Can the Principal Be Demoted and Employees Be Suspended Due to a Decline In Enrollment and Closing of a School ?

In Shestack v. General Braddock Area School District, 63 Pa. Commw. 204, 437 A.2d 1059 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1981), as a result of a decline in enrollment and the closing of a school, employees were suspended and Shestack, the principal, was "demoted." After notification of the change in his employment status, Shestack was granted a hearing at which he challenged the "realignment" pursuant to Section 1125.1 in that he sought reassignment to an elementary principal position. Regardless of the School Board's characterization of Shestack's reassignment as a demotion, this court ruled that Shestack's challenge to the realignment was properly grounded in Section 1125.1(c). Shestack's change in employment status was necessitated by a decline in enrollment and the closing of a school, reasons that fell squarely within Section 1124, and the challenge to the realignment fell within Section 1125.1.