Sick Leave Bank The school corporation agrees to, and hereby establishes a voluntary sick leave bank to which certificated persons may contribute unused sick leave days, and from which a contributing individual may draw sick leave days when the individual’s annual and accumulated sick leave days are exhausted, in accordance with the following provisions. Please see the definitions of sick leave under Article IV.
1. The sick leave bank shall apply to all persons employed by the school corporation whose employment requires the holding of a license issued by the Indiana Department of Education, whether or not any such person is a member of the bargaining unit to which this contract applies.
2. A “contributing individual” is one who, within the first thirty (30) days of the contract year, signs a contribution form. Such contribution form shall require the assigning of one (1) day of sick leave to the sick leave bank and an individual may contribute up to five (5) total days if so motivated during any enrollment period.
3. A person shall cease to be a contributing individual upon the failure of such individual to sign such contribution form and such individual shall thereafter not be entitled to draw any sick leave days from the sick leave bank until becoming a contributing member the following year.
4. Present and new faculty members who wish to become “contributing individuals” may do so by following the procedure in paragraph two (2). Staff who hire in after the annual enrollment period closes can still enroll under equivalent timelines as original enrollment period.
5. Use of the sick leave bank shall be subject to the following limitations:
a. Sick bank leave shall be used on a teacher’s first day receiving no pay as long as the teacher has exhausted all accumulated sick days, as well as all annual sick and personal days. Days may need to be allotted retroactively to allow time for the sick bank committee to meet and review the request. In the event a teacher on sick bank leave returns to work and then finds it necessary on advice of a doctor to take additional leave for the same disability, no additional days shall be deducted subject to the approve of the Sick Bank Review Committee.
b. In the even a teacher is disabled as a result of illness or injury of a different nature during the same school year, any additional sick leave bank time granted is subject to approval of the Sick Bank Review Committee.
c. Sick bank leave shall be used for the purposes permitted by the Federal Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and must be supported by a written request by the contributing individual and the appropriate FMLA certification specifying the nature of the illness and prognosis report for the teacher’s return to work.
d. Days taken from the sick leave bank shall apply only to those days on which a teacher would receive pay if the teacher were not under disability.
e. All contractual leave days shall be waived while drawing pay from the sick leave bank so that a teacher in no case will be drawing double pay for any day.
f. This sick leave bank section shall not operate in any manner such that any teacher receiving workers compensation benefits receives more than such teacher’s regular pay.
g. Paid holidays, if any, shall not be charged against the sick leave bank, but shall be compensated for under the terms of the teacher’s contract.
h. Sick leave bank days shall not be used during summer school employment, nor shall such days be used at any other times except the regular school year.
i. Leave from the sick leave bank may not be used for maternity or childbirth leave, but may be used for any physical disability arising out of a pregnancy.
j. Teachers who, as of the beginning of the school year in which sick leave bank benefits are requested and used, have accumulated the following number of sick leave days under the sick leave section of this contract, shall be eligible to draw up to a maximum number of days from the sick leave bank in any single year as follows:
(1) 0-10: Up to 60 days (2) 11-40: Up to 90 days (3) 41 or over: Up to 120 days k. Teachers may be awarded fewer than maximum days (listed in Section j) at the discretion of the Sick Bank Review Committee.
6. Should the sick leave bank fall to a thirty (30) day balance during a school year, an additional contribution will be requested and will count toward the subsequent enrollment period.
7. A Sick Bank Review Committee shall be formed and shall be comprised of three (3) members appointed by the exclusive representative and one (1) individual appointed by the Superintendent. The committee shall consider and review all requests for use of sick bank days to ensure that all applications submitted, and any grants made, are in accordance with the provisions of this contract.
8. The school district shall notify certificated employees of the enrollment period for the sick bank, including required contribution forms and appropriate deadlines, within the first five (5) school days of each school year.
9. If there are seven hundred and fifty (750) days in the bank at the time of open enrollment, no contribution will be necessary unless it falls below the previously described number of thirty (30) days.
Leave Bank 1. A sick leave bank shall be maintained within the District. The purpose of the Leave Bank is to provide a bank of sick leave days from which staff may draw in cases of extended absences due to illness or injury which renders the staff member incapable of working.
2. The bank was funded initially by a mandatory contribution from each employee of one (1) day from that employee’s individual sick leave account, as well as a 100-day contribution from the school district.
3. The sick leave bank shall be administered by the Superintendent and the Association President(s).
4. For new employees, a mandatory contribution of one (1) day shall be made by them on the day on which their initial individual leave time is allotted to them. Leave days in the bank will carry over from year to year. The bank will contain a maximum of 500 days and a minimum of 250 days. Employees who leave the district, excluding staff who retire under PERA, shall contribute any remaining accrued days to the leave bank. At such time as the bank drops below 250 days, an additional contribution of one (1) day per employee shall be made to replenish the bank’s days at the beginning of the school year
5. Persons who have used all of their leave entitlement shall be eligible to draw from the leave bank under the following condition:
a. Only when under a doctor’s care.
b. For each first day granted from the leave bank per occurrence the employee shall be docked the current substitute pay.
c. For a recurring illness or a medical condition that requires periodic and consistent medical treatment of a severe disablement, Sick Leave Bank Days (in increments of half days) may be granted for all absences resulting from these conditions
d. Any individual who is absent as a result of a medically diagnosed catastrophic illness or injury may access the bank for up to and including sixty (60) additional days. Utilization of these days shall require the submission of a new Leave Bank Application to the bank.
6. An individual who meets the requirements stated above can use a total of no more than thirty (30) days per school year from the leave bank.
7. An individual may request days from the Leave Bank any time prior to but within thirty (30) calendar days after the individual returns to work. Applications submitted at a time outside these limits will not be considered by the Superintendent and Association President(s). The request must be submitted to the Superintendent office using the Leave Bank Application. The application can be located in the appendix of this agreement. Upon receipt of the application the Superintendent shall forward the request to the Association President(s). The Superintendent and Association President(s) shall meet, within ten (10) days to consider such request. Within five (5) days following said meeting, the applicant shall be notified, in writing, of the status of the request.
8. Any individual who has accessed the leave bank and resigns their position in the same contract year will be docked their daily rate of pay for each day used from the bank.
9. Elective treatment or surgery is defined as a condition diagnosed by a Doctor that admission sometime in the future is acceptable for a condition causing minimal or no pain, dysfunction or disability and can be safely postponed until non-contract time. Such conditions shall not qualify for Leave Bank Days.
10. The District is liable only for the total number days in the leave bank.
