Personal Necessity Leave Leave which is credited under sick leave in this Agreement may be used, at the unit member’s election for purpose of personal necessity, provided that use of such personal necessity leave does not exceed eight (8) days in any school year. Four (4) days of regular sick leave time may be used for illness of family members or family emergency.
14.17.1 For purposes of this provision, personal necessity shall be limited to:
A. Death of member(s) of employee’s immediate family; members include: the employee’s or the employee’s spouse’s; mother, father, brother, sister, grandmother, grandfather, children or grandchildren; son-, daughter-, sister-or brother-in-law, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and spouse of the employee. In addition any person living in the immediate household of the employee shall be included. This leave shall be in addition to any bereavement leave granted under “Bereavement Leave.”
B. Accident involving his/her personal property, or the personal property of the aforementioned relations or persons (above), of such a nature that the immediate presence of the employee is required during the employee’s work day.
C. Appearance in court as litigant.
D. Serious or critical illness or injury of member of the immediate family, as defined, of such a nature that the immediate presence of the employee is required during his workday.
E. Other significant circumstances which are not school or school district related, that the employee feels need immediate attention.
14.17.2 Before the utilization of personal necessity leave, a unit member must provide prior notice to the appropriate supervisor, except in cases of A, B, and D. Should the circumstances outlined in A, B, D arise, the employee shall make every effort to comply with the District procedures to enable the District to obtain a substitute.
14.17.3 P.N. under “E” shall not be used on Friday or Monday unless previously approved by their immediate supervisor.
14.17.4 Leave shall not be available for the following: Withholding services to the District Shopping Seeking other employment Recreation Extending vacation or holidays Donating Service Attendance at non-professional meetings
Professional Improvement Leave A teacher may be granted leave to be used for the teacher's professional improvement. Professional improvement days may be approved by the superintendent and used for the purpose of:
1. Visitation to view other instructional techniques or programs.
2. Conferences, workshops, or seminars conducted by colleges, universities, or vocational schools. The teacher planning to use a professional improvement day shall notify the principal at least one week in advance of the proposed absence. The teacher shall be required to file a written report with the principal within one (1) week of attendance at such event. Also, the teacher may/shall be requested to return with materials and/or information to be shared with other teachers. The expense of attending such visitation, conference, workshop, or seminar will be paid by the Board when the proper reimbursement applications are sent to the district office. In cases where attendance at a convention, workshop, seminar, or other educational activity is deemed to be of value only to the individual teacher, leave may be granted for attendance with either no expenses or limited expenses being underwritten by the district. In these cases, no written or verbal reports will be required.
Personal Illness Employees may use accumulated sick leave for hours off due to personal illness. The employee may be required to furnish a medical certificate from a qualified physician as evidence of illness or physical disability in order to qualify for paid sick leave as per District practice. Accumulated sick leave may also be granted for such time as is actually necessary for office visits to a doctor, dentist, optometrist, etc.
PROFESSIONAL IMPROVEMENT The parties’ support the principle of continuing training of teachers, participation by teachers in professional organizations in the areas of their specialization, leaves for work on advanced degrees or special studies, foreign travel and participation in community educational projects.
Unforeseeable Emergency In the event of a Participant’s Unforeseeable Emergency, such Participant may request an emergency withdrawal from his or her Account. Any such request shall be subject to the approval of the Administrator, which approval shall not be granted to the extent that such need may be relieved (i) through reimbursement or compensation by insurance or otherwise or (ii) by liquidation of the Participant’s assets (to the extent the liquidation of such assets would not itself cause severe financial hardship). A Participant may withdraw all or a portion of his or her Account due to an Unforeseeable Emergency; provided, however, that the withdrawal shall not exceed the amount reasonably needed to satisfy the need created by the Unforeseeable Emergency.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT A. The Board of Education agrees to pay the actual tuition costs of courses taken by a teacher at accredited colleges or universities up to three courses per two (2) year fiscal periods from July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2008 and July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2010 respectively, except as follows:
1. No teacher may be reimbursed for courses taken during the first year of teaching in Vineland.
2. Teachers taking courses in the second and third years of employment in Vineland will not receive remuneration until tenure has been secured. The remuneration will then be retroactive and will be paid to the teacher in a lump sum within sixty (60) days after the teacher has secured tenure.
3. All courses must be pre-approved by the Superintendent or his designee subject to the following requirements:
(a) A teacher must provide official documentation that he/she has obtained a grade of B or better;
(b) Reimbursement shall be paid only for courses directly related to teacher’s teaching field which increase the teacher’s content knowledge and are related to the teacher’s current certification, as determined by the Superintendent or his/her designee in his/her sole discretion; no reimbursement shall be paid for courses leading to a post graduate or professional degree in a field other than education or teaching. Further, effective September 1, 2010, all newly hired teachers shall not be eligible for reimbursement until they are tenured, and they shall not be eligible for retroactive reimbursement upon gaining tenure for courses taken prior to being tenured.
(c) The maximum total payments to be made by the Board shall not exceed $130,000.00. Courses shall be applied for no earlier than the following dates: Summer Session - April 1 Fall/Winter Session - June 1 Spring Session - October 1 Courses must, as set forth hereinabove in this sub-article 18.A.3, be pre-approved by the Superintendent or his designee, prior to the teacher commencing the course(s); and
(d) Teacher taking courses shall sign a contract requiring them to reimburse the Board for all tuition paid for a course if the teacher shall voluntarily leave the employ of the Board within one (1) full school/academic year of completion of said course, except that reimbursement shall not be required when the teacher shall voluntarily leave the employ of the Board due to a significant, documented life change.
4. Tuition reimbursement costs shall be a sum not to exceed the actual cost of college credits charged in an accredited public State college/University of the State of New Jersey.
B. When the Superintendent initiates in-service training courses, workshops, conferences and programs designed to improve the quality of instruction, the cooperation of the Vineland Education Association will be solicited. Notwithstanding the above, the initiation of in-service training courses, workshops, conferences and programs shall be determined solely at the discretion of the Board.
C. One professional leave day may be granted to a teacher upon request, according to the following guidelines:
1. The professional day may be for attendance at a workshop, seminar or visit to another school for the expressed purpose of self professional improvement for the job.
2. The request shall arrive in the office of the Superintendent of Schools at least ten (10) working days prior to the date requested and shall be reviewed by the immediate supervisor prior to submission. The Board reserves the right to deny a professional leave day before or immediately following a holiday or on a day which by its nature suggests a hardship for providing a substitute.
3. No more than two teachers from any one elementary school or from any one department in the secondary schools may be granted a professional leave for a given day.
4. The teacher may be required to submit a report to the Superintendent of Schools, Assistant Superintendent, supervisor (s), principal and staff regarding the activity of the professional day.
5. Costs incurred by the teacher for the professional day authorized under this Section shall be the teacher’s responsibility.
6. A maximum of 90 professional leave days may be authorized for the school year which shall be apportioned as follows: elementary, 35; grades seven and eight, 20; and high school, 35.
D. If the Board initiates a teacher’s attendance at a professional workshop, seminar or visit, the expenses shall be the responsibility of the Board. Further, this day shall not be subtracted from the 90 professional leave days granted to teachers of the Association.
E. The Board agrees to pay the full cost of courses taken by secretaries related to skills and knowledge improvement when such courses are required and approved by the Board.
F. The Board and the Association agree that it is important to communicate when developing and implementing current and future learning technologies, including but not limited to distance and on-line learning.
Restricted Employment for Certain State Personnel Contractor acknowledges that, pursuant to Section 572.069 of the Texas Government Code, a former state officer or employee of a state agency who during the period of state service or employment participated on behalf of a state agency in a procurement or contract negotiation involving Contractor may not accept employment from Contractor before the second anniversary of the date the Contract is signed or the procurement is terminated or withdrawn.
Personal Emergency Leave 1. An educator will be granted up to five (5) days of leave per year to cover situations beyond the control of the educator which would significantly impair teaching service. Personal emergency leave may not be used for illness or injury, or illness or injury in the immediate family. Deductions from the gross pay of an educator for this leave shall be made at the degreed substitute rate of pay for each day taken.
2. An educator may be granted up to five (5) days leave without pay for business or personal reasons having unusual circumstances.
Personal Medical Leave 1. Accrued 100% sick leave may be used at the employee's discretion. Such leave may be taken before or after the vacation described in No. 3 below.
2. Accrued 75% sick leave may be used following use of all 100% sick leave at the employee’s discretion. Such leave may be taken before or after the vacation described in No. 3 below.
Personal Illness or Disability The bargaining unit member may use all or any portion of his/her leave to recover from his/her own illness or disability, or for the illness or disability of any member of his/her immediate family as defined below, which shall include all disabilities caused or contributed to by pregnancy, miscarriage, childbirth and recovery.
