THE DISCIPLINE AND SUSPENSION OF STUDENTS ARE NOT ARBITRABLE TOPICS, ARBITRATION WOULD CONFLICT WITH PUBLIC POLICY AFFORDING DISCRETION TO SCHOOL DISTRICTS 2ND DEPT.
The Second Department determined the disciplining and suspension of students were not arbitrable topics because there is a public policy affording the school district discretion in those areas:
In determining whether a dispute between a public sector employer and employee is arbitrable, a court must first determine whether ” there is any statutory, constitutional or public policy prohibition against arbitration of the grievance'”… . If there is no prohibition against arbitration, the court must examine the parties’ collective bargaining agreement to determine “whether the parties in fact agreed to arbitrate the particular dispute”…
Here, the appellant demanded arbitration to compel the petitioner, the Board of Education of the Newburgh Enlarged City School District, to implement certain measures regarding the discipline and suspension of students. Since New York’s Education Law grants discretion to boards of education to implement disciplinary rules and regulations in schools … , such demands are nonarbitrable on public policy grounds … . Matter of Board of Educ. of the Newburgh Enlarged City Sch. Dist. v Newburgh Teachers’ Assn., 2017 NY Slip Op 05817, 2nd Dept 7-25-17
EDUCATION-SCHOOL LAW (ARBITRATION, THE DISCIPLINE AND SUSPENSION OF STUDENTS ARE NOT ARBITRABLE TOPICS, ARBITRATION WOULD CONFLICT WITH PUBLIC POLICY AFFORDING DISCRETION TO SCHOOL DISTRICTS 2ND DEPT)/ARBITRATION (EDUCATION-SCHOOL LAW, THE DISCIPLINE AND SUSPENSION OF STUDENTS ARE NOT ARBITRABLE TOPICS, ARBITRATION WOULD CONFLICT WITH PUBLIC POLICY AFFORDING DISCRETION TO SCHOOL DISTRICTS 2ND DEPT)