Leave of Absence
Please refer to Stanly County Schools Board Policies and the North Carolina State Employees Benefits Handbook for a complete list of available leaves and information.
Sick Leave:
Policy No. 5165 SICK LEAVE
Board employees will be granted paid sick leave as provided for in state law and regulation. Any employee who takes sick leave must notify a supervisor in a timely manner. The Superintendent or designee may request a physician's verification of illness justifying the use of sick leave. Such verification will be required for any absence in excess of five consecutive days.
Extended sick leave is available only to teachers and must be requested by the teacher.
It shall be the Superintendent's responsibility to ensure that teachers who request sick leave to address a "serious medical condition" as defined by the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 receive proper notice that their leave is FMLA qualified.
Personal Leave:
Policy No. 5155 PERSONAL LEAVE
Personal leave, available only to teachers, is earned at the rate specified by regulations of the State Board of Public Instruction. Teachers may accumulate a maximum of five (5) days of personal leave. Teachers may use personal leave in a manner consistent with state law and regulations, including for care of a new child. Unless approved by the principal, a teacher shall not take personal leave on the first day teachers are required to report to work on required workdays, or on the last working day before or the next working day after a holiday or annual vacation days scheduled in the calendar.
Parental Involvement Leave:
Policy No. 5180 PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT LEAVE
The Stanly County Board of Education believes that providing a good education for the children of North Carolina is essential to social and economic well-being of the state. The Board further believes that parent involvement is an essential component of school success and positive student outcomes. Therefore, any permanent employee of Stanly County Board of Education who is a parent/guardian of a school-aged child, shall be granted up to four (4) hours per calendar year of leave to attend or otherwise be involved at their child's school. Such leave shall be subject to the following conditions:
1. The leave must be mutually agreed upon between the employee and immediate supervisor.
2. The employee must request such leave in writing at least eight (8) hours prior to the leave.
3. The immediate supervisor may verify such leave through the school of the employee's child
4. Such leave may be taken to meet with a teacher or administrator of the child's school.
5. Such leave may be taken to attend any function sponsored by the child's school.
6. Such leave may be taken to perform school-approved volunteer work.
Other Leaves
Holiday Leave
Twelve-month employees normally observe 11 holidays per year. Ten-month employees have 10 holidays yearly. The Board of Education determines when holidays are scheduled.
Sick Leave:
Policy No. 5165 SICK LEAVE
Board employees will be granted paid sick leave as provided for in state law and regulation. Any employee who takes sick leave must notify a supervisor in a timely manner. The Superintendent or designee may request a physician's verification of illness justifying the use of sick leave. Such verification will be required for any absence in excess of five consecutive days.
Extended sick leave is available only to teachers and must be requested by the teacher.
It shall be the Superintendent's responsibility to ensure that teachers who request sick leave to address a "serious medical condition" as defined by the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 receive proper notice that their leave is FMLA qualified.
Personal Leave:
Policy No. 5155 PERSONAL LEAVE
Personal leave, available only to teachers, is earned at the rate specified by regulations of the State Board of Public Instruction. Teachers may accumulate a maximum of five (5) days of personal leave. Teachers may use personal leave in a manner consistent with state law and regulations, including for care of a new child. Unless approved by the principal, a teacher shall not take personal leave on the first day teachers are required to report to work on required workdays, or on the last working day before or the next working day after a holiday or annual vacation days scheduled in the calendar.
Parental Involvement Leave:
Policy No. 5180 PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT LEAVE
The Stanly County Board of Education believes that providing a good education for the children of North Carolina is essential to social and economic well-being of the state. The Board further believes that parent involvement is an essential component of school success and positive student outcomes. Therefore, any permanent employee of Stanly County Board of Education who is a parent/guardian of a school-aged child, shall be granted up to four (4) hours per calendar year of leave to attend or otherwise be involved at their child's school. Such leave shall be subject to the following conditions:
1. The leave must be mutually agreed upon between the employee and immediate supervisor.
2. The employee must request such leave in writing at least eight (8) hours prior to the leave.
3. The immediate supervisor may verify such leave through the school of the employee's child
4. Such leave may be taken to meet with a teacher or administrator of the child's school.
5. Such leave may be taken to attend any function sponsored by the child's school.
6. Such leave may be taken to perform school-approved volunteer work.
Other Leaves
Holiday Leave
Twelve-month employees normally observe 11 holidays per year. Ten-month employees have 10 holidays yearly. The Board of Education determines when holidays are scheduled.
Vacation Leave
Permanent full-time and part-time employees earn vacation (annual leave). To earn vacation leave in a given month, employees must be working or on paid leave during half or more of the work days in that month. Eligible part-time permanent employees earn leave equal to their percentage of full-time employment. State regulations and local policies govern when vacation leave may be taken. Unused vacation leave can be accumulated and a maximum of 30 days carried forward to the next fiscal year, which begins on July 1. On June 30 of each year, any accumulated days of vacation leave in excess of 30 days are converted to sick leave days. Vacation leave will be transferred when employees transfer among local educational agencies and also may be transferred to state agencies if they are willing to accept the leave; otherwise, employees leaving the public schools will be paid for up to 30 days of accumulated leave. In case of death, the employee’s estate will receive payment for any accumulated vacation leave up to 30 days. Annual leave must be accrued before it can be used.
Bus drivers who work less than 20 hours per week and who are not otherwise entitled to earn vacation as described above are entitled to earn one day per year (equal in length to one regular workday for each driver) if they are employed to drive a regular daily route (not substitute drivers), and they were employed as regular drivers the entire previous school year.
Classroom teachers who require a substitute, school media specialists who require a substitute and teacher assistants who require a substitute may not take annual vacation leave at any time that students are scheduled to be in attendance except as provided in cases of catastrophic illness, to care for a newborn child or a child placed with the teacher for adoption or foster care, or if qualified for Family Medical Leave.
Twenty-Day Extended Sick Leave
Teachers are provided up to 20 days each year of additional sick leave, less a $50 per day substitute cost, for prolonged personal illness. This leave may be used after all accumulated sick leave has been exhausted, but cannot be accumulated. All extended sick leave must be approved by the superintendent or designee.
Voluntary Shared Leave
Voluntary shared leave is intended to help employees who face financial hardship because of absences for serious medical conditions. Permanent full-time and part-time employees are eligible to receive donated leave. The employee must exhaust all available leave before using donated leave. Employees who are approved by their superintendent to receive donated leave may receive annual (vacation) leave and or sick leave from any employee in their own school system. With the approval of the superintendent, annual leave and/or sick leave may be received from an immediate family member in any school system. Limitations apply for givers and receivers. Contact the Benefits Specialist for information regarding these limits.
Leaves of Absence with Pay
Community Responsibility
Upon approval of the supervisor, full-time or part-time public school employees may be granted leave to represent the school or administrative unit at community functions such as the funeral of a school child or his/her parent.
Jury Duty
When permanent school employees are absent from work to serve on a jury, no deduction is made from their regular salaries. Employees are entitled to their regular compensation plus any fees received for jury duty.
Court Attendance
When permanent employees are absent from work to attend court in connection with their official duty or because they were subpoenaed or directed by proper authority to appear as a witness for another individual, no salary deduction is made. Any fees received when serving in an official capacity as a witness must be returned to the local school system. If, however, an employee is a defendant or a plaintiff in a case and must be absent from work, no salary can be received unless that time is charged to vacation or personal leave.
Military Leave
Leave with pay is granted to members of Reserve Components of the U.S. Armed Forces for certain periods of active duty training. Leave with pay is extended to full- or part-time permanent school employees for up to 15 working days during the federal fiscal year (October 1-September 30).
For active state duty in excess of 30 days, employees shall be entitled to military leave with differential pay between military pay and regular pay if the military pay is less than the employee’s regular pay. The employee must give advance notice to the employer of absence for military service and apply for reemployment following leave of more than 30 days. The notice and application may be either written or verbal.
The school system may request that the employee submit a copy of the orders or other appropriate documentation of required military duty.
Personal Leave
Teachers earn .20 days of personal leave each month for a total of 2.0 days during the ten-month school term with salary deduction for the cost of substitute teachers. These days can be accumulated to a maximum of five days and are transferable among school systems. Personal leave is granted upon authorization of an employee’s immediate supervisor. A reason for the leave is not required if the request is made five (5) days in advance. Unless approved by the principal, a
teacher shall not take personal leave on the first day teachers are required to report for the school year, on required teacher workdays, or on the last working day before or the next working day after holidays or annual vacation days scheduled in the calendar.
Leaves of Absence without Pay
Parental Leave
All full-time permanent or part-time permanent employees may take a leave of absence without pay for up to one calendar year to care for a newborn child or a newly adopted child. The employee may elect to use appropriate earned leave during the time of the leave. For the purposes of educational continuity, with the approval of the local board, the unpaid leave of absence may be extended for the remainder of the school year when the leave would otherwise end in the latter half of the school year. Whenever possible, an employee should give advance notice of request for leave of absence.
Family and Medical Leave
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) allows eligible employees to take 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for their own serious medical condition or that of an immediate family member. In addition, the FMLA allows eligible employees to take the same job-protected leave for the birth of a child or the placement of a child with the employee through adoption or foster care. Employers must maintain any employer-paid health benefits while the employee is on Family Medical Leave. Particular provisions of this federally mandated act may be obtained from the Wage and Hour Office of the U.S. Department of Labor.
Leave of Absence
Public school employees may be granted leaves of absence without pay for periods determined by the local administrative unit. This leave should be requested in advance and must comply with regulations adopted by the school system. Contact the Human Resources Department for assistance with the proper procedures for applying for a leave of absence.