Reis

DAVIS, Acting P.J.

"`[E]ntry into the Education Code is painful.'" ( Zalac v. Governing Bd. of Ferndale Unified School Dist. (2002) 98 Cal.App.4th 838, 842 , 120 Cal.Rptr.2d 615 ( Zalac ).) To decide the issues in this case, we must feel that pain.

In March 2003, the Biggs Unified School District (the District) gave Tony Reis notice it was not reelecting him to two part-time teaching positions: a .57 full-time equivalent (FTE) position, in which Reis taught agriculture in the regular educational programs of the school, and a .43 FTE position, in which Reis taught in the District's regional occupational program (ROP). [1] Claiming he was "a tenured teacher in a 1.0 full-time equivalent position," Reis filed a petition for a writ of mandate in the superior court, arguing he had "the legal right to continue on in the employ of the District" and seeking to compel the District to provide him with an assignment and a salary for the next school year.

The trial court granted Reis's petition, concluding Reis had obtained permanent status in both of his positions. The trial court also awarded Reis attorney fees under Government Code section 800 based on the District's nonreelection of…

I concur in parts 1, 2A, and 3 of the Discussion of the majority opinion. I also concur in the majority’s conclusion in part 2B that Tony Reis failed to obtain permanent status based on his claim the district failed to give him notice of his temporary status under Education Code 1 section 44916 because Reis failed to demonstrate two consecutive years of probationary service. (§ 44929.21, subd. (b).) As to the remainder of part 2B, however, I respectfully dissent. I conclude Reis is precisely the type of teacher the Legislature intended to exempt from section 44910.

Since 1997, Tony Reis has maintained a “Full Time Preliminary Designated Subjects Vocational Educational Teaching Credential” in the subject of agricultural mechanics. At the Biggs Unified School District, agricultural mechanics is part of the regular educational program.

In 1997, Reis started as a probationary teacher teaching agricultural mechanics in a .57 full-time equivalent (FTE) position and obtained permanent status in that position in 1999. He taught that subject until he was given a notice of termination in March 2003.

In his second year of employment with the district, the district assigned Reis to a…

“ ‘[E]ntry into the Education Code is painful.’ ” (Zalac v. Governing Bd. of Ferndale Unified School Dist. (2002) 98 Cal.App.4th 838, 842 [ 120 Cal.Rptr.2d 615 ] (Zalac).) To decide the issues in this case, we must feel that pain.

In March 2003, the Biggs Unified School District (the District) gave Tony Reis notice it was not reelecting him to two part-time teaching positions: a .57 full-time equivalent (FTE) position, in which Reis taught agriculture in the regular educational programs of the school, and a .43 FTE position, in which Reis taught in the District’s regional occupational program (ROP). 1 Claiming he was “a tenured teacher in a 1.0 full-time equivalent position,” Reis filed a petition for a writ of mandate in the superior court, arguing he had “the legal right to continue on in the employ of the District” and seeking to compel the District to provide him with an assignment and a salary for the next school year.

The trial court granted Reis’s petition, concluding Reis had obtained permanent status in both of his positions. The trial court also awarded Reis attorney fees under Government Code section 800 based on the District’s nonreelection of him to the .57…