I've been sick with flu most of the last two weeks, and the days I wasn't sick one or more of my kids were sick. So I figured the only possible topic for today is sick leave.
Texas teachers are entitled to five days of paid leave each year, usable for any reason the teacher chooses - personal illness, family illness, travel, family business, mental health day, or any other reason the teacher wants, no questions asked.
Some districts give teachers more than five days. If a district gives extra days, those extra days can be limited to specific uses, such as personal or family illness.
Each district develops its own implementation rules for the leave days. This means your district will tell you how to notify the district you are taking leave, how much notice you must give before an absence (advance notice obviously not required if you are ill and contagious), if there are limits on which you days you can use (many districts prohibit personal leave on TAKS days, or the day before a school holiday, etc).
Each district that provides more than five leave days also determines whether the local or state days are used first. This is important because state granted leave days accumulate from year to year if they are not used, and can be taken to any Texas public school district if you change jobs.
I am a female teacher in a small charter school of all boys and have been told to keep my classroom door closed and locked during class periods. I am concerned that this practice is not legal when I have a single student in my classroom at any given period. At the very least I am uncomfortable.
Posted by: Cathie | December 15, 2009 at 12:39 PM
There are certainly some concerns about locking a classroom door while there are people - any people, not just students - inside. There may be fire codes or other public safety codes that prohibit it, as well as your very legitimate concern that being in a locked room alone with a student puts both you and the student in a very vulnerable position. I would suggest you follow up with the school and try to get clarification.
Posted by: Pam | January 10, 2010 at 08:58 AM
To offer a different perspective, I'm not sure that economics of transportation will ever drive us to become Locavores. Oil is but a sparse fraction of the cost of transport and distribution.
To me it is all about community and a healthy lifestyle. I would much prefer buying local even at higher cost because of the value to our community. And if we can get local volume over the threshold of economies of scale, then will be self sustaining. Unfortunately, Locavorism today is really on the fringe. In business terms, we need more market share - and then the economics will work too.
Posted by: coach handbags | January 05, 2011 at 11:05 PM
If you are laid off or terminated for reduction in force, are you paid for your accumulated local sick leave?
Posted by: Melissa Prepster | January 22, 2011 at 12:32 PM
I did so much traveling in March and April that I began to crave time in New York. How's that for a reversal of sensibility? Yet I wanted so badly to be at home for a while.
Posted by: UGG Boots On Sale | October 19, 2011 at 12:15 AM