VACATIONS - HOLIDAYS - PERSONAL LEAVE
The Board will determine the amount of vacation, holidays, and personal leave that will be allowed on an annual basis for support employees.
Support staff who work twelve months a year will be allowed six paid holidays, if the holidays fall on a regular working day. The six holidays are New Year's Day, Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Support staff, whether full-time or part-time, shall have time off in concert with the school calendar.
Support staff will be paid only for the hours they would have been scheduled for the day. Vacation will not be accrued from year to year without a prior arrangement with the Superintendent.
The Superintendent will make a recommendation to the Board annually on vacation and personal leave for support staff members.
SICK LEAVE
Support staff members shall be granted ten days of sick leave in their first year of employment. Each year thereafter, one additional day of sick leave will be granted to the employees up to a maximum of 15 days. "Day" is defined as one work day regardless of full-time or part-time status of the staff member. A new staff member shall report for work at least one full work day prior to receiving sick leave benefits. A returning staff member will be granted the appropriate number of days at the beginning of each fiscal year. Sick leave may be accumulated up to a maximum of 105 days for support staff.
Should the sick leave occur after or extend beyond the accumulated sick leave, the staff member may apply for disability benefits under the group insurance plan. If the staff member does not qualify for disability benefits, the staff member may request a leave of absence without pay.
Evidence may be required regarding the mental or physical health of the staff member including, but not limited to, confirmation of the following: the staff member’s illness, the need for the sick leave, the staff member’s ability to return to work, and the staff member’s capability to perform the duties of the staff member’s position. It shall be within the discretion of the Board and the Superintendent to determine the type and amount of evidence necessary. When a sick leave will be greater than three consecutive days, the staff member shall comply with board policy regarding family and medical leave.
If a staff member is eligible to receive workers' compensation benefits, the staff member shall contact the Board Secretary to implement these benefits.
FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE
Unpaid family and medical leave will be granted up to 12 weeks per year to assist staff members in balancing family and work life. For purposes of this policy, year is defined as fiscal year. Requests for family and medical leave shall be made to the Superintendent.
Staff member may be allowed to substitute paid leave for unpaid family and medical leave by meeting the requirements set out in the family and medical leave administrative rules. Staff members eligible for family and medical leave must comply with the family and medical leave administrative rules prior to starting family and medical leave.
DISCRETIONARY LEAVE
The Board realizes an emergency may arise which would necessitate a support staff member’s absence from work which is not covered by another form of leave of absence. Such leave shall be called discretionary leave.
Discretionary leave must be unforeseen and beyond the control of the employee. The Superintendent shall have the discretion to grant discretionary leave and determine whether such leave shall be paid leave or unpaid leave.
BEREAVEMENT LEAVE
In the event of a death of a member of a support staff member’s immediate family, bereavement leave may be granted. Bereavement leave granted may be for a maximum of five days, with "day" being defined as one work day regardless of full-time or part-time status of the staff member, per occurrence, for the death of a member of the immediate family. The immediate family includes child, spouse, parent, brother, sister, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, or grandparent of the staff member.
In the event of the death of an staff member’s other relatives, the staff member shall be granted Bereavement leave not to exceed three days. In the events of the death of a non-relative, the staff member shall be granted Bereavement leave not to exceed one day.
The Superintendent has discretion to determine the number of bereavement leave days to be granted.
POLITICAL LEAVE
The Board will provide a leave of absence to support staff to run for elective public office. The Superintendent shall grant a support staff member a leave of absence to campaign as a candidate for an elective public office as unpaid leave.
The support staff member will be entitled to one period of leave to run for the elective public office, and the leave may commence any time within 30 days of a contested primary, special, or general election and continue until the day following the election.
The request for leave must be in writing to the Superintendent at least 30 days prior to the starting date of the requested leave.
JURY DUTY LEAVE
The Board will allow support staff to be excused for jury duty unless extraordinary circumstances exist. The Superintendent has the discretion to determine when extraordinary circumstances exist.
Support staff who are called for jury service shall notify their direct supervisor within 24 hours after notice of call to jury duty and suitable proof of jury service pay must be presented to the District. The staff member will report to work within one hour on any day when the staff member is excused from jury duty during regular working hours.
Support staff members will receive their regular salary. Any payment for jury duty shall be turned over to the District.
MILITARY SERVICE LEAVE
The Board recognizes support staff members may be called to participate in the armed forces, including the National Guard. If a support staff member is called to serve in the armed forces, the staff member shall have a leave of absence for military service until the military service is completed.
The leave shall be without loss of status or efficiency rating, and without loss of pay during the first 30 calendar days of the leave.
UNPAID LEAVE
Unpaid leave may be used to excuse an involuntary absence not provided for in other leave board policies. Unpaid leave for support staff must be authorized by the Superintendent. Whenever possible, support staff shall make a written request for unpaid leave 10 days prior to the beginning date of the requested leave. If the leave is granted, the deductions in salary shall be made unless they are waived specifically by the superintendent.
The Superintendent shall have complete discretion to grant or deny the requested unpaid leave. In making this determination, the Superintendent shall consider the effect of the staff member’s absence on the education program and District operations, the District’s financial condition, length of service, previous record of absence, the reason for the requested absence, and other factors the Superintendent believes are relevant in making this determination.
If unpaid leave is granted, the duration of the leave period shall be coordinated with the scheduling of the education program whenever possible, to minimize the disruption of the education program and District operations.
PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES LEAVE
Professional purposes leave may be granted to support staff members for the purpose of attending meetings and conferences directly related to their assignments. Application for the leave must be presented to the building principal.
The building principal shall have the discretion to grant professional purposes leave. The leave may be denied on the day before or after a vacation or holiday, on special days when services are needed, when it would cause undue interruption of the education program and District operations, or for other reasons deemed relevant by the building principal.
SICK LEAVE BANK
To be used by eligible employees in the event of a catastrophic illness, accident, or serious family illness as defined in Article VII item 7.6 in the Support Staff Comprehensive Agreement.
Establishment – A Sick Leave Bank will be established for the use of staff who elect to participate. Use of Sick Leave Bank days will commence on the day of sickness, injury, or serious family illness as defined in Article VII item 7.6 in the Support Staff Comprehensive Agreement of the eligible employee and continue until he/she is eligible for employment. The Sick Leave Bank year will be the contract year.
Participation – Participation in the Sick Leave Bank will be on a voluntary basis. Each participating individual employee’s contribution will be made in the form of a one-time contribution of one (1) day of sick leave from his/her current year’s allocation. The days contributed to the Bank becomes the property of the Bank and will not be returned to the employee, except under Paragraph 5 below.
Enrollment – Enrollment will take place during the opening workshop but in no case later than September 10 and will entitle the enrolling employee to membership until revoked in writing by the employee. Enrollment shall consist of signing the Leave Bank Enrollment Form in Appendix Schedule C and forwarding them to the Superintendent’s Office. The Enrollment Form indicates the year of coverage and authorizes the transfer of one day of sick leave to the Bank.
Unused Days in Sick Leave Bank – Assets of the Bank will accumulate. The following year’s Bank will consist of days carried over from the previous year. By September 30 of each year, the Board will provide the Association with verification of the Bank’s total number of days for the current year as well as the previous year’s usage of Bank days.
Use of Sick Bank Leave Days – An eligible employee must request in writing to the Superintendent that he/she wishes to withdraw days from the Bank to a maximum of 20 days in a contract year. An eligible employee is one who has elected to participate in the Sick Leave Bank in a timely manner and who has exhausted his/her personal sick leave (in the event of the employee’s illness or accident) without being eligible for long term disability (under Article IV: Insurance in the Handbook), worker’s compensation (under Article IV: Insurance in the Handbook), and/or social security disability. In the event of serious family illness, the eligible employee must have exhausted all personal leave options.
Payback of Leave Days Used – Sick leave days will no longer be paid back as the Bank has accumulated a sufficient number of days to cover needs. If the Bank falls below a future agreed upon minimum number of days, then teachers will be required to donate an additional day.
Approved: March 2007
Reviewed: February 2022
Revised: February 2022