Leave and Absences

State law entitles all employees to five days of paid personal leave per year. Personal leave is available for use at the beginning of the year. A day of personal leave is equivalent to the number of hours per day in an employee’s usual assignment, whether full-time or part-time. State personal leave accumulates without limit, is transferable to other Texas school districts, and generally transfers to education service centers. Leave shall be used in whole or half day increments.

Local leave is earned at a rate of one-half workday for each 18.7 days of employment, up to a maximum of seven (7) days per year. A day of earned local leave is equivalent to an assigned workday. There is no limit on the accumulation of local leave, and local leave is not transferrable to other Texas school districts or education service centers. Local leave can be used only in whole or half-day increments, except when coordinated with family and medical leave taken on an intermittent or reduced-schedule basis, or with Workers’ Compensation benefits.

Local leave cannot be combined with scheduled holidays, staff development days, or days scheduled for state tests (ex: STAAR tests). Unauthorized absences under this policy will result in payroll deductions for any day(s) missed.

State sick leave accumulated before 1995 is available for use and may be transferred to other school districts in Texas. State sick leave can be used only in whole or half-day increments, except when coordinated with family and medical leave taken on an intermittent or reduced-schedule basis or when coordinated with workers’ compensation benefits. State sick leave may be used for the following reasons only:

• Employee illness
• Illness in the employee’s immediate family
• Family emergency (i.e., natural disasters or life-threatening situations)
• Death in the immediate family
• Active military service