Request By:
Robert B. Conley
1932 Carter Avenue
P.O. Box 1545
Ashland, Kentucky 41105-1545
Opinion
Opinion By: Chris Gorman, Attorney General; V. Lynne Schroering, Assistant Attorney General
You have requested an opinion from our Offfice questioning whether it is legal for the Greenup County Board of Education to adopt a seniority policy for classified employees. The policy provides in pertinent part:
The most senior, appropriate qualified employee shall be given preference on any permanent job opening within his/her established seniority unit. No person from outside the school system shall be hired to fill a position for which a school employee has applied and met all job qualifications.
It is the opinion of this Office that the local school board cannot adopt a seniority policy for classified employees in the district. The Kentucky Education Reform Act removed personnel duties from the local board and placed the responsibility in the hands of the superintendent. KRS 160.370-160.390; OAG 90-129. Specifically, KRS 160.390(1) provides that the superintendent "[s]hall be responsible for all personnel actions including hiring, assignments, transfer, dismissal, suspension, reinstatement, promotion, and demotion and reporting the actions to the local board. "
The superintendent has the responsibility to make individual personnel decisions and to define the duties of particular employee positions. KRS 160.370-160.390. However, the local board has the responsibility to manage the entire district, control school funds, set compensation, create and abolish positions of employment and adopt regulations for qualifications and duties of classes of employees. KRS 160.290. The seniority policy for classified employees adopted by the Greenup County Board of Education ties the hands of the superintendent in making personnel decisions and may be an attempt by the local board to influence the hiring or appointment of district employees in violation of KRS 160.170. Every board member before assuming duty takes an oath swearing "he will not in any way influence the hiring or appointment of district employees, except the hiring of the superintendent of schools or school board attorneys." KRS 160.170.
The Board may be attempting to do indirectly what it cannot do directly. The Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) removed all personnel duties from the local board and granted this responsibility to the superintendent. The board is authorized to enact policies regarding personnel, including qualifications and compensation. However, enacting this seniority policy exceeds the legal authority of the board and circumvents the superintendent's role in personnel matters.
We conclude that the seniority policy is an illegal intrusion upon the statutory duties of the superintendent regarding personnel actions in the school district and the policy cannot be enforced.