Policy No. 5440 Voluntary Sick Leave Bank - Certificated

Voluntary Sick Leave Bank

1. The Board and the Association will cooperate in maintaining a Sick Leave Bank on a voluntary basis. All educators shall be eligible to participate. Participants must be enrolled in the bank.
2. Educators enrolling in the Bank will automatically donate one day of their personal illness leave each October 1st until the Bank has accumulated 1,500 days; thereafter, no more days will be added until the Bank is depleted to 1,000 days, except for days to be donated by new members which may be added at any time. Educators will be notified in writing when personal illness leave day(s) are withdrawn to add to the Sick Leave Bank.
3. An educator wishing to withdraw from the Bank must give written notification by September 10th of each school year. An educator withdrawing from membership in the Bank will not be able to withdraw any days which such educator has previously contributed.
4. An educator must use at least twenty-five leave days for the same illness (with any combination of leave days and/or leave without pay days) prior to receiving Sick Leave Bank benefits. A provisional teacher may apply to the Sick Leave Bank Committee to have up to ten of the twenty-five days waived.
5. After having used the required twenty-five days, all remaining leave days will be the educator’s new balance.
6. A maximum of seventy-five days each school year can be drawn by an educator from the Bank in addition to his/her own accumulated days.
7. An educator who withdraws sick leave days from the Bank will not be required to replace such days except as a regular contributing member to the Bank.
8. Sick leave days can only be withdrawn from the Bank for an individual educator’s illness or injury.
9. A written request for use of the Bank days, accompanied by a letter from the attending physician certifying that the educator is unable to fulfill his/her contractual obligations and explaining the medical reasons therefore, must be submitted to the Sick Bank Committee for its review.
10. The Sick Leave Bank Committee shall consist of three educators appointed by the Association and two persons from the administrative staff appointed by the superintendent.
11. The duties of the Sick Leave Bank Committee will be to receive applications from members desiring to use Sick Bank benefits, to review such applications, to make decisions on usage, and to respond to the applicants.
12. A quorum of members of the Committee (at least two teachers and one administrator) shall be present in order to conduct business. If a member is unable to attend, he/she may send an alternate for that particular meeting.
13. If the applicant is denied benefits, he/she may appeal such decision in writing within fourteen days after notification. The applicant may provide additional information or explanation, and the full committee will have fourteen days to respond to the appeal.

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