APPENDIX J SICK LEAVE BANK PURPOSE STATEMENT
Lincoln School District
The Sick Leave Bank serves as a depository into which participating employees may voluntarily donate accrued sick leave time for allocation to other participating employees. The purpose of this bank is to alleviate the hardship caused if serious, chronic or catastrophic illness or injury forces the employee to exhaust all cumulative sick leave time earned by that employee and thereby lose compensation.
1. Eligibility and admission to the Sick Leave Bank is limited to teachers who are tenured in the Lincoln School Department and who have agreed, at the time of initial eligibility, to contribute one (1) cumulative sick day annually, per Article IX, Section 1, of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
2. All cumulative leave must be exhausted prior to a request for access to the Sick Leave Bank. Sick Leave Bank days are intended to be used for the purpose of serious, catastrophic or chronic illnesses which have been medically documented. The Sick Leave Bank is not intended for use for illnesses/procedures that can be safely postponed to a time when the need for access to the sick leave bank can be avoided.
3. A request for use of days from the Sick Leave Bank must be accompanied by appropriately complete medical documentation which includes diagnosis and recommendation signed by an attending doctor. Documentation must also include a statement of work limitations unless treatment plan is otherwise self-evident. Participant must be following the treatment plan as directed by the physician. A request will not be considered without adequate documentation as required by the attached Sick Leave Bank forms.
4. A member request for access to the Sick Leave Bank days will be accompanied by a review of the applicant's prior use/record of sick leave. Employees who have been officially reprimanded for the inappropriate use of sick leave may not apply for Sick Leave Bank benefits within twelve (12) months of the date of the reprimand.
5. Whenever possible, application
to the Sick Leave Bank should be made as soon as the employee reasonably
anticipates that the treatment will exhaust all of their cumulative sick
time, but not less than two (2) weeks prior to the exhaustion of cumulative
sick leave.
6. The Board may provisionally grant less than the requested leave with
an extension subject to review of updated medical status. Each subsequent
sick leave bank extension request must be accompanied by appropriately complete
medical documentation signed by an attending doctor. Approved leaves of
forty-five (45) school days or more shall require the quarterly submission
(i.e., every three (3) months) of a medical status update and a statement
of work limitations and compliance with the treatment plan. This requirement
shall also apply to continued use of Sick Leave Bank days from one school
year to the next.
7. All communications to and from the Board shall remain confidential.
8. The Board will meet monthly during the school year, except as may be required otherwise by circumstances. The monthly meeting may be waived upon mutual agreement of the parties in the event there is no sick leave bank action required.
9. Should the days in the Sick Leave Bank be insufficient to cover members' needs, the Board shall have the authority to assess members' additional days in the aggregate amount to cover needs for the current school year.
10. Once a teacher returns from a Sick Bank leave where all cumulative leave was exhausted, any need for occasional, additional sick time will be addressed by Article IX, sec. 4, 6A.
11. The Sick Leave Bank may be reassessed for up to an additional 364 days by teachers with 15 years of service in Lincoln. It may not be requested within one (1) school year of the teacher's return from an absence that required the expenditure of the initial 364 day Sick Leave Bank maximum. The provision to reassess sick leave bank days may not be used to extend the original 364 lifetime sick leave bank maximum. The teacher must return to work on a full-time basis for at least one school year. The provision to reassess the additional 364 days may not be used consecutively with the original 364 day lifetime maximum.
12. The Board will review annually its guidelines and will make any necessary and/or appropriate modifications or amendments. The guidelines will be issued annually at the beginning of each school year to the members of the Sick Leave Bank.
13. All decisions of the Board will be final, binding and not subject to the grievance process.