By: Eric M. Richwine, Law Clerk
Editor: Sanmathi (Sanu) Dev, Esq.
On June 12, 2023, the New Jersey Supreme Court in Parsells v. Board of Education of the Borough of Somerville held that a New Jersey teacher did not knowingly waive her tenured right to a full-time teaching position under the Tenure Act when she voluntarily moved to a part-time position, unaware that she had no right to return to her full-time role.
Catherine Parsells, a full-time, tenured teacher employed by the Somerville Board of Education (“Board”), requested a transfer from full-time teaching to an available in-district, part-time teaching position with benefits. The Board approved the request but did not advise her in advance that she would not have a right to return to a full-time position if she voluntarily took the part-time position. When Parsells eventually wished to return to full-time work, she was informed that she had no automatic entitlement to a full-time teaching position and that if one were to become available, she would be required to apply for it. Parsells eventually applied for a full-time teaching position but was not selected.
Parsells appealed to the New Jersey Commissioner of Education (“Commissioner”), arguing that she did not waive her tenure rights by accepting a part-time position and that the Board violated her rights by hiring out-of-district teachers with no tenure for full-time positions instead of herself. The Administrative Law Judge rendered an initial decision in favor of the Board; however, the Commissioner ultimately reversed, reasoning that Parsells did not waive any rights to her full-time position and that the Board had a duty to inform Parsells of the consequences of switching to part-time employment, i.e., the loss of her right to return to full-time job status before she voluntarily switched to part-time employment.
The Board appealed to the New Jersey Appellate Division, arguing that the Commissioner erred in finding that it was required to give notice of the impact of Parsells’ switch to a part-time role and that there was no valid waiver by Parsells. The Appellate Division extended the holding of Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association v. Board of Education of Bridgewater-Raritan School District, 221 N.J. 349 (2015) to impose a duty to notify full-time teachers who consider voluntarily transferring to part-time teaching that they may not have the right to return to their full-time position and therefore affirmed the Commissioner’s decision.
The Board challenged the Appellate Division’s decision, but the New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the holding. The Court reasoned that Parsells did not knowingly waive her tenured right to returning to a full-time teaching position as required under the Tenure Act. However, the Court rejected the Appellate Division’s extension of Bridgewater-Raritan to impose a duty of notification on school boards in this instance. Instead, the Court held that Parsells did not abandon her right to her full-time position knowingly and unequivocally as required by the Court’s decision interpreting the Tenure Act in Knorr v. Smeal, 178 N.J. 169, 177 (2003). As such, the Court affirmed as modified.
Moving forward, despite the Court holding that there was no legal basis for a duty to notify in this instance, the Court encouraged school boards to address whether a tenured teacher is voluntarily and knowingly waiving their right to a full-time position: any waiver of a teacher’s tenure rights must be “clear, knowing, and unequivocal.”