STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA



| | |

|STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA |IN THE OFFICE OF |

| |ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS |

|COUNTY OF BURKE |03 EDC 1958 |

| | |

|EMILY H. THOMPSON, | |

|Petitioner, | |

| | |

|vs. | |

| |DECISION |

|N.C. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, | |

|Respondent. | |

On August 10, 2004, Administrative Law Judge, Sammie Chess heard this contested case in High Point, North Carolina.

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Emily Thompson Pro Se

101 Country Club Drive

Morganton, N. C. 28655

For Respondent: Laura E. Crumpler

Assistant Attorney General

N. C. Dept. of Justice

P. O. Box 629

Raleigh, N. C. 27602

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Respondent is charged with the responsibility of licensing professional educators in North Carolina.

2. Teachers in North Carolina are paid on a salary schedule based upon experience level, meaning that a teacher receives a salary increase as his/her experience level increases.

3. The salary schedule incremental increases are based upon both degree level (e.g., Bachelor’s) and experience level.

4. In addition to giving credit for teaching experience, the Respondent also has a policy of awarding experience credit for certain types of nonteaching experience.

5. Nonteaching work experience originated in the area of vocational teachers, such as electricians, to reward those teachers for actual experience in the field which they are then assigned to teach.

6. As with the vocational teachers, the Respondent will award nonteaching work experience salary credit for other types of work experience. Such prior experience must be directly related to the job for which the individual is licensed.

7. The Respondent employs licensure specialists to evaluate license applications and also to evaluate requests for nonteaching work experience for salary schedule purposes. Those specialists undergo extensive training prior to assuming full responsibilities.

8. Petitioner, a teacher licensed in Business Education, applied for salary credit based upon prior nonteaching work as a Minister of Music at Boonville Baptist Church in Boonville, North Carolina.

9. Burke County Schools recommended that the Respondent approve Petitioner’s application for salary credit.

10. Respondent reviewed Petitioner’s request on several occasions and at several different levels within the Department and consistently determined that Petitioner’s experience as a Minister of Music was not “directly related to her license area or to her teaching assignment in the area of Business Education.

11. Petitioner submitted a job description for her employment as Minister of Music, which included job tasks in addition to the primary task of administering and overseeing the music/choir program for the church. These incidental job tasks included making budget requests, making periodic reports, creating brochures, ordering music, filling in for the secretary, and training assistants. (Respondent’s Ex. 1, pp. 37-38)

12. Petitioner’s primary job responsibility as Minister of Music was to administer and oversee the music/choir program for the church. (Testimony of Rick Foster)

13. Petitioner’s application and documentation were presented to the Superintendent’s Ethics Committee, a panel of independent educators not employed by Respondent, for review. That Committee also determined that Petitioner’s prior nonteaching work experience was not “directly related” to her licensure area.

14. While Petitioner’s incidental clerical and computer skills no doubt translate into useful skills in any classroom, it cannot be said that those skills render her prior experience as a Minister of Music “directly related” to her Business Education duties and license area so as to warrant the award of salary credit for the experience.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

1. Respondent did not act arbitrarily or capricious in denying Petitioner nonteaching experience for her experience as a church youth minister.

2. Respondent did not and has not deprived Petitioner of any property to which she is entitled.

3. Respondent has not prejudiced the right of Petitioner, exceeded its authority, acted erroneously, failed to use proper procedure, or failed to act unlawfully.

Based on the foregoing, the undersigned makes the following:

DECISION

The Respondent properly rejected Petitioner’s request for nonteaching work experience under the facts, rules and laws that govern this case.

ORDER

It is hereby ordered that the agency serve a copy of the final decision on the Office of Administrative Hearings, 6714 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-6714, in accordance with North Carolina General Statute 150B-36(b).

NOTICE

The agency making the final decision in this contested case is required to give each party an opportunity to file exceptions to this decision and to present written arguments to those in the agency who will make the final decision. G.S. 150B-36(a).

The agency is required by G.S. 150B-36(b) to serve a copy of the final decision on all parties and to furnish a copy to the parties’ attorney of record and to the Office of Administrative Hearings.

The agency that will make the final decision in this contested case is the North Carolina State Board of Education.

This 15 day of September, 2004.

____________________________________

Sammie Chess, Jr.

Administrative Law Judge

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download