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So we should take our days and cost the district more money?
That seems silly.
Maybe the issue is the sick days themselves?
Put all professional fields give sick days so I am not sure why teachers shouldn't have them. My bfs company gives six weeks of paid sick/vacation time. If he doesn't use it, it accumulates to a certain point that he can be compensated for, beyond that its use it or lose it. I can only imagine how much it would cost districts if teachers were forced to do the same let alone how badly it would disrupt instruction.
I don't dare use time off. I am not tenured yet, and my district has built days taken off into the RIF determination.
I'm not tenured either and I have no idea what goes into the RIF determination . Maybe I need to reschedule my dd's appointment with the plastic surgeon so that I don't need to take that half a day...
I'm not tenured either and I have no idea what goes into the RIF determination . Maybe I need to reschedule my dd's appointment with the plastic surgeon so that I don't need to take that half a day...
All I know is that the way things are here, I am going in no matter what. The way I see it I won't have to worry about sick leave or personal days if I don't have a job, and I know too many out of work teachers here.
All I know is that the way things are here, I am going in no matter what. The way I see it I won't have to worry about sick leave or personal days if I don't have a job, and I know too many out of work teachers here.
It's bad here too. I, pretty much, go in no matter what because I'm a control freak, . I hate handing my classroom over to subs. They tend to not know my material so a day is lost.
At the private schools I taught at, we lost the sick days if we did not use them. I did not use many of them anyway, because it would have been disruptive to the students' learning. In 22 years I probably took 5 sick days.
Three hundred days here. We get paid 30% upon retirement and pension credit.
The last year or so I've used more than normal, out a week last year with the flu and every 3rd Friday to take son to allergist (I'd always had last period planning and would leave then).
This year has been strange. Out two days this week, couldn't walk after a ladder incident last weekend. Have missed a couple other days with just oddball stuff like a Dr. appointment after fasting. Taking two days this coming week, biopsy on Thursday and figure the potential side effects need to be accounted for on Friday just in case.
We also get 4 personal days/year (convert to sick days at the end of the year) and I will take one or two to go goose hunting sometimes.
Before I get lambasted for the last we have teachers who will take two weeks around the holidays for a cruise and others who miss every time we are doing testing like the PSAT or the MD HSAs. We also have a mandated activity every two weeks with the students (for "bonding" purposes) that the same people miss every time.
I don't mind a sub coming in if I know who it will be. We have pretty good substitutes. Usually I can arrange it ahead of time. I have not taken much leave in the past (that's why I have so much now). The nice thing is I don't have to actually tell anyone in person that I am taking a day, it is all done online. We get 3 personal days a year that convert to sick, so I make sure I at least use those. As the hours build up i find that I am more willing to use them. I still don't plan on blatantly abusing the leave. I figure between now and the end of June, barring any sickness between me and my son (knock on wood), I may use four more days or so and that includes personal days.
I understand that a lot of you get $ for unused leave. Would you be more willing to use it if you didn't get paid for them upon retirement?
When I left CT, I had four years of teaching, I had already accrued over 50 days, I used the majority of them for maternity leave. A fellow teacher had a few years saved up and was glad she did, her husband got very sick and she took a lot of time off to help him. CT law says a district has to give teachers 15 sick days a year, most will allow the teachers to accrue them.
I'm in CO now, in a charter school, we get 8 days a year to use however we want, we can save 2 to give us 10 the next year. However, they are just allowing to let us keep 20 days.
We accrue sick days and are paid on a sliding scale for our unused ones. I lost 100 days when I left teaching in one state and moved to another (they didn't accept out of state accumulated leave). After 22 years, I have another 160 accumulated, always wanting to make sure I had enough for a serious emergency or illness.
It seems like many teachers feel as though they are entitled to them and use them all in a year, some even take days with no pay to be out for illness or "mental health day".
At the high school level, and subject area in which I teach, it is easier to drag myself in and push the kids through a lesson or learning experience, rather than have to write sub plans and deal with the aftermath of being out.
Our sick days can also be used for family illness, which was a great help when my parents were seriously ill. I was able to take long weekends and fly out to see them or take them to appointments.
Just this year I decided to use them a little more openly for getting appointments first thing in the morning, as opposed to sitting and waiting for an afternoon appointment because the doctor was backed up from the day and emergencies. We can take 1/2 days, but the substitute coordinator has said that it's easier to get a sub for a whole day, since no one wants to work for just half a day.
In our district all of our sick leave rolls into our total years at retirement. Regarding personal leave, we can not carry over more that 5 days each year. So each year I don't use my personal leave & in the summer I get a check in the amount of my daily pay scale for each of those extra personal days. That's my summer travel money.
I have no problem justifying taking a sick day whenever I need a mental health break- I am sick of the rat-race & the R&R break does me & my students a world of good. I come back refreshed & ready to go again. It helps me e a better, more patient teacher.
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. Maybe I need to reschedule my dd's appointment with the plastic surgeon so that I don't need to take that half a day...
. I hate handing my classroom over to subs. They tend to not know my material so a day is lost.
