This Regulation creates no rights extending beyond the contracted period of employment, or the employment of at-will staff members.

Paid leave may only be used for illness of the staff member or the staff member's immediate family. Immediate family is defined as spouse, parent, grandparent, child, sibling, daughter or son-in-law, grandchild, or non-family residing within the staff member's home. The Superintendent/designee may request a physician's statement regarding an absence and/or verification that the employee may return to work.

Professional staff (employees) may be terminated for excessive absences or tardiness. Unless authorized by the Board of Education or the Superintendent or otherwise authorized by law, an employee’s absence or tardiness is considered excessive if it:

1. Is for a reason not granted as paid or protected leave under Board Policies or Regulations.
2. Exceeds the number of days allotted by the Board for that particular leave.
3. Is for a reason authorized by Board Policies or Regulations but exceeds more than 6 days per semester, or more than 12 days per school year.

Even if the absence or tardiness is authorized by the Board of Education or the Superintendent, if the absence or tardiness occurs for a reason not granted as leave under Board Policies or Regulations, or if it excessive, the employee’s salary will be docked and the employee will be subject to further discipline or termination. 

No employee will be disciplined or terminated for absences qualifying for protection under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or other applicable law.  The district may require an employee to present employee certification of fitness to return to work whenever the employee is absent from work due to the employee’s health. FMLA Leave Act procedures shall apply to FMLA eligible employees. Information concerning employee’s rights under the FMLA will be posted in accordance with the law and will be provided in any employee handbooks that are distributed. For any employee who is not eligible for FMLA leave, including any employee who has exhausted available FMLA-protected leave, requests for leave and shall proceed according to the district’s established policies and regulations, and the procedural requirements of the FMLA shall not apply where they are not mandated by law.

The following leaves with pay will be provided to full-time professional staff (part-time professional staff will receive leave on a pro-rated basis):

• Leave- All full-time employees will be entitled to leave based on the number of months of service per year:
  • 12 month employee = 15 days of leave
  • 11 month employee = 14 days of leave
  • 10 month employee = 13 days of leave
  • 9 month employee = 12 days of leave

** Leave must be used in either half (1/2) or full day increments.

A maximum of 100 unused days of leave may be accumulated for all employees.  Any unused days over 100 will be paid to the employee at a rate of $75 at the end of each school year.  Upon the end of employment, if the employee has 5 years of service or more with the district and has accumulated 100 unused days of leave, unused leave days will be paid out to the employee at a rate of $1.00 per day multiplied by the number of years of service with the district.

Employees may not use leave on days for which they are not required to report to work, including before actually beginning work in any given school year.

Additional Days Request

A full-time employee who needs more leave than is allowed may request up to ten (10) additional days, which shall be made through a written (or electronic) request and presented to the Bard for approval in its sole discretion.  If granted, the employee’s regular pay will be reduced by $75.00/day for a substitute, regardless of whether or not a substitute is hired.   

Reasons for Using Leave

Leave days may be used for the following reasons:

• Illness, injury or incapacity of the employee.The Board reserves the right to require a physician’s certification attesting to the illness or incapacity of the claimant and/or inclusive dates of the employee’s incapacitation. The FMLA health certification procedures apply to FMLA-qualifying absences, even if such absences are paid sick leave.
• Illness, injury or incapacity of a member of an employee’s immediate family.“Immediate Family” includes spouse, parent, grandparent, child, sibling, daughter-in-law/son-in-law, or grandchild.
• Illness, injury or disability of other relatives (permission must be granted by building Principal and Superintendent).
• Tax investigation.
• Court appearances.
• Wedding or graduation.
• Observance of a religious holiday.
• Conducting of personal business of such nature that cannot be performed on Saturday, Sunday, or before or after school hours.
• Leave connected with duty as a volunteer firefighter, Member of Missouri-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team, Missouri Task Force One, or Urban Search and Rescue Team.

A district employee may not use leave during the period the employee receives Workers’ Compensation for any work-related injury.

Whenever possible, employees will inform their immediate supervisor 48 hours in advance of leave being requested.  However, 30 days’ notice is required by law if the leave qualifies for FMLA and such notice is practical.

A district employee may not use leave during or on a district Professional Development day.  However, with administrative approval, a district employee may be granted Professional leave to attend another professional development opportunity on the same day.

Vacation

All professional staff employed on a 12 month basis will be entitled to ten (10) days of vacation per year.   After 15 years of consecutive service, 12 month employees shall be entitled to fifteen (15) days of vacation per year. Employees must request vacation time to their immediate supervisor or Superintendent.  The supervisor and/or Superintendent has the right to deny the request for vacation.  Vacation time may not be taken if the employee is receiving Worker’s Compensation for time lost due to a work-related injury.

Additional Paid Leave

The following additional paid leave will be provided to full-time and part-time employees:

• Holidays - Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, July 4^th
• Professional Leave – Professional Leave must be approved by Administration prior to being used.
• Jury Duty - An employee will be granted paid leave for time spent responding to a summons for jury duty
• Military Leave – As required by law.
• Election Leave - An employee appointed as an election judge will receive paid leave for the period of time the employee is required to serve as an election judge as determined by the election authority, as long as the district has been notified 7 days prior to any election in which the employee serves as an election judge.
• Leave to Vote – Employees who do not have three (3) successive hours free from work while the polls are open will be granted a leave period of three (3) hours for the purpose of voting. Requests for such leave must be made prior to that day, and the employee’s supervisors will designate when during the work day the leave should be taken.
• Leave for Court Subpoena - If the subpoena is directly related to the employee’s school duties, leave will be granted.
• Firefighter Leave - Employees may be allowed to use paid leave days, vacation, and/or unpaid leave for any time taken to respond to an emergency in the course of performing duties as a volunteer firefighter. For the purposes of this section, “volunteer firefighter” includes members of Missouri-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team, Missouri Task Force One and Urban Search and Rescue Team. Employees covered under this section shall not be terminated from employment for joining a volunteer fire department or for being absent from or late to work in order to respond to an emergency. Employees shall make every reasonable effort to notify the building principal or supervisor if the employee may be absent from or late to work under this section. Employees are required to provide their supervisors with a written statement from the supervisor or acting supervisor of the volunteer fire department stating that the employee responded to an emergency along with the time and date of the emergency.
• Crime Victim Leave - Any employee who is a crime victim, who witnesses a crime or who has an immediate family member who is a crime victim will not be required to use paid leave days or vacation in order to honor a subpoena to testify in a criminal proceeding, attend a criminal proceeding or participate in the preparation of the criminal proceeding.

Bereavement Leave

• Five (5) days of leave will be granted if a death occurs in the immediate family of the employee or employee’s spouse (this leave will not be charged against the employee’s leave total).If extra time is needed, five (5) additional days may be requested from the Superintendent, and those 5 additional days will be charged against the employee’s leave total.“Immediate Family” includes spouse, parent, grandparent, child, sibling, daughter-in-law/son-in-law, or grandchild.
• Two (2) days of leave will be granted for attending the funeral of a relative other than an immediate family member which will not be charged against the employee’s leave.One (1) additional day may be requested from the Superintendent, but that day will be charged against the employee’s leave total.

Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Adoption Leave

• A pregnant employee shall continue in the performance of her duties as long as she is able to do so and as long as her ability to perform her duties is not impaired, based on medical opinion.
• Employees eligible for FMLA leave for the birth, first-year care-adoption or foster care of a child will have such leave applied in accordance with the FMLA, as detailed in the following bullet point.
• The district shall only apply up to six (6) weeks of leave for the birth, first-year care, adoption, or foster care of a child, and may use any combination of accrued paid leave, vacation, or unpaid leave. Pregnant employees who need more than six (6) weeks of paid leave, vacation, or unpaid leave for a pregnancy related incapacity must provide certification of the medical necessity for such leave.

Board Approved Date: September 10, 2012