The continuous presence of employees promotes excellence in the district’s instructional program by ensuring the uninterrupted continuity of education, greater teacher-student contact, appropriate role model emulation and reduced costs. Therefore, the board of trustees expects employees to come to work every day. The board recognizes, however, that certain absences are unavoidable. In those situations, employees should take leave in accordance with district policy and procedures. The purpose of this policy is to address leaves of absence not provided by the Master Agreement or other district policy.
EXTENDED LEAVES OF ABSENCE/SABBATICALS
Leaves of absence for extended periods of time may be granted from time to time to accommodate special conditions or needs of district certificated and classified staff. Each case will be considered on its own merits and will be subject the conditions set forth in this policy. For certificated personnel, leaves of absence shall be governed by the applicable Master Agreement, unless such Master Agreement is silent on the issue.
Certificated Personnel
1. Requests for leave of absence must be made by application to the board of trustees. Leaves of absence shall not exceed one (1) school year. Extensions, if desired, must be sought by reapplication for leave.
2. The employee must use the leave for the purpose stated in the application for leave. Requests for leave of absence to take the same, or very similar, position, with another school district will generally not be approved.
3. Leaves of absence are granted with the understanding and agreement by the employee that, notwithstanding any other contractual provisions, reinstatement at the conclusion of the leave of absence will depend upon the availability of funds and a teaching assignment for which he/she is qualified, and that is/her qualifications for the assignment are at least equal to or better than the qualifications of any other applicant for the position being sought.
4. The employee must notify the superintendent of his/her intent to return or not return to the district by March 1 or by a date mutually agreed to by the superintendent and employee. Failure of the employee to meet the notification of intent deadline will release the district from any obligation to continued employment of the employee.
5. Leaves of absence are without pay.
6. All rights of renewable contract status, retirement, accrued sick leave, salary schedule placement and other benefits as may be provided by the Master Agreement or district policy shall be preserved and available to certificated employees upon his/her return to the district.
Classified Personnel
Discretion in granting leaves pursuant to this policy is vested exclusively in the board of trustees. The board is not bound by any prior decisions under this policy and may review each request received under this policy upon its own merits.
Duration and Conditions of Leave
Subject to the supervisor’s recommendation for approval by the board, classified full-time employees may be granted a maximum one year leave of absence from the district with a position guaranteed on return to the district. A leave of absence always anticipates that an employee will return to service upon termination of the leave. The leave of absence is subject to the following terms and conditions:
1. The guarantee of a position on return to the district does not guarantee the same position previously held, but an equivalent position.
2. The employee must have worked 10 complete years as a full-time benefit eligible employee for the district.
3. The employee must submit a written application for leave to the superintendent/designee by April 1 of the school year prior to the requested leave year for those requests seeking a one-year leave. For shorter term leaves during the school year, the employee must submit a written application to the superintendent/designee at least 60 days prior to leaving. All requests must be accompanied by a supervisor’s written recommendation.
4. The reason to request a leave of absence shall not include accepting another position. If, after the Board approves a leave, an employee accepts another position, the leave will be voided and deemed a voluntary resignation of the employee.
5. Each request shall be judged individually, in the sole discretion of the board of trustees. No previous decision(s) of the board shall be binding.
6. The district shall not pay for, nor shall the employee be entitled to, any salary or benefits, including insurance, during the leave of absence period except those rights provided by COBRA.
7. Upon return to the district, placement on the salary schedule in terms of experience will be the next step from where the employee was under his/her last position.
8. Accrued sick, personal and vacation leave (if applicable) will be carried forward upon the employee’s return and reemployment, if within the time constraints set forth herein.
9. The employee will accept the responsibility of notifying the superintendent/designee by March 1 of the leave year of his/her intent to return to the district, for those employees on a one-year leave. For all other leaves, the superintendent and employee shall agree in writing upon a notification date, but in all instances the notification date must be at least 60 prior to the intended return date. Failure to notify the superintendent or designee as required herein shall be deemed a voluntary resignation of the employee.
EMERGENCY LEAVE
The superintendent or designee may grant emergency leave to employees in situations where the employee has used all other types of available leave (e.g., sick leave or FMLA leave) at the time the leave is requested. Such leave, if granted, is subject to the following conditions:
1. Leave will be without pay unless otherwise stated in writing.
2. Leave will only be granted in units of half or full days.
3. Notice of at least one week must be provided to the employee’s supervisor with the reasons for the requested leave, the amount of leave requested, and the employee’s expected return date.
4. Employees may be permitted up to 10 days emergency leave. Additional requests for emergency leave may only be approved by the superintendent.
VACATION LEAVE
Year-round full-time employees of the district are entitled to ten (10) workdays of paid vacation leave starting after the first year of employment. After working five years in the district, full-time employees will be entitled to fifteen (15) workdays of paid vacation leave per year. Full-time employees are those who are scheduled to work an average of more than 30 hours per week for twelve (12) months per year. Vacation leave will not accrue from year to year.This is also called the “Use it or Lose it” clause when addressed with employees. The unused end of year vacation days will be paid at the employee’s daily rate of pay in the July paycheck., or the employee may elect to have unused vacation days paid monthly during the next fiscal year instead of one lump sum. The days must be accumulated for one fiscal year before any payout will occur. If the employee does not complete one fiscal year of employment each year, they will not be paid for any unused vacation days. Retiring employees may be paid out for vacation days as early as June of the year they are retiring. The superintendent or designee may establish a vacation leave schedule for all non-certificated employees of the district. Requests for vacation leave will be granted and scheduled to minimize any disruption to the operation of the district.
BEREAVEMENT LEAVE
The District will grant a one-time bereavement leave of up to three (3) days per year, upon approval of employee’s supervisor, for the death of employee’s spouse/partner, child, parent, sibling, parent of spouse/partner or grandparent/grandchild. Additional bereavement leave taken shall be deducted from employee’s sick leave days.
JURY DUTY AND OTHER LEGAL ABSENCE
Any employee called for jury duty or subpoenaed to testify at a trial or other legal proceeding in their capacity as a district employee will be granted paid leave. Employees must submit a copy of their jury summons or subpoena to their supervisor. If the absence would pose a significant hardship for the district, the employee may be asked to request a postponement of jury duty from the court.
DENIAL OF LEAVE REQUESTS
In the event that a request for leave of absence is denied, the employee is expected to report to work as usual or, alternatively, the employee may resign his/her position.
GROUNDS FOR DISCIPLINARY ACTION
Unauthorized leave of absence shall be considered a breach of contract or neglect of duty and may be sufficient grounds for disciplinary action, up to and including termination.
LEAVE OF ABSENCE AS REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION
Employees requesting a leave of absence as a reasonable accommodation to address a disability should follow the procedures set forth in Board Policy 401 and accompanying procedures.
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LEGAL REFERENCE:
Idaho Code Sections
33-506(3)(a) – Organization and Government of Board of Trustees
33-513 – Professional Personnel
33-517 – Noncertificated Personnel
CROSS-REFERENCE:
401 – Reasonable Workplace Accommodation to Individuals with Disabilities
ADOPTED: January 13, 2025
AMENDED: