Fetter v. Jersey Shore Area School District

Argued: September 8, 2003 The Jersey Shore Area School District (District) appeals the order of the Lycoming County Court of Common Pleas remanding the matter to the District so that it could conduct a hearing as to whether Ophelia Fetter abandoned her position as principal with the District on June 29, 2001. The District argues that a letter it sent to Fetter's attorney was its ""adjudication"" that Fetter had abandoned her position, and since Fetter did not appeal this ""adjudication"" within 30 days, no hearing is necessary. The trial court held that the letter was not an ""adjudication"" under Section 101 of the Local Agency Law, 2 Pa. C.S. §101,1 but was merely correspondence between attorneys and, therefore, that a hearing was necessary. The relevant facts are as follows. Fetter was employed by the District as an elementary school principal. On December 5, 2000, she submitted a written request to the Superintendent of the District for a three-month leave of absence. She attached to her request a note from her physician, Dr. Alexander R. Nesbitt, M.D., which, according to the District, did not: identify her diagnosis, include a projection as to the duration of the medical condition, or include a demonstration of a causal relationship between the illness and her inability to perform the essential functions of her position, all of which must be submitted to the District before a medical leave request can be considered. This began the exchange of correspondence between the District and Fetter, or her attorney, regarding Fetter's requests for leave and the District's requests for the necessary medical information to approve the leave. Over the next several months, the District repeatedly advised Fetter that it did not have sufficient information to make a decision and, then, sent her a standard Department of Labor medical leave certification for her physicians to complete. Fetter did not submit a completed certification and, instead, sent more doctors' letters.2 On March 1, 2001, Fetter submitted a request for sabbatical leave, retroactive to January 22, 2001, and she also advised the District that all correspondence should be sent to her counsel, John Williams. On June 20, 2001, Fetter requested an extension of her sabbatical leave.