Norridge students | Twitter
Norridge students | Twitter
The Norridge Schools superintendent floated a suggestion at the Nov. 15 board meeting about the possibility of changing the district’s sick-leave policy.
The school district is currently operating under a two-tiered system for time off, with the date of hire being the determining factor as to which policy applies to which employees. Superintendent Michele Guzik put forth the notion of reverting to the older policy, which allows more accrual of time off, for some employees.
“So just to be clear ... this board policy applies to educational support personnel,” Guzik said. “So it doesn't cover any one with a contract. It doesn't cover anyone that is under the collective bargaining agreement. So these are paraprofessionals, administrative assistants and maintenance people.”
The district has a policy in place covering sick leave, vacation days, holidays, and personal leave. It is based on when the employee was hired, and it does not differentiate between employees who work 10, 11, or 12 months out of the year. Those employed before July 2013 can earn up to 20 days of sick leave a year after 15 years of employment while those employed after that date get just 10 sick days per year.
Guzik wants to change these policies for employees who work 12 months of the year. Paraprofessionals or support staff who work 10 or 11 months, respectively, would not see any changes. The reason for the change would be to reward the 12-month employees, who typically are very valuable to the district and are highly trained in their areas.
Changing the sick-leave program would be one incentive to keep those people on the payroll, Guzik said. By reverting to the structure that was in place for those hired before July 2013, long-time employees would be able to accumulate more paid sick leave.
Her suggestion of altering of the policy would apply to holiday and vacation day policies as well, expanding the 12 month employee opportunities but keeping 10 and 11 month the same.
The board will revisit the matter at a future board meeting.
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