Wheatland teachers rehired

Teachers who contended the Wheatland School District eliminated their jobs while keeping newer instructors have been rehired and are back in the classroom.

MJ Bolin, Jennifer Shue and Adelle Wapple are listed in a school district document as having been rehired earlier this month.

They had contended in a lawsuit in Yuba County Superior Court last August that the school district abused its discretion when rejecting the proposed decision of a state administrative law judge. The judge presided at May hearings in Wheatland for teachers challenging the layoffs.

The school district had disputed the teachers’ assertions and said Wheatland followed the law in the layoffs that came as the school district confronted budget cutbacks.

Senior teachers were laid off because they did not have the same qualifications as the more junior teachers, the district had said, citing cross-cultural language and academic development certificates to teach English language learner students.

Trustee Nicole Crabb said earlier this week that she could not discuss the status of the lawsuit but said she is pleased they have returned.

"It's great to have all of them back in the school district," Crabb said.

The instructors' return is a step toward healing discord that had hit the school district, she said.

Paul Carras, interim superintendent, said one-time federal stimulus funds were used to retire the teachers.

Further pay will require finding money out of the general fund for the school district, he said.

Carolyn Langenkamp, the attorney representing the instructors in the legal challenge to their layoffs, said back pay for the teachers remains an issue.

The lawsuit had noted administrative law Judge Karl Engeman's statement that "neither the testimony of district administrators — nor any other evidence" established that senior teachers without a cross-cultural language and academic development certificate would be required to provide instruction to English language learners.

While the district argued that constitutional equal protection issues require keeping newer teachers who hold the cross-cultural credentials, Engeman said, about 75 percent of teachers will have such credentials, so English language learners will be accommodated.

He said 12 percent of students are English language learners and not all classes require teachers with such certificates.

Bolin began working for the school district in 1993, Wapple in 1994 and Shue in 2002, according to the decision by the administrative law judge.

The August legal action was filed on behalf of five instructors. Kathleen Sisk began teaching at the start of the school year and the fifth teacher has not returned to the classroom because of illness, district trustees said.

Contact Appeal reporter Ryan McCarthy at 749-4707 or rmc carthy@appealdemocrat.com