Ct. No. 05CC10946) OPINION CALIFORNIA SCHOOL EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION, TUSTIN CHAPTER NO. 450, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. TUSTIN UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT et al. , Defendants and Respondents. Joan Featherstone is a classified employee of the Tustin Unified School District (School District). The California School Employees Association and its Tustin Chapter No. 450 (together, the CSEA) challenged that practice on the ground those employees were not substitute employees because they were already employed by the school district and, hence, were not employed to replace Featherstone while she was temporarily absent. If, as the School District contends, a school district may use any existing classified employee as a substitute under section 45196 and deduct that employee's pay from the absent employee's salary, then a school district would receive the benefits of both options without the burdens of either. However, section 45196 does prohibit the School District from deducting from the absent employee's salary the amount paid to the employees performing the absent employee's tasksunless the School District hired those employees "to fill [the absent employee's] position during his [or her] absence. "

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