Catastrophic Sick Leave
Administrative Guidelines
The Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank is a pool of local sick leave days established on a voluntary basis by full-time and permanent part-time District staff members to be used by any member of the Bank who suffers a catastrophic personal illness/injury or an illness/injury of an immediate family member (spouse, children, employee's parents) which extends beyond their own accumulated local sick leave, and/or accrued vacation days.
- Administering the Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank
- Contributing to the Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank
- Using the Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank
- Filing an Application to the Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank
- Termination of Membership in the Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank
- Maintaining Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank Records
I. Administering the Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank
A. The Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank shall be administered by a Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank Committee (CSLBC) representing teachers, administrators, professional support, operations, and classified staff members.
B. The CSLBC shall have the responsibility of approving membership, receiving requests for use of the Bank, verifying the validity of requests, recommending approval or denial of the requests, and communicating its decision to the member and to the Payroll Department.
C. The CSLBC shall be appointed by the Superintendent or designee with the advice of directors, supervisors, and principals.
D. The Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank Committee shall be comprised of Bank members representative of the following groups:
Director of Personnel Services (or designee) 1
Professional Support Staff 1
School Nutrition Staff 1
Maintenance Staff 1
Transportation Staff 1
Paraprofessional Staff 1
Elementary Teachers 2
Secondary Teachers 2
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E. Members shall serve two-year staggered terms, with half being appointed on alternate years.
F. The CSLBC shall elect the initial chairperson from its membership. Subsequent chairpersons shall be elected from the second year members.
G. In order for the CLSBC to make a decision on a request for sick leave days, a quorum of six (6) members must be present. A simple majority vote of the participating CSLBC members shall be required for arequest to be approved.
H. The Director of Human Resources or designee shall serve as an administrative liaison and permanent member of the CSLBC.
II. Contributing to the Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank
All fulltime or permanent part-time employees of the District who have one (1) day of earned local sick leave as of October 1 of the current school year, are eligible for initial membership in the Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank. The open enrollment period for new membership shall begin on August 1st of each school year and close on September 30 of that school year. New membership in the bank becomes effective on October 1 of each school year.
To be a member of the Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank, a staff member shall contribute a minimum of one (1) day of local sick leave for three consecutive years or up to three (3) days at one time to become vested in the CSLB and to continue their membership.
Sick leave days contributed to the Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank not used in a school year shall accumulate in the Bank and will not be returned to staff members.
No Bank member shall be required, for purposes of maintaining status in the Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank, to contribute more sick leave days than other members. However, the CSLBC shall have the authority to request additional days from current members if needed.
The contribution shall be made on the appropriate form by the staff member and will continue from year to year until cancelled in writing by the bank member provided the bank member remains eligible.
Eligible staff members who do not elect to join the Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank at the open enrollment period in a school year will not be permitted to join the Bank until the subsequent annual open enrollment period of the next school year.
Members of the Bank may contribute up to five (5) accrued sick leave days to the CSLB upon leaving District employment by retirement or resignation.
III. Using the Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank
The use of the CSLB will be limited to the number of days in the CSLB or the number of days added to the CSLB following an emergency request by the CSLB to its membership.
Members must use all of their available sick leave and accrued vacation leave before receiving leave from the CSLB.
The maximum number of sick leave days that can be granted to an individual staff member shall be only the number necessary for a qualified staff member to become eligible to receive payment from the District's current Disability Insurance Plan (maximum 68 working days see G below).
A staff member receiving payments from the District's Disability Insurance Plan shall not be granted days from the Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank.
The number of days granted in any one school year will not exceed the number of duty days a Bank member is scheduled to work in that school year according to the District Assignment Calendar for his/her position with the District.
In no case will granting of leave from the CSLB cause a Bank member to receive more than his/her annual salary.
Leave grants from the CSLB shall be in units of not more than forty (40) consecutive working days. At the end of the 40 days, the staff member may apply for an extension of not more than 28 additional working days (maximum of 68 for the current school year August 1 July 31) by submitting an updated statement from the physician on the appropriate form. If a Bank member does not use all of the days granted from the CSLB, the unused Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank days will be returned to the CSLB.
The Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank may only be used for the contributor's own personal illness/injury or an illness/injury of an immediate family member (spouse, children, employee's parents). The illness or injury must be documented by a physician's statement.
The term catastrophic illness implies an illness of a very serious and immediate nature, normally involving the need for extended absence and/or some hospital confinement. Elective surgery will be reviewed by the Committee on an individual basis to determine the appropriateness of the request.
Normal pregnancy with normal delivery is not considered to be a catastrophic illness covered under the Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank.
The CSLB may not be used for disabilities which qualify the member for Worker's Compensation benefits.
Within ten (10) working days of receipt of a member's request to the CSLB, the CSLBC shall review the request and render its decision to the member and the Payroll Office.
All forms including application for participation in the CSLB, notice of cancellation, and withdrawal of sick leave days shall be available in the principal's/supervisor's/director's office and the Personnel Services Office. All forms shall be sent to any staff member upon request.
THE DECISION OF THE CSLB COMMITTEE SHALL BE FINAL.
IV. Filing an Application to the Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank
A. Application for use of the CSLB shall be made on the required form and submitted to the CSLB through the Personnel Services Office.
B. All requests to draw upon the Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank must be accompanied by the physician's statement, on the form provided by the CSLBC, confirming the cause of illness or confinement and certifying the existence of a disability to perform assigned duties. The form must be personally signed by the physician. The CSLBC will not honor any physician's statement unless it is on the official Physician's Statement form provided by the CSLBC or the district's disability application form obtained from the Personnel Services Office.
C. An applicant may be required to undergo medical review by a second opinion physician of the CSLBC's choice at the expense of the staff member. The physician's report shall be sent directly to the chairperson of the CSLBC before the Committee may act upon the application for a grant from the Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank.
D. Each separate application for a grant from the Bank must include a new Physician's Statement on the appropriate Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank form.
E. All requests to draw upon the CSLB shall be made within seven (7) days of the staff member's use of his/her last sick leave/vacation day.
F. In case a bank member's illness prevents him/her from personally applying for a grant, his/her application may be submitted to the CSLBC by his/her authorized agent or member of his/her family on his/her behalf.
G. An applicant may submit a request for an extension of a CSLB leave grant before the original grant expires by using the regular Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank Request form accompanied by the newly-signed physician's statement.
V. Termination of Membership in the Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank
A member of the CSLB will lose the right to use the benefits of the Bank by:
A. Termination of employment with the District.
B. Being on a suspension without pay status.
C. Cancellation of membership. Cancellation by use of the appropriate form may be effected at any time. The staff member shall not be eligible to use the CSLB as of the effective cancellation date. Sick leave properly authorized for contribution to the Bank will not be returned if the Bank member effects cancellation.
D. Any abuse or misuse of the rules of the Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank.
E. Being on an approved leave of absence for reasons other than described in Section III (H) of these guidelines.
VI. Maintaining Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank Records
A. Copies of all Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank Donations, Sick Leave Grant Requests or Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank Membership/Cancellation forms shall be marked for approval or denial by the CSLB. Following such action, the CSLB shall disperse copies of the forms to the Bank member and to the Payroll Department.
B. The Personnel Services Office shall maintain all records regarding operation of the CSLB.
C. The Personnel Services Office shall report the status of the Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank at any time upon request of the CSLBC chairperson.
D. The Personnel Services Office shall provide information to the CSLBC upon its request for any data maintained in the Personnel Services Office's files with regard to an applicant's use of or investment in the Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank.