Election of a remedy
Appeal of A.D. – Decisions of the Commissioner of Education, Decision No. 15,492
A tenured math teacher attempted to appeal a personnel matter to the Commissioner of Education. The Commissioner declined to assume jurisdiction in the matter pointing out that the appeal concerned a matter that had earlier been considered under a contract grievance procedure involving the same parties.
The Commissioner said that a school employee who elects to submit an issue for resolution through a contractual grievance procedure may not bring an appeal to the Commissioner for review of the same matter. As the record reflects that A.D. brought a grievance “on the very same issues that are the subject of this appeal and the grievance resulted in a final determination reached on January 29, 2006,” that decision precluded review by the Commissioner.
The Commissioner cited Appeal of Coughlin, 41 Ed Dept Rep 484 and Decision No. 14,751 in support of his ruling.