The Emporia board of education on Wednesday decided to delete a sentence from a board policy on Workers' Compensation, to protect employees injured on the job, and requested the policy be brought back to the board for a third reading.
The sentence concerned Family and Medical Leave Act time that could have been charged an employee with a job-related injury. The sentence read: "Workers compensation benefits and FMLA benefits provided in a board approved plan shall run concurrently if both are applicable."
The sentence had been recommended by the Kansas Association of School Boards' attorney and is used by some school districts, Assistant Superintendent of Personnel M. Theresa Davidson said. She had surveyed several school districts and spoken with the KASB attorney.
Board member Mike Helbert, who also is an attorney, was concerned about ramifications for employees if the policy were approved as written.
"What you're being told by KASB and, quite frankly, our own lawyer, is wrong, because there's no law that requires somebody to keep somebody on" if they'd been injured, Helbert said.
"We could have somebody hurt and gone 24 weeks, then come back and have a spouse with cancer," Helbert said, as an example. The FMLA time could be used up and the employee would not be guaranteed leave time or a job.
"Remember, even if somebody gets hurt on the job and it's our fault, they can't sue the district," Helbert said. "Even if we have an employee that runs them over with a truck, the most they can get is the comp pay. It may be a great thing for the district, but it's not fair to the employee."
Board member Angie Schreiber asked how an employee could get extra time for a situation covered under FMLA if he or she had used all of that time for a Workers' Comp injury.
Davidson said that sabbaticals sometimes are granted for "personal goals."
"Personal goals could mean a lot of things in that case," Davidson said, "but I'm sure there would be some things that would fall into those categories."
She said that employees sometimes are encouraged to request disability leave with a deadline for returning that would allow the district to hire a temporary worker.
"But if we've got somebody injured on the job, there's no law that keeps that job open," Helbert said. "... Doesn't that defeat the purpose?"
Helbert said that the maximum Workers' Compensation pay is $568 per week, and a number of employees earn more than that.
The sentence to be deleted "really does not protect the district that much," Helbert said. "The chance that this could cause a burden for the district would be pretty minimal."
Helbert said he was not providing legal advice as the district's attorney, but was acting as a member of the board who happened to be an attorney.
Several board members spoke in agreement.
"We need to advocate for our employees and staff," Amy Scheller said.
The board voted unanimously to bring the policy back for a third review.
The board also voted unanimously on changes made in the board's immunization policy regarding handling of students who, for exempted reasons, were not immunized against specific diseases. Students who have not been immunized against a particular disease or diseases may be excluded from school during any declared outbreak of the disease.
Standard of Excellence awards were handed out by board president Mike Crouch to representatives of a number of schools recognized for students' performances on last school year's state assessment tests, used to monitor student progress as part of the No Child Left Behind Act.
Schools that received the awards in reading were:
-- Timmerman Elementary, grades three and four (both for two consecutive years); building-wide (third consecutive year)
-- Turning Point Learning Center, grades six and eight, and building-wide
-- Emporia Middle School rade seven (third consecutive year), grade eight (second consecutive year) and building-wide (third consecutive year)
Schools that received the awards in mathematics were:
-- Timmerman, grade 3 (third consecutive), grade four, and building-wide (third consecutive)
-- Village Elementary grade four
-- Walnut Elementary, grade four and building-wide (both third consecutive year)
-- Emporia High School, building-wide
Schools that received the awards in science were:
-- Timmerman, building-wide
-- Turning Point, grade four
Schools that received the awards in writing were:
-- Timmerman, building-wide
-- Turning Point, grades five and eight and building-wide
Criteria for the awards are different for grade level categories, and involve percentages of students who scored "exemplary," the highest level, with low levels of students placed in "academic warning."
During the meeting, Ann Mah of the North Central Association presented an NCA "We made it" flag to Emporia High School for its accomplishments through a five-year NCA process.
Mah taught physics at EHS from 1977 to 1979 and now serves in the Kansas House of Representatives, as well as with the NCA.
She praised the school staff for its "commitment to not just rolling the dice and hopoing you make AYP but a real commitment to continuous improvement."
"And I have to tell you that not all boards in the state appreciate that or make the effort."
The board met in executive session for 20 minutes and returned to request another 10-minute session to discussion negotiations. Superintendent John Heim, Assistant Superintendent of Finance Rob Scheib and Davidson were included in the session. No action was taken.
Comments
We allow registered users to post comments on this Web site. To learn more about our posting policies please read our User Poster Agreement Policy.
Posted by mythoughts (anonymous) on October 29, 2009 at 9:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Ok, Clint Bowyer is a great guy, but he spends his day driving a fast car in a circle, not protecting our nation (Thank you, Veterans), or promoting a national philosophy of socio-political importance, and observed on an international scale, AND the reading of quality writings and books by people of all ages (Thank you, WA and WL White, WAW Children's Book Awards). Why on earth should our veterans have to share their sign with anyone, and why should our great philosopher and newsman be replaced by a race car driver? Is that what Emporia is? NASCAR Nation? Someone's been sniffing too many car exhaust emissions...
Post a comment
We allow registered users to post comments on this Web site. Our goal with this feature is to encourage thoughtful discussions about the news stories. Using the comment feature to make random attacks on people is not acceptable. Emporiagazette.com neither endorses nor guarantees the accuracy of any user contribution. Responsibility for what is posted or contributed to this site is the sole responsibility of each user. To learn more about our posting policies please read our User Poster Agreement Policy.
(Requires free registration.)