Request By:
Mr. Minor Daniels
Jefferson County Public Schools
P.O. Box 18325
Louisville, Kentucky 40218
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; Robert L. Chenoweth, Assistant Attorney General
You are chairman of an administrative committee appointed by the Jefferson County Board of Education. The committee is reviewing a request received by the Jefferson County Board of Education from a group of school bus drivers and bus monitors seeking recognition as bargaining representative for these employes. You stated several questions have arisen in your committee which the committee desires this office to consider. The questions you have presented are as follows:
1. There is presently in force a "meet and confer" arrangement between the Board of Education and other groups of employees similarly situated to the bus drivers and monitors. Should or could the Board recognize one group of classified employees for "meet and confer" and another group for "collective bargaining? "
2. The Board has two groups of bus drivers. One group owns their buses individually and contracts for services with the Board and the other group is employed to drive Board owned buses. Can the Board recognize any organization to bargain for the group of contract owner/operators?
3. There is presently a negotiated contract between the Board and teachers. Would this contract and recognition of teachers act as precedent for the recognition of classified employees such as bus drivers? Is there a distinction between certificated and classified employees?
Your questions all relate to collective bargaining in the public sector and the unsettledness and controversy surrounding this area of law today causes us to caution you to seek the assistance of legal counsel in private practice before taking action on such matters. We will, however, address your questions from the viewpoint of the development of law in this area in Kentucky to date.
In response to your first question, the local board has the discretion to bargain collectively with its classified employes. Certainly the board does not have any legal duty or obligation to do so. See the Opinion of Fayette Circuit Judge Armand Angelucci in David Chittenden, et al v. Board of Education of Fayette County, No. 77-798, copy attached. We believe the recognition of groups of employes and scope of bargaining is also left to the reasonable discretion of the board.
As to your second question, without discussing the possible ramifications of categorizing school bus drivers into independent contractor versus classified employe groups, although your attention is invited to the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education regulations, 702 KAR 5.080, it is, irrespective of such possible categorization, our opinion that, again, as stated in our response to your first question, the school board has discretion to recognize and bargain with organizations or associations representing certain individuals. We think it is clear that no representative of any group of individuals can bargain for any individuals other than members of the group it represents. Again, we refer you to the persuasive opinion in Chittenden, supra.
Lastly, it is our opinion that the contract with the teachers of the Jefferson County Schools may serve as persuasive precedent but such bargaining with the teachers will not bind the board's decision to bargain or not with its classified employes. There is an obvious distinction between certified and classified employes which is recognized in various school laws in regards to other personnel matters. See, for example, OAG 77-115, copy attached.