Policy 5400 - Leaves of Absence

Leaves of Absence

The Board and Administration believes that the provision of leave helps to attract and retain staff members who will continue to grow professionally, maintain their physical health, and have a feeling of security. 
 

The Administration has the authority to grant any employee request for a leave of absence. A leave of absence may be at the request of the employee or may be done involuntarily by action of the Administration and/or the Board. 

Delegation of Authority 
 
Through this policy, the Board has delegated this ongoing authority to the Executive Director, both regarding acceptance of an employee’s request for leave of absence as well as an action of placing a certificated employee on an involuntarily leave of absence.  

Upon the Executive Director’s action to place a certificated employee on a period of involuntary leave of absence, the Board shall ratify or nullify action of the Executive Director at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board or at a special meeting of the Board should the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board not be within a period of 21 days from the date of the action.  

The Executive Director is delegated the authority to address classified personnel leave without notification to the Board and is delegated authority to address classified personnel discipline and termination without Board approval. 
 
Sick Leave 

1. Certified Full-Time Employees 

• Certificated employees who work full-time shall be granted sick leave and other leaves in accordance with State law. 
• Sick leave is earned at a rate of one day per month of service, provided the employee works for a majority of that month. 
• Each full-time certificated employee shall receive nine (9) sick leave days and one (1) preventive health day, with full pay, per school year. 

2. Certified Part-Time Employees 

• Certified employees working part-time are eligible for sick leave and other leaves in accordance with State law. 
• For certificated employees working part-time, sick leave shall be calculated proportionally based on their Full-Time Equivalent (FTE). 
• For example, a certified employee working at 0.5 FTE shall receive half the amount of sick leave granted to a full-time certified employee, while an employee working at 0.3 FTE shall receive 30% of the sick leave granted to a full-time certified employee. 

3. Classified Full-Time Employees 

• Classified employees who regularly work full-time shall be granted sick leave and other leaves per State law. 
• Sick leave is earned at a rate of one day per month of service, provided the employee works for a majority of that month. 
• Each full-time certificated employee shall receive nine (9) sick leave days and one (1) preventive health day, with full pay, per school year. 

4. Classified Part-Time Employees 

• Classified employees who regularly work 20 hours or more per week are eligible for sick leave. Sick leave for these employees shall be calculated proportionally based on their Full-Time Equivalent (FTE). 
• For example, a classified employee working at 0.5 FTE shall receive half the amount of sick leave granted to a full-time classified employee. 

All Employees 

All employees are expected to use sick leave days for personal illness, hospitalizations, or doctor appointments.  Sick leave days may also be used to attend doctor’s appointments or care for a family member who is ill or hospitalized. 

RISE Charter School, may in its discretion, require proof of illness when deemed appropriate, including but not limited to suspicion of abuse of sick leave or false claims of illness.  
 
No monetary compensation shall be provided to certified or classified employees for unused sick leave either during employment or upon separation from the school. 
 
“Sick leave” means a leave of absence, with pay, for a sickness suffered by an employee or his or her immediate family. “Immediate family” for purposes of sick leave shall mean the employee’s spouse and children residing in the employee’s household.  
 
Nothing in this policy guarantees approval of the granting of such leave in any instance. Each request will be judged by the Charter School in accordance with this policy and the needs of the Charter School.  
 
Employment tenure shall accumulate only during periods in which the employee is actively performing work; time spent in paid status without performing work shall not count toward employment tenure. 
 
Abuse of sick leave is cause for discipline up to and including termination. For a certificated employee, falsifying, deliberately misrepresenting, or deliberately omitting reasons for absences or leaves is a violation of the Code of Ethics for Idaho Professional Educators and may result in a report to the Professional Standards Commission. 

Accrual of Unused Sick Leave 

Employees may accumulate a maximum of two hundred twenty (220) days of unused sick leave.  Unused sick leave shall accrue from year to year as long as an employee remains continuously employed by a public school district (including charter districts). Upon retirement, an employee’s accumulated unused sick leave must be reported to RISE Charter School administration for referral to the Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho (PERSI). 

Personal Leave 

1. Certified Full-Time Employees 

• Full-time certified staff shall be granted personal leave in accordance with the terms of their current employment contract. 
• The number of personal leave days is based on the employee’s total years of certified experience. 
• See Certified Staff Personal Leave Table below for the leave schedule. 

2. Certified Part-Time Employees 

• Certified employees working part-time shall be granted personal leave proportional to their Full-Time Equivalent (FTE). 
• For example, a certified employee working 0.5 FTE shall receive half the amount of personal leave granted to a full-time certified employee, while an employee working 0.3 FTE shall receive 30% of the personal leave granted to a full-time certified employee. 

3. Classified Full-Time Employees 

• Full-time classified staff shall be granted personal leave based on the number of years employed at RISE Charter School. 
• See Classified Staff Personal Leave Table below for the leave schedule. 

4. Classified Part-Time Employees  

• Classified employees working 20 hours or more shall be granted personal leave proportional to their Full-Time Equivalent (FTE). 
• For example, a classified employee working at 0.5 FTE shall receive half the amount of personal leave granted to a full-time certified employee. 

Personal leave requests must be given in advance to the RISE Administrator and leave will be granted contingent upon the needs of the school and availability of a substitute. 

The Director, with the approval of the Board, shall have the flexibility, in unusual or exceptional circumstances, to grant personal leave to employees not covered by sick leave. 

During any unpaid personal leave of greater than fifteen (15) days, the employee will not receive fringe benefits. During the leave, the employee may pay RISE’s share of any insurance benefit program in order to maintain those benefits, provided that such is acceptable to the insurance carrier. 

Staff using personal leave shall not earn any sick leave or annual leave credit or any other benefits during the approved leave of absence. Unused personal leave will not be rolled over at the end of each year, but instead, may be paid out in June at the substitute pay rate ($125 Certified Staff, $95 Classified Staff).  

Bereavement Leave 

Full time employees who work at least 20 hours per week will be granted up to 3 days paid bereavement leave and those employees working 19 hours or less per week will receive 2 days paid bereavement leave for immediate family. For the purposes of this policy, “immediate family” is defined as the employee’s: spouse, child(ren) (including those under the employee’s legal custody, stepchildren, or the employee’s spouse’s child), father, mother, sister, brother, grandparent, grandchild, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, uncle, aunt, or a person whose relationship is that of a foster parent.  Unusual cases not included herein may be brought to the attention of the Executive Director for consideration. 
 
The Executive Director has the authority to approve up to five (5) more days of unpaid bereavement leave per occurrence. 

FMLA Leave 

In accordance with the provisions of the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993, a leave of absence of up to twelve 12 weeks during a 12-month period may be granted to an eligible employee for the following reasons: 

1. The birth of a child; 
2. The placement of a child for adoption or foster care with the employee; 
3. A serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the functions of the job; 
4. To care for the employee's spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition; or 
5. For any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that a spouse, son, daughter, or parent of the employee is on active-duty status or has been notified of an impending call to active-duty status, in the Armed Forces. 

An employee is eligible to take FMLA leave if the employee has been employed for at least 12 months, and has worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12 months immediately prior to the date when the leave is requested and otherwise qualifies pursuant to applicable federal laws 

An eligible employee who is the spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of a covered service member who is recovering from a serious illness or injury sustained in the line of duty on active duty is entitled to up to 26 weeks of leave in a single 12 month period to care for the service members. 

Employees will be required to use appropriate paid leave while on FMLA Leave. Workers' Compensation absences will not be designated FMLA Leave. 

The Board has determined that the 12-month period during which an employee may take FMLA leave is July 1 to June 30. 

Medical certification shall be required to determine FMLA for initial or continued eligibility as well as fitness for duty. 

Family and Medical Leave Procedure 

Who Is Eligible: Employees are eligible if they have worked for RISE Charter School for at least one year, and for 1,250 hours over the previous 12 months, and otherwise qualify pursuant to applicable federal laws. 

Benefit: Under certain conditions, eligible employees, if qualified, may be entitled to up to 12 weeks’ leave with continuing participation in RISE Charter School’s group insurance plan. 

An eligible employee who is the spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of a covered service member who is recovering from a serious illness or injury sustained in the line of duty on active duty is entitled to up to 26 weeks of leave in a single 12 month period to care for the service members. 

Reasons for Taking Leave: Unpaid leave will be granted to eligible employees for any of the following reasons: 

1. To care for the employee’s child after birth, or placement of a child for adoption or foster care with the employee; or 
2. To care for the employee’s spouse, child, or parent (not including parents in-law) who has a serious health condition; or 
3. For a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the employee’s job; or 
4. For any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that a spouse, son, daughter, or parent of the employee is on active-duty status or has been notified of an impending call to active-duty status, in support of a contingency operation. 

Substitution of Paid Leave: Paid leave will be substituted for unpaid leave under the following circumstances: 

1. Accumulated sick or personal leave will be utilized concurrently with any FMLA leave that is taken for a serious health reason as described in 2 or 3 above; 
2. Accumulated vacation or personal leave will be utilized concurrently with any FMLA leave that is taken for a family reason as described in 1 above; 
3. Accumulated sick leave will be utilized concurrently with FMLA leave whenever the FMLA leave is taken for reasons which qualify for sick leave benefits pursuant to RISE Charter School policy; and 
4. Whenever appropriate, workers’ compensation absences shall be designated FMLA leave. 

When Spouses are RISE Charter School Employees: If spouses are employed by RISE Charter School, they each are entitled to a total of 12 weeks of leave per year. However, where the reason for the leave is for birth of a child, or because of adoption or foster care, or to care for a sick parent, such leave may be limited to an aggregate of 12 weeks, between the married employees. 

Advance Notice: Employees must provide 30 days advance notice when the leave is foreseeable. In other situations, an employee must give notice as soon as practicable. Leave may be allowed in emergency situations when no advance warning is possible. Inexcusable delays in notifying RISE Charter School may result in the delay or denial of leave. 

Requests: A sick leave request form is to be completed whenever an employee is absent from work for more than three days or when an employee has need to be absent from work for continuing treatment by or under the supervision of a health care provider. 

Medical Certification: RISE Charter School will require medical certification to support a request for leave or any other absence because of a serious health condition (at employee expense) and may require second or third opinions (at the employer’s expense) and a fitness for duty report to return to work statement. 

Intermittent/Reduced Leave: FMLA leave may be taken “intermittently or on a reduced leave schedule” under certain circumstances. Where leave is taken because of birth or placement of a child for adoption or foster care, an employee may take leave intermittently or on a reduced leave schedule only with the approval of RISE Charter School. Where FMLA leave is taken to care for a sick family member or for an employee’s own serious health condition, leave may be taken intermittently or on a reduced leave schedule when medically necessary. An employee may be reassigned to accommodate intermittent or reduced leave. When an employee takes intermittent leave or leave on a reduced leave schedule, increments will be limited to the shortest period of time that RISE Charter School’s payroll system uses to account for absences or use of leave. 

Insurance: An employee out on FMLA leave is entitled to continued participation in the appropriate group health plan, but it is incumbent upon the employee to continue paying the portion of the premiums the employee usually pays throughout the leave period. An employee’s eligibility to maintain health insurance coverage will lapse if the premium payment is more than 30 days late. RISE Charter School will mail notice of delinquency at least 15 days before coverage will cease. 

Return: Upon return from FMLA leave, reasonable effort shall be made to place the employee in the original or equivalent position with equivalent pay, benefits, and other employment terms. 

Record Keeping: Employees, supervisors, and building administrators will forward requests, forms, and other material to payroll to facilitate proper record keeping. 

Summer Vacation: The period during the summer vacation or other scheduled breaks, such as Christmas, an employee would not have been required to work will not count against that employee’s FMLA leave entitlement. 

Special Rules for Instructional Employees 

Leave More Than Five Weeks Before End of Term: If an instructional employee begins FMLA leave more than five weeks before the end of term, RISE Charter School may require the employee to continue taking leave until the end of a semester term if: 

1. The leave is at least three weeks; and 
2. The employee’s return would take place during the last three-week period of the semester term. 

Leave Less Than Five Weeks Before End of Term: If an instructional employee begins FMLA leave for a purpose other than that employee’s own serious health condition less than five weeks before the end of term, RISE Charter School may require the employee to continue taking leave until the end of a semester term if: 

1. The leave is longer than two weeks; and 
2. The employee’s return would take place during the last two-week period of the semester term. 

Leave Less Than Three Weeks Before End of Term: If an instructional employee begins FMLA leave for a purpose other than that employee’s own serious health condition less than three weeks before the end of term, RISE Charter School may require the employee to continue taking leave until the end of the academic term if the leave is longer than five days. 

Intermittent or Reduced Leave: Under certain conditions, an instructional employee needing intermittent or reduced leave for more than 20% of the total working days over the leave period may be required by RISE Charter School to: 

1. Take leave for a period(s) of particular duration not to exceed the duration of treatment; or 
2. Transfer to an alternate but equivalent position. 

Employee Notification of Policy 

A general notice from the Department of Labor explaining the FMLA's provisions and complaint procedures will be posted prominently where it can be readily seen by employees and applicants and shall either be distributed to each new employee upon hiring or will be included in employee handbooks or other written guidance concerning benefits or leave rights. No notification of rights under the FMLA or related regulations should be construed to alter any applicable at-will employment relationship between RISE Charter School and an employee. 

All Leaves 

If leaves are to include expenses payable by RISE Charter School, the leave approval will state so. Leave will only be granted in units of half or full days of a regularly scheduled school/workday. 
 
Legal Reference:  
42 USC 2000e Equal Employment Opportunities; 
I.C. § 33-1216 et seq. Sick and other leave; 
I.C. § 33-1228 Severance allowance at retirement 

Policy History: 
Adopted on: July 12, 2021 
Revised on: October 17, 2022, January 22, 2024, July 15, 2024, November 11, 2025 
Reviewed on: 10/20/2025