Professional Leave
PROFESSIONAL LEAVE
FILE: GBRH
The St. Mary Parish School Board recognizes the value of attending regional and national educational meetings in order to become exposed to new ideas and developments in various areas of public school education. Therefore, the Superintendent or his/her designee may grant professional leave to an employee wishing to attend any educationally related conference, meeting, or convention, if such attendance is considered to be in the best interests of the school district. The Board may pay all or any part of expenses of any personnel whom it may direct to represent it at any such professional or educational meeting or in visitation to another school system. In all such cases, prior approval for said expenses must be given by the Superintendent or his/her designee.
Application and notification to attend a conference or similar educational meeting shall be made in writing and approved as far in advance of the meeting as possible. The written request shall include dates, subjects to be covered, and sponsoring agency.
Employees who request and receive written approval from or are directed by their supervisors to be absent from work assignment to attend a meeting, workshop, or other work related activity, shall indicate excused absence on their timekeeping form.
The Superintendent shall be responsible for reviewing budgetary allotments with the Assistant Superintendent in charge of curriculum, and accept or reject submission at budget time. Each department head shall then be responsible for operating within strict budgetary limits. Professional leave expenses shall be charged to the individual staff travel budget. Supervisors shall be responsible for determining which educational conferences are most beneficial to the school system. All requests must be submitted to the employees' immediate supervisor who shall recommend approval to the Assistant Superintendent, or reject the request. Immediate supervisors (if not the principal) must confer with the building principal to assure that the request does not interfere with the operation of the school program, and the principal must concur with the recommendation.
An estimated travel report, and final travel/expense report following the conference are to be submitted to the Assistant Superintendent in charge of curriculum on a monthly basis. Twice a year, the Assistant Superintendent shall submit a report to the Superintendent.
LEAVE FOR STATE BOARD OR COMMISSION
Leave with pay shall be granted any school system employee who is an elected member of the Board of Trustees of the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana or the Louisiana School Employees Retirement System, an elected or appointed member of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), or an appointed member of any task force, commission, or other advisory body established by BESE so that such employee may attend meetings of the entity and any committees thereof on which the employee serves.
The School Board shall require any employees who may serve on the public entities outlined above to provide notice to the Board of the dates and times of all meetings of the entity and any committees thereof that are scheduled to occur on a regular basis and reasonable notice to the Board of any special or otherwise unscheduled meetings.
Any employee serving on such an entity shall apply in writing for such leave in a timely manner, but in no case less than twentyfour (24) hours prior to the date of the meeting, except in an emergency. The employee shall also be required to submit proper documentation that the leave granted was used for the purposes for which requested. Improper use of said leave may result in reimbursement to the Board of any compensation paid the employee for the leave days taken, and may lead to discipline of the employee up to and including termination.
Revised: December, 1989
Revised: September, 2006
Approved: November 9, 2006
Ref: La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §17:81 Board minutes, 11906
St. Mary Parish School Board