Consistent contact with students and staff is important to the learning environment and district
operation and therefore is an essential duty of a professional staff member's position. When a
professional staff member is routinely tardy, frequently absent or is absent for an extended period
of time, the learning environment and district operations deteriorate, and the students suffer.
Professional staff employees may be terminated for excessive absences or tardiness. Unless
authorized by the Board 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 policy.
2. Exceeds the number of days allotted by the Board for that particular leave.
An employee who is absent for reasons other than those specified under Board rules, or by reason
of fraudulent application of district leave provisions shall be subject to disciplinary action that may
include pay reduction, up to and including termination or non-renewal of employment.
Even if the absence or tardiness is authorized by the Board or the superintendent, if the absence or
tardiness occurs for a reason not granted as paid leave under Board policy or if it exceeds the number
of days the employee has been granted under a designated leave, the employee’s salary will be
docked. Deductions for absences not due to authorized school business and not permitted under this
or other leave policies shall be made on the basis of a ratio of one to the total working days of the
annual contracted employment for each day’s absence.
No employee will be disciplined or terminated for absences qualifying for protection under the
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or other applicable law (see Board policy GBBDA).
In accordance with law, the district may require an employee to present documentation for an
absence or a certification of fitness to return to work whenever the employee is absent from work
due to the employee's health.
Newly hired employees must have worked one day of the current contract year to qualify for leave.
Leave will not be granted for an employee:
1. Due to adverse weather conditions.
2. To participate in activities in violation of Board of Education policy or law.
This policy does not apply to temporary or substitute staff members unless otherwise noted.
To promote healing and reduce the risk of infecting others, staff members who are ill are encouraged
to stay home using the approved paid leave provided by the district. In the event of a significant
health event, schools may be closed to all staff and students or just students. If schools are closed
only to students, staff members will be given directions regarding how they will fulfill their contract
requirements.
Any certificated employee who is a member of a retirement system shall remain a member during
any period of leave under sick 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.
The following leaves with pay will be provided to full-time professional staff employees:
1. Approved Paid Leave (APL)
There are two categories of APL: Approved Paid Leave (APL) and Carryover Approved
Paid Leave (CAPL). CAPL is available only after APL has been exhausted.
a. Approved Paid Leave – Approved paid leave for the entire year will be advanced
to the employee after the first day of work. Professional staff employees whose
assignments call for full-time employment only during the regular school term will
be entitled to ten days of APL. Employees serving 10 months shall be entitled to 11
days per year; employees serving 11 months shall be entitled to 12 days per year; and
employees serving 12 months per year shall be entitled to 13 days per year. The
maximum number of days allowed per year shall not exceed the annual rate of
accumulation for the respective contract period. APL is divided into two categories:
Unforeseen and Foreseen.
Staff must utilize half-day or full-day increments of APL for any time taken. If
feasible, a staff member may also elect to find coverage, approved by his/her
administrator/ supervisor, from within his/her own site to cover for less than one-half
day. Covering staff members who lose a majority of their teacher-directed planning
time will be compensated at the approved hourly rate. If the leave exceeds two
hours, the employee’s APL will be adjusted to a half-day leave.
When APL is used for illness, injury or incapacity of the employee, an immediate
family member for whom the employee is the primary caregiver, any person over
whom the employee has legal guardianship, or any person residing in the employee’s
household, the district may request medical certification of the illness, injury or
incapacity. FMLA notice and certification procedures will be applied to all FMLA-qualifying absences.
Absences may be charged against APL for the following reasons:
1) Unforeseen Absences – Leave requests for illness, injury or incapacity of the
employee, an immediate family member for whom the employee is the
primary caregiver, any person over whom the employee has legal
guardianship, or any person residing in the employee’s household.
“Immediate family” has the same meaning as in FMLA regulations and
includes the spouse, parent, biological child, foster child and stepchild.
Unforeseen absences also include the birth and first year care of the
employee’s child or the adoption or placement of a foster child with the
employee. The employee must call the Substitute Employee Management
System allowing sufficient time to obtain a substitute. Employees will call
their administrators to report unforeseen absences five days a week.
2) Foreseen Absences – Absences that are going to occur in the future and can
be planned for in advance.
a) Leave requests for foreseen circumstances shall be submitted in
writing on a district form to the employee's supervisor at least five
work days in advance. The employee must call the Substitute
Employee Management System by the end of the day in which the
request is confirmed. Requests submitted to the supervisor for
approval for three work days or less that are at least five work days
ahead of time, do not need to state the reasons for the leave.
b) The supervisor may approve APL for three work days or less for up
to two employees for five percent of the total staff. This approval is
based on the educational effect the total number of absences will have
on the site or department and the ability to secure substitutes.
c) Leave requests for foreseen absences for more than three work days
must state the specific reason and be submitted to the supervisor at
least five work days in advance. The supervisor will refer the request
to the Human Resources Department (HR) for a decision regarding
approval. In general, only absences that are not a consequence of the
action or choice of the employee will be approved. Employees will
not be compensated for more than three consecutive work days of
leave unless additional paid days have been approved by HR.
If an employee’s application is denied, the employee may file an
appeal. To appeal, a written notice of appeal must be submitted to the
Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Services within five days
of the denial.
Staff must utilize half-day or full-day increments of APL for any time
taken. A staff member may also elect to find coverage, approved by
his/her administrator/ supervisor, from within his/her own site to
cover for less than one-half day. The appropriate adjustment in APL
used will be made by the administrator. Covering staff members who
lose a majority of their teacher-directed planning time will be
compensated at the approved hourly rate.
APL for foreseen circumstances shall not be available on the duty
day(s) preceding or following a holiday break or vacation period
recognized in the school calendar, including the opening or closing
days of the school year. APL may not be used in any form to extend
a break in the school calendar.
Cash-Out Option – Unused APL may be cashed out each year at the end of June at the rate
of $90 per day as listed below:
► Attendance incentive days may be cashed out at the end of the appropriate work
calendar (June).
► A minimum of 30 days of Approved Paid Leave (CAPL and APL) must be achieved
and then maintained throughout the APL cash-out option.
► When an employee voluntarily submits his/her resignation from the district prior to
April 1, effective at the conclusion of his/her contract year, he/she will be paid for all
unused APL at the rate of $90 per day (regardless of accumulated CAPL).
An employee is not eligible for the cash-out option if days are owed to the short-term
medical leave program.
Any employee who is terminated will forfeit all rights to the accumulated leave cash-out
option.
Attendance Incentive – All employees will be eligible to receive one day of APL for not
missing a day of work as an attendance incentive on a biannual basis (July 1 to winter break
and January 1 to June 30), based on the total number of hours worked. The percentage of
hours worked will be proportionate to the number of hours worked each day. All leave
required to be reported shall count in computing an employee's attendance incentive except
school business, staff development, court, jury duty, firefighter, crime victim, military and
FMLA leave, workmen’s compensation and bereavement.
b. Carryover Approved Paid Leave – APL and attendance incentive days not used
for leave or the cash-out option will be carried over to the following year. Once
carried over, these days shall be referred to as CAPL days. These CAPL days may
be used for the employee or the employee’s immediate family member for whom the
employee is the primary caregiver, any person over whom the employee has legal
guardianship, or for pregnancy-related incapacity of the employee, or adoption as
described elsewhere in this policy.
The district may request medical certification of extended illness of the employee or the
employee’s immediate family members, evidence of bereavement, pregnancy-related
incapacity, or adoptive leave. FMLA notice and certification procedures will be applied to
all FMLA-qualifying absences.
Falsification of Approved Paid Leave – An employee who falsifies, states an incorrect
reason, or fails to report an absence will be docked for the absence(s), lose approved paid
leave associated with the absence(s), issued a letter of reprimand, and will not be eligible for
the APL cash-out option for the current year. Depending on the severity and/or repetition
of the offense, the employee may face disciplinary action up to and including termination of
employment.
Employee Death Benefit – Upon an employee's death, up to 60 days of available APL will
be paid at the rate of $90 per day to the employee's designated beneficiary or, if no
beneficiary has been designated, to the employee’s estate.
2. Leave for Court Subpoena – Upon receipt of a copy of the subpoena related to school
duties, the employee will be released for court appearance without loss of approved paid
leave.
3. 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
or APL 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.
4. Bereavement Leave – In the event of death in a certificated employee's immediate family,
the certificated employee may be absent with pay for up to three days annually at district
expense. Additional days used for the purpose of attending the funeral or making necessary
family arrangements may be charged to the employee's APL. For the purposes of this
paragraph, the immediate family is defined as:
► The employee’s spouse, foster parent, foster child, aunt, uncle, niece and nephew.
► The following relatives of the employee or the employee’s spouse: parents, siblings,
children, children’s spouses, grandparents and grandchildren.
► 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.
Upon approval of the Assistant Superintendent-Administrative Services, this leave may be
extended to such persons who have, until the date of death, resided regularly with and as a
member of the household of the employee requesting leave. Approval should be requested
as soon as possible. The Board of Education may require proof of death and relationship
prior to payment of such leave.
5. Authorized Leave – Employees may be granted up to five days of authorized leave without
pay for personal reasons after exhausting any other form of accumulated leave available by
approval of the Assistant Superintendent-Administrative Services or designee. Authorization
will not be granted on any day preceding or following a holiday, holiday weekend or any
vacation period, including the opening or closing days of the school year. The Assistant
Superintendent-Administrative Services or designee is authorized to approve exceptions in
rare and unusual circumstances. Application for authorized leave shall be made in writing
at least ten days in advance. In the event of an emergency not allowing for ten days’ notice,
the employee should contact his or her immediate supervisor and HR as soon as possible for
approval prior to the requested leave. Initial duration and/or extension of authorized leave
may be granted in extraordinary circumstances with or without pay when such extension is
in the best interest of the school district. The employee may be responsible for payment to
continue employee benefits during this time. While the employee will retain accumulated
APL and vacation leave, no accrual of vacation days will take place while the employee is
on leave.
6. Vacation – All professional staff employed on a 12-month basis will receive 20 days of
vacation per year. Vacation days will accrue monthly. Vacation days will be converted to
hours, with one day of vacation leave equal to the number of hours the employee is scheduled
to work each day. Unused days may not be cashed in but may be carried over for future use
to a maximum of 40 days. Upon termination, employees will be paid for accrued vacation
days to a maximum of 20 days. These days will be paid at an employee’s current daily rate
of pay. Remaining accrued days may only be used with the permission of the immediate
supervisor. Vacation requests are to be submitted via approval form to the employee’s
supervisor. He or she will then submit the form with his or her approval to HR for approval.
Approval of vacation schedules will be based on requests of employees and the needs of the
school district.
A district employee may use approved paid leave during the period the employee receives
Workers' Compensation for uncompensated time lost to work-related incidents.
7. Holidays – The district will grant paid and unpaid holidays in accordance with the academic
calendar adopted by the Board. School offices are closed and certified staff will not work
on the following holidays:
► Independence Day
► Labor Day
► Thanksgiving Day
► Christmas Day
► Day for the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
► Presidents’ Day
► Memorial Day
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.
8. 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, made at
least five workdays in advance of the absence and is not considered APL. Staff members
returning from leave may be requested to share information with fellow staff members.
9. 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.
The employee will notify HR at least five days in advance that a jury summons has been
received. Furthermore, HR must receive verification listing the days of such service and the
court in which the service was performed. The employee shall present verification within
five days following the period of service and promptly report back to normal duty whenever
released by the court or a court official for either all or part of any day, with a time allowance
given for lunch, if applicable.
10. 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. Pay will only be available for
hours of military leave that occur at a time when the employee would otherwise have been
required to be at work. Any pay due an employee will be paid only after the employee has
provided a copy of the official order requiring his or her military leave.
11. 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.
12. Firefighter Leave – Employees will be allowed to use APL, 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 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.
13. 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
and will not be required to use vacation or APL. 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.
14. Short-Term Medical Leave Program – The short-term medical leave program is
established to provide assistance to employees in extraordinary health-related circumstances.
The short-term medical leave program will be administered by the Assistant Director of
Human Resources-Benefits. The North Kansas City School District has the authority to
construe this policy and to determine all questions that arise under it. District interpretations
are binding on all employees.
Eligibility
The short-term medical leave program is provided to all employees of the North Kansas City
School District who are eligible for APL and have been employed for a minimum of 120
duty days.
An employee must have exhausted his or her APL and CAPL and vacation time in order to
utilize days from the short-term medical leave program.
Employees who have met the threshold eligibility for participation in this program (eligible
for APL, been employed a minimum of 120 duty days and exhausted all APL, CAPL and
vacation leave), may borrow from the short-term medical leave program for their own serious
health condition or to care for an immediate family member with a serious health condition
as defined in FMLA.
Application must be submitted to HR within ten days of depletion of accrued leave.
Provisions
An employee may borrow, when approved, up to a maximum of 30 days. At no time will
the number of days borrowed exceed 30.
The district will deduct four days from the employee’s APL allotment and apply one-half of
any unused APL days at the end of each year until the employee has repaid short-term leave
days used.
If the employee retires, resigns, is terminated or granted an extended leave at any time after
his or her return to service after having used short-term medical leave, an amount will be
deducted from the employee’s last month’s earnings, equal to the daily rate established for
his or her category of employment for those days not returned to the short-term medical leave
program. In the event of death or permanent disability as defined by PSRS or Social
Security, all debt to the short-term medical leave program is forgiven.
If an employee’s application is denied, the employee may file an appeal. To appeal, a written
notice of appeal must be submitted to the Assistant Superintendent of Administrative
Services within five days of the denial.
15. Long-Term Disability Plan – Recognizing that situations occur when a staff member is
incapacitated by illness or disability for an extended period of time that will prevent the
employee from returning to work, the Board of Education has adopted the following
guidelines to reduce the financial loss attending such extended illness:
Eligibility
In order to receive benefits from the long-term disability plan, an employee must:
► Be eligible for APL;
► Have a serious health condition that prevents the employee from working;
► Have worked for the district for a minimum of 120 duty days;
► Have exhausted all current available APL, vacation leave and short-term medical
leave days; and
► Have resigned from the district or have submitted a resignation effective at the end
of the school year in which it was submitted that has been accepted by the Board of
Education.
Benefits
Eligible employees may receive up to 120 work days of benefits according to the following
schedule:
► Employees who have been employed between 120 duty days and five consecutive
work calendar years of service will receive one-third the employee’s daily rate for the
first 30 days and one-fourth of the employee’s daily rate for additional days.
► Employees who have been employed between six and nine consecutive work-calendar years of service will receive one-half the employee’s daily rate for the first
30 days and one-third of the employee’s daily rate for additional days.
► Employees who have been employed ten or more consecutive work-calendar years
of service will receive three-fourths the employee’s daily rate for the first 30 days and
one-half of the employee’s daily rate for additional days.
After initial certification from a health care provider that the employee has a serious health
condition that prevents the employee from working, the district may request additional
certifications once the employee has used the first 30 days of leave and additional
certifications every 15 days thereafter in order for the employee to continue to receive
benefits.
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 duties is not impaired, based on medical opinion. Pregnant
employees shall be treated the same as other employees who are similar in their ability or inability
to work for all purposes under this policy.
Both parents may use all available APL for birth, adoption or foster placement of their child.
Pregnant employees may have up to six weeks leave for birth and pregnancy-related disability. After
exhausting APL, the employee may use available CAPL and, if necessary, an unpaid leave of
absence. After six weeks, an employee may use appropriate available paid leave or unpaid leave for
pregnancy-related disability only if the employee provides medical certification of the need for such
leave.
Upon written request, an adoptive/foster parent may use CAPL to comply with laws, regulations,
residency and other requirements placed on adoptive/foster parents by states and countries. CAPL
may also be used for medical appointments or procedures required for the adoption or foster
placement. Such leave shall commence with the first day of absence associated with assuming
custody of the child.
If APL and CAPL have been exhausted, leave shall be granted without pay. The employee shall
inform his or her supervisor(s) of the anticipated date as soon as possible. Upon return from such
leave the employee shall be returned to the position he or she held when the leave commenced if
such position exists. If the position no longer exists, the returning employee will be placed in a
comparable position.
FMLA leave for the birth, adoption, placement of a foster child and first-year care will be applied
to all FMLA-eligible employees and will run concurrently with paid leave.
* * * * * * *
Note: The reader is encouraged to check the index located at the beginning of this section
for other pertinent policies and to review administrative procedures and/or forms for
related information.
|
Adopted: 02/11/2003
Revised: 08/26/2003; 06/13/2006; 06/12/2007; 07/17/2007; 10/16/2007; 06/10/2008;
08/26/2008; 11/10/2009; 03/08/2011; 11/13/2012
Cross Refs: DLB, Salary Deductions
HA, Negotiations with Employee Representatives
HPA, Employee Walkouts, Strikes and Other Disruptions
Legal Refs: §§ 41.1000, 105.270, .271, 115.102, .639, 168.122, 169.595, 320.200, .330 - .339,
494.460, 595.036, .209, RSMo.
Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 201 - 219
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 29 U.S.C. §§ 2611 - 2619
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended by the Pregnancy
Discrimination Act, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(k)
29 C.F.R. § 1604.10
Willis v. School Dist. of Kansas City, 606 S.W.2d 189 (Mo. App. 1980)
Stewart v. Board of Educ. of Ritenour, 574 S.W.2d 471 (Mo. Ct. App. 1978)
Aubuchon v. Gasconade County R-1 Sch. Dist., 541 S.W.2d 322 (Mo. Ct. App. 1976)
North Kansas City School District, Kansas City, Missouri
Top of Page
|
