Judges: RICHARD P. IEYOUB
Filed Date: 5/12/2004
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/5/2016
Dear Representative Damico and Mr. Fanning:
You requested an opinion of this office concerning the interpretation of La.R.S.
La.R.S.
A.(1)(a) Whenever a school bus operator is needed to drive a new route or a route vacated by a previous operator, the school bus operator who is tenured and has acquired the greatest seniority shall be offered the opportunity to and may change from driving his route to the vacant route before another operator is selected.
(b) If the tenured bus operator with the greatest seniority chooses not to change to the vacant route, the route shall then be offered in order of seniority to a school bus operator who has acquired tenure.
(c) If no tenured operator chooses to change to the vacant route, the route shall then be offered to a full- time probationary bus operator.
(d) If no regular bus operator, tenured or probationary, chooses to change to the vacant route, then a substitute bus operator shall be selected for the position from a list of approved substitute school bus operators.
(2) If a regular bus operator chooses to change routes as provided in this Section, then his vacant route shall be filled using the process described in this Subsection.
La.R.S.
In the application of a statute, the meaning of which is unclear, the following statutory rules of construction apply:
La. Civil Code Art.
La. Civil Code Art.When the language in the law is susceptible of different meanings, it must be interpreted as having the meaning that best conforms to the purpose of the law.
La. Civil Code Art.When the words of a law are ambiguous, their meaning must be sought by examining the context in which they occur and the text of the law as a whole.
La.R.S.Laws on the same subject matter must be interpreted in reference to each other.
Words and phrases shall be read with their context and shall be construed according to the common and approved usage of the language. Technical words and phrases, and such others as may have acquired a peculiar and appropriate meaning in the law, shall be construed and understood according to such peculiar and appropriate meaning.
The provisions in Title 17 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes governing school bus operators are found in La.R.S.
. . . An additional ground for the removal from office of any permanent school bus operator shall be the abolition, discontinuance, or consolidation of routes, but then only if it is found as a fact, after a hearing by the school board of the parish or city, that it is in the best interests of the school system to abolish, discontinue, or consolidate said route or routes.
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D. In the event that one or more school bus operators must be removed due to the abolition, discontinuance, or consolidation of routes, the principle of seniority shall apply, so that the last school bus operator hired to serve within the school system to be affected shall be the first to be removed.
As to removal of a bus operator, the principle of seniority is defined in La.R.S.
I hope this opinion has sufficiently answered your inquiry. If I can be of further assistance to you, please let me know.
Very truly yours,
CHARLES C. FOTI, JR. ATTORNEY GENERAL
By:__________________________________ Katherine M. Whitney Assistant Attorney General
CCF, Jr.:KMW
DATE RECEIVED: 5-6-04; 5-11-04
DATE RELEASED: May 12, 2004