California School Employees Ass'n v. Governing Board of East Side Union High School District

*542 Opinion

Appellant Bernice Singer and her labor union, appellant California School Employees Association (CSEA), appeal from the trial court’s denial of their mandate petition. They contend that a classified employee of a nonmerit system school district 1 who attains permanent status and then is laid off from her position and thereafter reemployed by the district in a different, lower position retains her permanent status and may not be required to serve a probationary period in the new position. We conclude that the statutory scheme does not support their contention. We hold that such an employee’s permanent status is restricted to the position or class in which it was attained and is not retained when the employee is reemployed in a different, lower position.

I. Background

Singer became employed by the East Side Union High School District (the District) in a school-community liaison (SCL) position in November 1989. The SCL position was a year-round position that was paid at range 18 on the District’s salary schedule. Singer served a six-month probationary period and became a permanent employee in May 1990. In March 2008, the District decided to eliminate all of its SCL…