Board of Education of Newfane Central School District No. 1 v. Newfane Teachers Ass'n

Order unanimously affirmed, without costs. Memorandum: The teachers association appeals from orders which granted the school board’s motion for a stay of arbitration and vacated the association’s notice of intention to arbitrate on the ground that it was inadequate. The order granted leave to serve a further notice. The association also appeals from a later order which denied the association’s subsequent motion to compel arbitration and vacated its second notice of intention to arbitrate as similarly inadequate. The litigation apparently arises out of the termination of 12 or 13 teachers’ positions in the plaintiff school system. The teachers involved pursued grievances unsuccessfully and appellants sought arbitration on their behalf. The notice of intention requested arbitration between appellants and respondent on various sections in the contract, e.g., the dispute between the parties as to "(1) page 29, article 27, section C, item 1.” The notice contained five other contract references without any further particularization of the disputes. The second notice of intention, served after the order granting the board’s motion to vacate, did no more than restate the same contract sections in a different format with each citation preceded by a name, presumably that of the affected employee. Special Term once again vacated the notice and denied the association’s motion to compel arbitration. The association, pointing to familiar rules governing the narrow scope of the court’s authority in arbitration cases, contends that on a motion to compel or stay arbitration the court may only consider the three "threshold” questions (see CPLR 7503; Central School Dist. No. 1 v Litz, 60 Misc 2d 1009 , affd 34 AD2d 1092 ). Since there was a contract between the parties calling for arbitration