Leaves of absences provide professional staff members the opportunity to continue to grow professionally, maintain their physical health, and provide care for family members in time of need. This can be done by leave schedules which: 1) encourage employees to take the necessary time to recuperate from illness; 2) provide a way for employees to arrange for absence in the event of family emergency or imperative personal business that cannot be accomplished on a non-school day; and 3) provide for professional leave of various types.

All requests for unpaid leaves of absence (paid or unpaid) by professional staff members shall be presented to the School Board for approval.

All requests for extended leaves shall be considered by the Board of School Trustees on an individual basis with the best interest of the educational process as the ultimate reason for approval. The period of leaves, types of leaves and conditions will be limited to the provisions of the applicable master contracts or meet and confer agreements or this policy.

A comparable position, but not necessarily the same position or location, shall be offered to the employee returning from an approved leave of absence. The Board reserves the right to make changes in assignments based on staffing and budgetary factors.

All employees, when absent from duty for whatever reason, must notify their immediate supervisor/principal or principal designee of their inability to report to work. This notification must take place prior to the employee absence unless it is an extreme emergency. Unexcused absences will not be tolerated and will be considered sufficient cause for discipline. If an employee fails to notify his/her immediate supervisor/principal or principal designee of absence, deduction will be made from salary for the time lost or will be considered a no call/no show and be subject to disciplinary action, as applicable.

Any employee who does not report to his/her assigned place of work or who does not contact his/her immediate supervisor/principal or principal designee for three (3) consecutive work days will be considered to have voluntarily resigned. The effective date of his/her voluntary resignation will be the end of the normal work day on the third consecutive day.

Greater Clark reserves the right to place an employee on an unpaid leave of absence after accumulated paid leave has been exhausted, if the employee’s absences are significant or are detrimental to the success of students based upon supervisor recommendation.

If an employee is returning from a leave of absence at the end of the school year, he/she must return to his/her position not later than the final two (2) weeks of student attendance.

Leaves of absence shall be limited to no more than two (2) continuous leaves in a twelve (12) month period. This twelve (12) month period is a rolling period from the first date of the first leave of absence. Any day an employee reports to work at the end of a leave will be a break in the continuous leave of absence.

Leaves of absences must be requested on the Corporation "Request for Leave of Absence Form".

A leave of absence is an approved absence from employment with or without pay as described in this policy.

Random days absent without pay, even with a medical statement, are no longer considered excused.

The Board shall permit the staff member to continue his/her health care benefits during a leave at the staff member’s expense.

The School Board, upon recommendation of the Superintendent, may grant a school employee’s written request for a leave of absence without pay for a period not to exceed one (1) calendar year for sabbatical or professional development. These experiences must enhance the school employee’s opportunity to contribute to the students of the Greater Clark School Corporation. This unpaid leave may be used by a school employee once in a five (5) year period. Successive leaves will not be granted.

The school employee is obligated to state, in writing, the requested terms of the professional/sabbatical leave of absence. The school employer and Board of School Trustees may agree to reemploy the school employee upon written request if submitted on or before April 15 or give first preference to any opening for which the school employee may be qualified for the following school year.

If a professional leave is approved, it shall be the responsibility of the school employee to notify the school employer (supervisor/principal or the Director of Human Resources) no later than April 15, in the calendar year prior to employee’s return to work, as to his/her desire to return to the school corporation. In the absence of such notification, the school employer shall declare the position vacant and proceed to locate a qualified replacement.

If the professional leave is a sabbatical leave, once the teacher returns from taking the sabbatical leave of absence, the teacher shall return for a length of time equal to that of the sabbatical leave of absence.

A permanent teacher may be eligible for leave with full compensation for exchange teaching in a foreign country while his/her counterpart from the foreign country teaches in the Greater Clark County Schools with full compensation from his/her home school district. Permanent teachers may be eligible for a leave of absence without compensation for service in the armed forces dependent schools, the Peace Corps, and teaching in foreign countries.

Such leave shall not be granted for the employee to accept employment elsewhere.

Unless prohibited by the terms of the insurance policy, a school employee on a sabbatical leave may continue participation in any group insurance program to which the school employee was enrolled at the time the leave of absence commenced at his/her own expense. All insurance benefits to which an employee was enrolled in at the time his/her leave of absence commenced, that were not cancelled at the employee’s request upon or during the leave, shall be restored to him/her upon return in accordance with the terms of the insurance policy. Any benefits which were cancelled may be available to the employee at the next open enrollment after return in accordance with the terms of the insurance policy.

The School Board, upon recommendation of the Superintendent, may grant a medical leave of absence for a period of up to one (1) year due to illness or other disability of the employee or employee’s immediate family (spouse, parents or children, by blood or marriage). The medical leave must be professional by a medical provider. This period may be extended for one (1) additional year with medical certification, and upon recommendation of the Superintendent and approval of the Board of School Trustees. A two (2) year period will be the maximum limit for medical leave.

Any medical leave of absence must be in writing prior to the employee being absent except in extreme emergency. The request must be made to the Director of Human Resources who will initiate the action. If the requested leave is valid, the Superintendent shall recommend the leave of absence to the Board of School Trustees for approval.

An employee must include medical certification for the need of a leave of absence from a qualified health care provider. If the Superintendent or his/her designee has reason to doubt the validity of the medical certification, the employee may be required to obtain a second opinion at school corporation expense. Should any variance between the two medical certifications exist, a third opinion, at school corporation expense, may be requested. This opinion shall be final and binding. Failure to submit the required medical certification may result in the denial of the leave or denial of the continuation of the leave.

If a medical leave of absence is approved, it shall be the responsibility of the employee to communicate any change or extension request to his/her supervisor/principal or principal designee and the Human Resources Department as soon as the employee is aware of the change or extension. At the very least, the employee shall notify the above prior to continuing on a leave of absence. If an approved medical leave of absence ends and the employee does not notify the Human Resources Department, nor does he/she report to work, he/she will have resigned his/her position due to job abandonment upon the third day after the end of the medical leave of absence.

All or any portion of this leave taken by an employee will be charged to his/her available annual leave and accumulated sick leave. After his/her available sick leave has been used, the employee may be absent, without pay for the remainder of one (1) year.

The employee may save one (1) annual day.

All rules in this policy apply to this type of leave of absence.

Any employee may continue in active employment as late into pregnancy as she desires, if she is able to fulfill the requirements of her position. Temporary disabilities caused by pregnancy shall be governed by the same provisions governing sickness and by the following:

When a child is born to the wife of a male school employee, he is entitled to a leave of absence up to one (1) year if, except in a medical emergency, he notifies the supervisor/ principal or principal designee at least thirty (30) days before the date on which he desires to start his leave. He shall also notify the supervisor/principal or principal designee and the Director of Human Resources of the expected length of this leave, including with this notice either a physician’s statement certifying the pregnancy or a copy of the birth certificate of the newborn, whichever is applicable. In the case of a medical emergency caused by pregnancy, the employee shall be granted a leave immediately upon his request and certification of the emergency from an attending physician.

All or any portion of this leave taken by an employee will be charged to his available annual leave and accumulated sick leave. After his available sick leave has been used, the employee may be absent, without pay, for the remainder of one (1) year.

The employee may save up to twelve (12) days of annual or accumulated days.

A school employee may be entitled to, upon request, adoption leave without pay for a period not to exceed one (1) year, if, except in a medical emergency, said employee notifies the supervisor/principal or principal designee and the Director of Human

Resources at least (30) days before the date on which the employee desires to start the leave. The employee shall also notify the supervisor/principal or principal designee and the Director of Human Resources of the expected length of this leave, including with this notice a certification of adoption and/or a copy of the birth certificate of the newborn, whichever is applicable. In the case of an emergency caused by the adoption procedure, the employee shall be granted a leave immediately upon a request and certification of the emergency from the agency handling the adoption or by an officer of the court where the adoption procedure is occurring.

All or any portion of this leave taken by an employee will be charged to his/her available annual leave and accumulated sick leave. After his/her available sick leave has been used, the employee may be absent, without pay for the remainder of one (1) year.

The employee may save up to twelve (12) days of annual or accumulated days.

A school employee who is not to be laid off may request a leave of absence for one (1) school year in order to reduce the number of school employees who are or will be laid off. The request shall be written and submitted to the Superintendent. The leave will be called the Reduction in Force Leave and will be for one (1) school year. The leave may terminate before this time if the school corporation approves the earlier termination. The Reduction in Force Leave can be extended for another school year if the school employee on a Reduction in Force Leave submits a written request by April 1 of the school year for which the school employee is on leave and the school corporation is still in "reduction in force status".

The Board will follow all regulations related to the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) which provides employment and reemployment rights for members of the uniformed services, including veterans and members of the Reserve and National Guard. Under USERRA, service members who leave their civilian jobs for military service can perform their duties with the knowledge that they will be able to return to their jobs with the same pay, benefits, and status they would have attained had they not been away on duty. Military reservist employees and those volunteering for, or called to, active military duty are entitled to reemployment with the corporation upon their return from duty in full compliance with all applicable federal and state laws. In addition, besides the military leave benefits discussed above, employees who request a military leave of absence may elect to use any accrued vacation pay in lieu of unpaid leave, and may elect to continue health care benefits to the extent permitted by law, during their leave of absence.

Any professional staff member, who as a reserve member of the armed forces of the United States or attending annual National Guard military training, shall be entitled to temporary leave not to exceed fifteen (15) regular days of school employment missed in any one (1) calendar year. This will include all regular full time employees. Regular part time and temporary employees do not qualify for military leave compensation. Any such temporary leave shall not affect the rights of the professional staff member to vacation leave, sick leave or other normal benefits of employment. The professional staff member’s salary for this period of time shall be the regular salary. Time spent on annual reserve and National Guard military training will not be counted as vacation time used. The professional staff member is required to furnish the school corporation with proper certification orders to support the claims for compensation while absent on military training.

A professional staff member who has been employed for at least twelve (12) months and is the spouse, parent, grandparent, or sibling of a person who is ordered to active duty is entitled to an unpaid leave of absence during one (1) or more of the following periods:

The employee must provide the employer with the official orders for service prior to taking the leave.

The staff member must have worked at least 1,250 hours during the twelve (12) month period immediately preceding the day the leave begins.

The Board may extend to any employee who is elected to a political office a leave of absence without pay for up to one (1) year.

Any professional staff member selected by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction as teacher of the year and who agrees to be "ambassador for education" shall be granted a one (1) year professional leave to serve as ambassador during the ambassador's term. During the term of the leave, the Corporation shall continue to provide the professional staff member all benefits of employment with the Corporation other than salary. Following the term of the leave, the professional staff member may return to the Corporation to the same or a comparable position as the staff member held prior to the leave without loss of accrued benefits or seniority.

Any professional staff member granted a leave of absence by the Board shall be considered to have terminated all work with the School Corporation until the completion of the leave. Exceptions may be made by the Superintendent in cases where the best interest of the Corporation might be served.

*References to Certified Staff also apply to Professional Staff and vice versa.