The Court Upholds Villena City Council's Decision on Conservatory Faculty Stabilisation

The High Court of Justice of the Valencian Community (TSJCV) has ruled in favour of the Villena City Council in the selection and stabilisation process of the Professional Music Conservatory's staff. The court validated the procedures followed to complete the teaching staff for various subjects, in compliance with current labour regulations and as part of the non-civil servant staff stabilisation process.

The Mayor of Villena, Fulgencio Cerdán, expressed his satisfaction, stating that it "normalises the life of the Conservatory, which now has stabilised positions, a consolidated staff, and the assurance that the procedure was correct."

Having overcome this situation, "we will continue to defend our Conservatory, the quality of education, and the best working conditions for the entire staff, always respecting the rules and laws to which we are subject. The next step must be for the Conservatory to be transferred to the Department of Education, which will reduce costs for the City Council and families, integrate it into the regional network of centres, and ensure better facilities and equipment, as is already the case in other cities like Villena," added Cerdán.

With this ruling, the City Council has succeeded in having the high court uphold its appeal against the decision of the Administrative Court No. 3 of Alicante, which initially sided with the three plaintiffs. The appeal by three candidates for various positions was based on the introduction of specialities in an extraordinary process that, in their view, should have offered generic rather than specific positions for each subject. However, the process did divide them by subjects, requiring the appropriate qualification for each. The plaintiffs believed that holding a Middle Degree was sufficient to participate in the selection process, regardless of the speciality of each subject.

However, the Valencian high court considers that "although since 1996 there was no regulatory provision listing the teaching specialities of the Music and Performing Arts Teachers' Corps, since 2013 we have a regulation that lists the teaching specialities of the Music Teachers' Corps." Therefore, according to the judges of the Administrative Court No. 2 of the TSJCV, "it is not that specialities have been introduced within the extraordinary stabilisation process, but that the stabilisation process itself must comply with current legal provisions," which implies that "each speciality must be covered by someone with the specific necessary qualification."

The Villena City Council, in compliance with current regulations, was obliged to undertake the stabilisation process affecting 21 teachers, the director of the Conservatory, and administrative staff. This process has been completed and is now concluded. Currently, thanks to access to the Department of Education's employment pool, future vacancies will be filled through it.