to teach the course and is available to
teach the course at the time it is scheduled.
5.174 No individual person shall be employed or engaged to teach, in a non-
bargaining unit capacity, more than two classroom periods per day,
unless the Board has made every effort to fill the position with a
regular certified teacher and can support such effort with
documentation.
5.175 The Board’s right to employ or engage a non-bargaining unit person
shall terminate, as to any individual, as soon as a qualified member is
willing to accept the position, but not before the expiration of the
contract of employment or engagement, in the case of a company,
agency, or institution supplying instructors, by which the non-
bargaining unit person is employed or engaged.
{¶5} PACE asserted that the Board’s action violated Section 5.17 because the
vocational courses had not been first offered to PACE members and would be taught by
non-members.
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The Arbitrator’s Award
{¶6} The arbitrator determined that the Board had breached the collective-
bargaining agreement by failing to comply with the provisions of Section 5.17. Specifically,
the arbitrator found that the Board had failed to post the vocational-education positions or
to make an effort to determine if any PACE members were interested, available and
qualified for the positions.
{¶7} The arbitrator ordered the Board to post for bid by PACE members all of the
positions that had been filled by Great Oaks employees. She further ordered that the Board
make whole any member who had lost wages or benefits as a result of the use of Great Oaks
teachers.
{¶8} The Board filed a motion in the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas to
vacate, modify, or correct the arbitration award. The trial court confirmed the award, and
the Board now appeals.
{¶9} In a single assignment of error, the Board argues that the trial court erred
when it confirmed the arbitration award. Specifically, the Board contends that the
arbitrator interfered with the Board’s discretion to reduce the number of its teaching
positions.
Standard of Review
{¶10} Because the private resolution of disputes through arbitration is favored,
judicial review is limited. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. v. Local Union No. 200, 42 Ohio
St.2d 516, 520, 330 N.E.2d 703 (1975). Thus, a court cannot vacate an arbitrator’s award
except under the narrowly defined circumstances set forth in R.C. 2711.10. Id. at paragraph
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two of the syllabus. Here, the Board claims that the award should have been vacated under
R.C. 2711.10(D) because the arbitrator exceeded her authority.
{¶11} An arbitrator’s authority is limited to that granted to her by the parties under
the terms of their collective-bargaining agreement. Id. at 519. An arbitrator exceeds her
authority if the award does not “draw its essence” from the agreement. Id. at 519-520, citing
United Steelworkers of Am. v. Ent. Wheel & Car Corp., 363 U.S. 593, 597, 80 S.Ct. 1358, 4
L.Ed.2d 1424 (1960).
{¶12} An arbitrator’s award “draws its essence” from a collective-bargaining
agreement if “there is a rational nexus between the agreement and the award, and where the
award is not arbitrary, capricious, or unlawful.” Mahoning Cty. Bd. of Mental Retardation
and Dev. Disabilities v. Mahoning Cty. TMR Edn. Assn., 22 Ohio St.3d 80, 84, 488 N.E.2d
872 (1986). On the other hand, an arbitrator’s decision departs from the essence of the
parties’ agreement where it conflicts with the express terms of the agreement or cannot be
rationally derived from those terms. Ohio Office of Collective Bargaining v. Ohio Civil
Serv. Emp. Assn., Local 11, AFSCME, AFL-CIO, 59 Ohio St.3d 177, 572 N.E.2d 71 (1991),
syllabus; Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 627 v. Southwest Ohio Regional Transit
Auth., 190 Ohio App.3d 679, 2010-Ohio-5494, 943 N.E.2d 1075, ¶ 8 (1st Dist.).
Reduction in Force
{¶13} R.C. 3319.17(B)(1) permits a board of education to reduce the number of
teachers it employs for “financial reasons.” The board has broad discretion in determining
what will be a reasonable reduction in force. Mink v. Great Oaks Inst. of Technology and
Career Dev. Bd. of Edn., 1st Dist. No. C-050118, 2005-Ohio-6821, ¶ 18, citing Wolfe v. Bd.
of Edn. of the Lawrence Cty. Joint Vocational School Dist., 150 Ohio App.3d 50, 2002-
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Ohio-6067, 779 N.E.2d 780 (4th Dist.). Moreover, the statute’s provisions prevail over any
conflicting provisions in a collective-bargaining agreement. R.C. 3319.17(D).
{¶14} In Section 5.11 of the collective-bargaining agreement, the parties recognized
the Board’s power to reduce its teaching force “for lack of funds, abolishment of positions,
or for any reason provided for under the Ohio Revised Code.” In addition, the agreement
set forth the manner in which the reductions would be made.
{¶15} The arbitrator recognized the Board’s power to eliminate teaching positions
for financial reasons. She stated, “Although the [Board] can eliminate staff without
question or interference under the terms of the Master Contract Agreement, what it cannot
do is replace that staff through an outside institution as it has attempted to do here without
first complying with the agreed upon provisions of Section 5.17.”
{¶16} However, the arbitrator improperly conflated the Board’s reduction-in-force
power with its obligation to provide PACE members the right of first refusal for teaching
positions. Section 5.17 of the collective-bargaining agreement prevented the Board from
offering teaching positions to teachers who were not PACE members without first offering
the positions to PACE members. So if a qualified member offered to teach the course, the
Board could not employ a non-member to do it. But nothing in Section 5.17 prevented the
Board from contracting with Great Oaks to provide vocational-education teachers. The
Board did not employ the Great Oaks teachers; Great Oaks employed them. The vocational-
education positions were not the Board’s to fill, so Section 5.17 of the agreement did not
require the Board to post the positions for PACE members.
{¶17} Consequently, the record does not support the arbitrator’s conclusion that the
Board violated the agreement. Because there was no rational nexus between the agreement
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and the award, the arbitrator exceeded her authority in ordering it. Therefore, we hold that
the trial court erred when it confirmed the arbitrator’s award.
Conclusion
{¶18} Therefore, we sustain the assignment of error. We reverse the trial court’s
judgment. We hereby vacate the arbitration award and enter judgment in favor of the
Board.
Judgment accordingly.
HILDEBRANDT and CUNNINGHAM, JJ., concur.
Please note:
The court has recorded its own entry on the date of the release of this opinion.
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