Absences

If you are absent from school because of illness, you will be paid for up to 10 days in any school year without needing to submit a doctor’s note. These are known as “self-treated days.” If you take more than 10 self-treated days in any school year, you will not be paid for those additional absences unless you submit a doctor’s note, even if you have accumulated days in your Cumulative Absence Reserve (CAR). Wherever possible, you should submit medical certification for each day you are absent to preserve as many of your self-treated days as possible.

You can use three of those 10 days for personal business, provided that you give reasonable notice to your principal. Personal business is officially defined as something that cannot be done at any time other than a school day, during school hours. Two of these three personal business days may be used to care for family members who are ill.

 Your school may not limit the number of consecutive self-treated days you take provided you do not exceed the 10 days per year.  However, if your supervisor suspects that you are abusing the sick leave provisions in the contract, he/she may investigate to determine whether you were ill or did not require a personal business day to take care of a matter which could have been handled outside of school hours.

If you have exhausted all the days in your CAR (commonly known as your “sick bank”) and you are regularly appointed, you may borrow up to 20 additional sick days. You must put your request to borrow additional days in writing to your principal. Regardless of the nature of your absences, it is most important that you call your school each day and notify the principal that you will be absent.

You are entitled to take one school day each school year to take either an annual physical or take annual laboratory tests; however the absence will be deducted from your CAR. Absences due to Hepatitis B as a result of working with children who have been evaluated as a substantial risk of acting-out behavior, or absences due to an allergic reaction from a DOE-mandated skin test will not be removed from your sick bank (CAR), provided you submit appropriate medical documentation.

You can request time off for the purpose of getting an annual breast cancer or prostate cancer screening, or to donate blood. The request should be made in advance and in writing to your principal, and if it is determined that there is not a major disruption to the school, up to four hours of paid leave for breast or prostate cancer screening and up to three hours for blood donation will be granted. The time will not be taken from your CAR.

Absences due to childhood illnesses  that are  listed in our contract (German measles, mumps and chicken pox), for the death of a member of your immediate family, or to appear in court as a juror or witness are considered “non-attendance” days and are not deducted from your CAR. Your chapter leader can advise you about the forms you must file for these days.