Revisions to Policy 5409 are presented for first reading.
The current policy gives the superintendent the authority to approve up to two days of unpaid leave for employees. The history of this allowance goes back to the 2007 collective bargaining agreement with teachers. In that CBA teachers were granted three days of personal leave per year. The addition of two days gave the superintendent the ability to approve a full week off for teachers who wanted an entire week off.
Currently, there are employees who exhaust all of their sick leave and, when ill are taking unpaid leave for illness, appointments with health practitioners, etc. In order to comply with this policy, they are presented ex post facto to the board for "approval".
This policy change will eliminate this "approval" step for such incidental leaves.
Progressive discipline is being used to address employees who use excessive amounts of unpaid leave.