I. Paid Personal Leave - Each employee shall be provided six (6) days to be used for the employee’s personal business or emergencies. A personal leave day may be used for any purpose at the discretion of the employee.

A. An employee planning to use a personal leave day or days shall notify his/her principal at least forty-eight (48) hours in advance, except in case of emergency. An employee requesting a personal day for a work day immediately preceding or following Thanksgiving Recess, Winter Recess, Martin Luther King Day, President's Day, Spring Recess, Memorial Day, or the last day of student attendance must receive prior approval at least one week in advance from his or her cost center head, which leave may be denied due to the lack of available substitutes.

B. Such personal leave shall be charged to sick leave and not be cumulative.

C. Leave forms shall be available at the school offices, and they should be completed as soon as reasonable.

D. “Personal Leave” shall be adequate explanation for such leave.

E. The employee upon return to duty shall fill out the standard leave form explaining the emergency in those cases where less than forty-eight (48) hours’ notice has been given.

II. Unpaid Personal Leave - Employees shall make written application for such leave without compensation. Personal leave shall terminate at the end of the contractual period. Personal leave may be granted at the discretion of the School Board as hereinafter provided:

A. Maternity Leave - Any employee of the Board, who fills a regularly established position, will be granted maternity leave without pay provided a written application for leave accompanied by a statement verifying the pregnancy is submitted. Such leave shall not exceed the balance of the school fiscal year in which the child is born.

B. Parental Leave - Any employee of the Board, who fills a regularly established position, may be granted parental leave for the contract year for the purpose of child-rearing.

1. An employee who has parented a child may apply for parental leave per the collective bargaining agreement.

2. An employee may apply for a leave of absence upon the placement of a child pending his/her adoption provided such leave shall not exceed the balance of the school fiscal year in which such adoption shall occur, and provided a written application for such leave is submitted to the employee’s immediate supervisor within two (2) calendar weeks after approval for adoption by the recognized agency or source.

3. In all instances herein where a leave of absence shall extend beyond one (1) school fiscal year, re-application shall be made in accordance with the rules of the Board.

C. Leave Related to Domestic or Sexual Violence

1. An employee, who has been employed by the District for at least three (3) calendar months, may request and shall be granted up to three (3) days of unpaid personal leave within a twelve (12) month period if he/she has been a victim of domestic or sexual violence or if a family or household member has been a victim of domestic or sexual violence.

2. The leave must be used for one or more of the following purposes:

a. To seek an injunction for protection against domestic violence or for protection in cases of repeat violence, dating violence or sexual violence;

b. To obtain medical care and/or mental health counseling for the employee or a family or household member;

c. To obtain services from a victim-services organization;

d. To make the employee’s home secure from the perpetrator or to seek new housing; and/or

3. All records related to such leave will be considered confidential.

4. This leave shall be noncumulative and shall be requested in advance except in the case of an emergency.

5. If an employee elects to be on paid leave, he/she may request personal leave chargeable to sick leave provided that the employee is eligible to be on such leave or he/she may request annual (vacation) leave provided that the employee accrues annual leave and has an annual leave balance.

D. Leave for political campaigning

An employee who has filed for election to a political office and who desires personal leave for political reasons shall file an application for leave. The School Board may grant such personal leave without pay for a period not to exceed thirty (30) calendar days prior to the election.

E. Each extended leave-without-pay request shall be considered on its own merit by the School Board. Return from leave is contingent on there being a vacant position in the system which the employee is qualified to fill. Requests for extended leave to take another position for salary shall be denied unless there are extenuating circumstances that are acceptable to the Board. For bargaining unit employees, the procedures for requesting and returning from leave shall be governed by the appropriate collective bargaining agreement.