BRADFORD, Judge.

Case Overview

In 2011, Appellant Nettle Creek School Corporation (the "School Corporation") and Appellee Nettle Creek Classroom Teachers Association (the "Association") were engaged in collective bargaining for the 2011-2012 school year. The School Corporation and the Association (collectively, "the parties") were unable to agree to a Collective Bargaining Agreement ("CBA") and came to an impasse. Both sides submitted a last best offer ("LBO") to Appellant the Indiana Education Employment Relations Board (the "Board") after mediation failed.

The Association initiated judicial review after the Board adopted the School Corporation's LBO. On November 27, 2013, the trial court found that the Board erroneously determined that the relevant proffered provisions of the parties' LBOs included an improper attempt to bargain hours rather than wages. The trial court also found that the Board erroneously concluded that the Association's LBO contained an improper attempt by the Association to bargain for an overtime compensation system that is inconsistent with both Federal and Indiana law.

Upon review, we conclude that while teachers are not entitled to earn overtime for the completion of direct teaching functions, the relevant legal authority does not exclude the bargaining for and potential receipt of additional wages for the completion of required ancillary or voluntary co-curricular duties. Accordingly, we remand the matter to the Board for further proceedings that are consistent with this opinion.

Facts and Procedural History

In 2011, the parties were engaged in collective bargaining for the 2011-2012 school year. The parties, however, were unable to agree to a CBA and came to an impasse. In light of the parties' failure to agree to a CBA, the parties participated in mediation. After mediation failed, both sides submitted a LBO to the Board. The disputed issues related to the Association's request for additional compensation for required hours worked outside the normal workday and certain grievance procedures.1

On November 29, 2011, the Board appointed a factfinder to hear the parties' case. With respect to the parties' dispute relating to the Association's request for additional compensation for hours worked outside the normal seven-and-one-half-hour workday, the Association's proffered version of the provision at issue reads as follows:

Appellant's App. p. 80. The School Corporation's proffered version of the provision at issue reads as follows:

Appellant's App. p. 99. Following a hearing, the factfinder issued a recommended order in which it adopted the School Corporation's LBO as the parties' CBA for the 2011-2012 school year. On January 11, 2012, the Association appealed the factfinder's order to the Board.

The Board held a hearing on January 24, 2012, after which it issued a final order. With respect to the parties' dispute relating to the Association's request for additional compensation for required hours worked outside the normal workday, the Board stated the following:

Appellant's App. pp. 206-07, 209-10 (emphasis and last set of brackets in original, footnotes omitted). Consistent with the above-stated language, the Board found as follows: "[t]he Association's appeal is denied and the School Corporation's [LBO] is adopted as the Nettle Creek contract, except insofar as any references to the hours of work ... in the School Corporation's [LBO] shall be omitted from the contract." Appellant's App. p. 213.

On April 18, 2012, the Association filed a verified petition for judicial review of the Board's decision in the trial court. On May 9, 2012, the School Corporation filed its answer to the Association's petition. On June 13, 2012, the Board also filed an answer to the Association's petition. The Association subsequently filed a motion for judgment on the administrative record and supporting memorandum. The Board filed a response in opposition to the Association's motion on September 30, 2013. On October 11, 2013, the School Corporation filed a notice of its intention not to file a response to the Association's motion. The Association subsequently filed a reply in favor of its motion.

On November 27, 2013, the trial court issued its findings of fact and conclusions thereon. Specifically, the trial court found as follows:

Tr. pp. 374, 375, 377-78, 380 (emphasis added to Paragraphs 25 and 26; emphasis, brackets, and ellipses in Paragraph 28 in original). In making these findings, the trial court reversed the Board's decision and ordered that the matter be remanded to the Board "to enter an order consistent with [the trial court's order], and to make further findings [as to] whether the School Corporation's or the Association's LBO should be chosen based on a correct interpretation of the law as stated herein." Appellant's App. p. 380-81. The Board subsequently initiated the instant appeal.3

Discussion and Decision

I. Standard of Review

While the legislature has granted courts the power to review the action of state government agencies taken pursuant to the Administrative Orders and Procedures Act [("AOPA")], this power of judicial review is limited. See State Bd. of Registration for Prof'l Eng'rs v. Eberenz, 723 N.E.2d 422, 430 (Ind.2000); Indiana Dep't of Envtl. Management v. Conard, 614 N.E.2d 916, 919 (Ind.1993); Indiana Dep't of Natural Resources v. United Refuse Co., 615 N.E.2d 100, 103 (Ind.1993). A court may only set aside agency action that is:

LTV Steel Co. v. Griffin, 730 N.E.2d 1251, 1257 (Ind.2000). "The party seeking judicial review bears the burden to demonstrate that the agency's action is invalid." Pendleton v. McCarty, 747 N.E.2d 56, 61 (Ind.Ct.App.2001) (citing Ind.Code § 4-21-5-5-14(a)).

A review of an administrative agency's decision at the trial court level "is not intended to be a trial de novo, but rather the court simply analyzes the record as a whole to determine whether the administrative findings are supported by substantial evidence." Whirlpool Corp. v. Vanderburgh Cnty.-City of Evansville Human Relations Comm'n, 875 N.E.2d 751, 759 (Ind.Ct.App.2007) (citing Amoco Oil Co. v. Comm'r of Labor, 726 N.E.2d 869, 872 (Ind.Ct.App.2000)). A party may appeal a trial court's determination of the propriety of the administrative agency's decision pursuant to the rules governing civil appeals. See Ind.Code § 4-21.5-5-16. "When reviewing an administrative agency's decision, appellate courts stand in the same position as the trial court." Pendleton, 747 N.E.2d at 61 (citing Amoco, 726 N.E.2d at 872).

An appellate court "may not substitute [its] judgment on factual matters for that of the agency and are bound by the agency's findings of fact if [the findings] are supported by substantial evidence." Whirlpool, 875 N.E.2d at 759 (citing Ind. Dep't of Natural Res., Law Enforcement Div. v. Cobb, 832 N.E.2d 585, 590 (Ind.Ct.App.2005)).

Id. However, "[a]n interpretation of a statute by an administrative agency charged with the duty of enforcing the statute is entitled to great weight, unless this interpretation would be inconsistent with the statute itself." LTV Steel, 730 N.E.2d at 1257; State Emps. Appeals Comm'n v. Barclay, 695 N.E.2d 957, 959-60 (Ind.Ct. App.1998).

II. Analysis

A. Relevant Statutory Authority Relating to Collective Bargaining Between a School Corporation and the Exclusive Representative of Its Teachers

Indiana Code section 20-29-6-4(a) provides that a school corporation shall bargain collectively with the exclusive representative of its teachers (the "teachers' representative") regarding the following: (1) salary; (2) wages; and (3) salary and wages related to fringe benefits, including accident, sickness, health, dental, vision, life, disability, retirement benefits, and paid time off. During collective bargaining, the school corporation and the teachers' representative must discuss certain items, including: (1) curriculum development and revision; (2) selection of curricular materials; (3) teaching methods; (4) hiring, evaluation, promotion, demotion, transfer, assignment, and retention of certificated employees; (5) student discipline; (6) expulsion or supervision of students; (7) pupil/teacher ratio; (8) class size or budget appropriations; (9) safety issues for students and employees in the workplace, except those items required to be kept confidential by state or federal law; and (10) hours. Ind.Code § 20-29-6-7. However, "[t]he obligation to discuss does not require either party to enter into a contract, agree to a proposal, or make a concession related to the items listed in [Indiana Code section 20-29-6-7]." Ind. Code § 20-29-6-8.

If an impasse is declared at any time after at least sixty days following the beginning of formal collective bargaining, the Board shall appoint a mediator from the Board's staff or an ad hoc panel. Indiana Code § 20-29-6-13(a). The mediation must consist of not more than three mediation sessions and must result in either (1) an agreement between the parties on the items permitted to be bargained or (2) each party's LBO, including fiscal rationale, related to items permitted to be bargained. Indiana Code § 20-29-6-13(c). If an agreement has not been reached on the items permitted to be bargained within fifteen days of the end of mediation, the Board shall initiate fact-finding. Indiana Code § 20-29-6-15.1(a).

Fact-finding must culminate in the factfinder imposing contract terms on the parties. Ind.Code § 20-29-6-15.1(b).

Id. Fact-finding must not last longer than fifteen days. Ind.Code § 20-29-6-15.1(d). Either party may appeal the decision of the factfinder to the Board within thirty days after receiving the factfinder's decision. Ind.Code § 20-29-6-18(a). The Board's decision must be restricted to only those items permitted to be bargained and included in the collective bargaining agreement and must not put the employer in a position of deficit financing. Ind.Code § 20-29-6-18(b). The Board's decision "may not impose terms beyond those proposed by the parties in their last, best offers." Id. The Board's decision must be issued within thirty days after receipt of the notice of appeal. Indiana Code § 20-29-6-18(c).

B. Salary vs. Wages

A salary is "[a]greed compensation for services — [especially] professional or semiprofessional services — [usually] paid at regular intervals on a yearly basis, as distinguished from an hourly basis." BLACK'S TAW DICTIONARY 1537 (10th Ed. 2014). A wage is "[p]ayment for labor or services, [usually] based on time worked or quantity produced; [specifically], compensation of an employee based on time worked or output of production." BLACK'S TAW DICTIONARY 1811 (10th Ed. 2014). "Wages include every form of remuneration payable for a given period to an individual for personal services, including salaries, commissions, vacation pay, bonuses, and the reasonable value of board, lodging, payments in kind, tips, and any similar advantage received from the employer." BLACK'S LAW DICTIONARY 1811 (10th Ed. 2014). Indiana Code section 20-28-6-4(b) specifically provides that "[s]alary and wages include the amount of pay increases available to employees under the salary scale adopted under [Indiana Code section] 20-28-9-1.5, but do not include the teacher evaluation procedures and criteria, or any components of the teacher evaluation plan, rubric, or tool."

Under both Federal and Indiana law, a teacher is not entitled to receive overtime. Specifically, Section 207 of the Fair Labor Standards Act ("the Act") provides that employees shall receive overtime compensation for hours worked in excess of forty hours per week. 29 U.S.C. § 207. However, the Act exempts certain employees from this requirement, including teachers employed in elementary or secondary schools. 29 U.S.C. § 213. "Exemptions from the Act are defined by regulations promulgated by the Department of Labor." Osler Inst., Inc. v. Inglert, 558 N.E.2d 901, 903 (Ind.Ct.App. 1990). Although the statutory exemptions are to be narrowly construed, "[t]he regulations are entitled to great weight and have been held to carry the full force of law." Id. Further, Indiana Code section 20-29-6-3 provides that "[i]t is unlawful for a school employer to enter into any agreement that would place the employer in a position of deficit financing due to a reduction in the employer's actual general fund revenue or an increase in the employer's expenditures when the expenditures exceed the employer's current year actual general fund revenue."

While we recognize that teachers are not entitled to receive overtime compensation for performing their "normal" teaching duties, i.e., duties that are completed as part of one's direct teaching function, we further recognize that a school corporation may require its teachers to undertake, or a teacher may agree to undertake, certain duties beyond a teacher's "normal" teaching duties. Specifically, a school corporation may require its teachers to perform certain ancillary duties, such as professional development and training or attending conferences. In addition, teachers may agree to take on certain co-curricular responsibilities, such as coaching athletic teams or sponsoring an academic or extracurricular club. It is undisputed that teachers may negotiate for additional wages for responsibilities associated with co-curricular duties that are voluntarily assumed by a teacher.4 In the same vein, we interpret the above-discussed law to allow that teachers could potentially receive additional wages for ancillary duties.

Stated differently, we interpret the law to provide that although the law does not allow for the receipt of overtime compensation by teachers related to their direct teaching functions, teachers are not necessarily excluded from receiving additional wages for required or agreed upon ancillary duties. Notably, counsel for the Board conceded during oral argument that it is possible under the relevant statutory authority for a teacher to earn wages in addition to the teacher's salary and that an agreed-upon salary for direct teaching functions does not exclude wages for other functions completed by the individual teacher. As such, we conclude that teachers may negotiate with their employers for the receipt of additional wages for these ancillary duties. In reaching this conclusion, however, we do not mean to say that a school corporation must compensate teachers for the ancillary duties, but only that the law allows that teachers may negotiate with their employers for additional compensation for said ancillary duties.5

C. The Instant Matter

Again, here, the Association's proffered version of the provision at issue reads as follows:

Appellant's App. p. 80. During oral argument, counsel for the Association clarified that the Association's proffered provision represented an attempt to bargain for additional wages for ancillary duties which the School Corporation required of its teachers and was not a request for overtime compensation for duties relating to teachers' direct teaching functions.

On remand, the Board should review the parties' proffered LBO's taking into consideration our conclusion that the parties may negotiate for additional wages for required ancillary duties, i.e., duties that are required by the School Corporation but are not considered to be direct teaching functions. We note, however, that in issuing this opinion, we do not mean to dictate any particular outcome to the Board. Our opinion merely sets forth the legal parameters under which the Board should consider the parties' LBOs. The determination of which LBO to adopt as the parties' contract is within the discretion of the Board so long as the Board's decision is made in accordance with the legal parameters set herein.

The matter is remanded to the Board for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

NAJAM, J., and ROBB, J., concur.