Absences may be charged against leave for the following reasons:

1. 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. FMLA health certification procedures apply to FMLA-qualifying absences, even if such absences are paid leave.


2. Illness, injury or incapacity of a member of the immediate family. The Board defines "immediate family" to include:


• The employee's spouse.
• The following relatives of the employee or the employee's spouse: parents, children, children's spouses, grandparents, grandchildren, siblings and any other family member residing with the employee.
• Any other person over whom the employee has legal guardianship or for whom the employee has power of attorney and is the primary caregiver.

(Note: "Family" for FMLA purposes is more limited.)

3. Illness, injury or incapacity of other relatives, with permission granted by the superintendent.


4. Pregnancy, childbirth and adoption leave in accordance with this policy.


5. Tax investigation.


6. Court appearances, unless applicable law requires no leave be charged to the employee.


7. Wedding, graduation or funeral for a member of the employee's immediate family. The Board defines "immediate family" to include:


• The employee's spouse.
• The following relatives of the employee or the employee's spouse: parents, children, children's spouses, grandparents, grandchildren, siblings and any other family member residing with the employee.
• Any other person over whom the employee has legal guardianship or for whom the employee has power of attorney and is the primary caregiver.


8. Observance of a religious holiday.


9. Conducting personal business of such a nature that it cannot be performed on a Saturday, Sunday or before or after school hours, including parent-teacher conferences.


10. Leave under the FMLA. (Pursuant to PRF 4321)


11. Leave connected with duty as a volunteer firefighter, member of Missouri-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team, Missouri Task Force One, Urban Search and Rescue Team or activation by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in times of national disaster.


12. Leave for other purposes as approved by the principal.

Whenever possible, it is expected that requests for leave will be made in writing to the designated administrator at least 48 hours in advance of the time leave is requested. However, 30 days' notice is required by law if the leave qualifies as FMLA leave and such notice is practical. The administrator will respond promptly to the employee's written request.

Each year on the June payroll, any leave balance over 90 will be paid. If a certified employee has a balance of 98 days at the end of the year, he or she will be paid for eight of those on the June payroll. Certified, full-time employees will be paid $25 for each day of accumulated leave over the 90 day maximum.

A district employee may not use leave days during the period the employee receives Workers' Compensation for time lost to work-related incidents.

Staff members who are ill are encouraged to stay home to promote healing and reduce the risk of infecting others, especially during a pandemic or other significant health event. In the event of a pandemic or other significant health event, schools may be closed to all staff and students or just students. If schools are closed only to students, staff members are expected to work regular schedules or use appropriate leave.

Any certificated employee who is a member of a retirement system shall remain a member during any period of leave under leave provisions of the district or under Workers' Compensation. The employee shall also receive creditable service credit for such leave time if the employee makes contributions to the system equal to the amount of contributions that he or she would have made had he or she been on active service status.

Leave days, used for other purposes outlined in subsection i and l.

No more than two leave days may be taken back to back for purpose outlined in subsection i and l, and may not be used before or after a holiday, or scheduled school calendar break, during standardized testing weeks or the first or last week of school unless approved by the superintendent. The Board of Education, through the superintendent, reserves the right to disallow leave given extenuating circumstances demanding the employee's presence. Unless otherwise provided, when leave days are exhausted and a subsequent absence occurs resulting in a non-paid day or dock day, the employee may be dismissed.

Unless otherwise provided, the following leaves will be provided to full-time and part-time professional employees.

1. Holidays - The following holidays will be provided to certified 12-month, full-time employees: , Spring/Easter Break (per school calendar), Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Break, Christmas break, Presidents Day or Martin Luther King Day.
   
   The following holidays will be provided to non-certified 12 month full time employees: Memorial Day, Independence day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and the day after, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, Presidents Day or Martin Luther King Day, Good Friday
   
   The district will grant paid and unpaid holidays in accordance with the academic calendar adopted by the Board. Holidays may be modified or eliminated as needed when the academic calendar is changed due to inclement weather or for other reasons. Holidays may change from year to year.


2. Professional Leave - Employees may be granted professional leave to attend classes or conferences, meet with mentors or participate in other approved professional growth activities. Professional leave must be approved by the superintendent or designee, arranged well in advance and is not considered personal leave.


3. Military Leave - The Board shall grant military leave as required by law. Members of the National Guard or any reserve component of the U.S. Armed Forces who are engaged in the performance of duty or training will be entitled to a leave of absence of 120 hours in any federal fiscal year (October 1 - September 30) without impairment of efficiency rating or loss of time, pay, regular leave or any other rights or benefits. Employees shall provide the district an official order verifying that they are required to report to duty.


4. Election Leave - Any employee who is appointed as an election judge pursuant to state law may be absent on any election day for the period of time required by the election authority. The employee must notify the district at least seven days prior to any election in which the employee will serve as an election judge. No employee will be terminated, disciplined, threatened or otherwise subjected to adverse action based on the employee's service as an election judge.


5. Leave to Vote - Employees who do not have three successive hours free from work while the polls are open will be granted a leave period of up to three hours to permit the employees three successive hours while the polls are open for the purpose of voting. Requests for such leave must be made prior to election day, and the employee's supervisors will designate when during the workday the leave should be taken. Any employee who properly requests leave to vote and uses the leave for that purpose will not be subject to discipline, termination or loss of wages or salary.


6. Jury Duty Leave - An employee will be granted paid leave for time spent responding to a summons for jury duty, time spent participating in the jury selection process or time spent actually serving on a jury. An employee will not be terminated, disciplined, threatened or otherwise subjected to adverse action because of the employee's receipt of or response to a jury summons.


7. Leave for Court Subpoena - If the subpoena is directly related to the employee's school duties, the employee will be released for court appearance without loss of leave. Other court appearances will be deducted from personal leave.


8. Firefighter Leave - Employees will be allowed to use personal, 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, Urban Search and Rescue Team or those activated by FEMA in times of national disaster. 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 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.


9. 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 vacation, personal or sick leave 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.


10. Civil Air Patrol Leave - Any employee who is a member of Civil Air Patrol and has qualified for a Civil Air Patrol emergency service specialty or who is certified to fly counternarcotics missions shall be granted unpaid leave to perform Civil Air Patrol emergency service duty or counternarcotics missions without loss of time, regular leave or any other rights or benefits in accordance with law. The leave is limited to 15 working days in any calendar year, but is unlimited when responding to a state- or nationally declared emergency in Missouri. The district may request that the employee be exempted from responding to a specific mission.

Pregnancy, Childbirth and Adoption Leave (FMLA covered in PRF 4321)

This section creates no rights extending beyond the contracted period of employment. FMLA certification and recertification procedures apply to FMLA-eligible employees. An employee must notify the district of the need for and anticipated duration of the leave at least 30 days before leave is to begin, if foreseeable. If 30 days' notice is not practical, the employee must give as much notice as possible. 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. The district shall only apply up to six weeks of accrued paid leave to such absences.

Employees who are ineligible for FMLA leave may take up to six weeks of leave for the birth, first-year care, adoption or foster care of a child and may use any combination of accrued sick leave, personal leave, vacation leave or unpaid leave.

Pregnant employees who need more than six weeks of paid or unpaid leave for a pregnancy-related incapacity must provide certification of the medical necessity for such leave.