Busy night for South Butler School Board
SAXONBURG — The South Butler School Board on Wednesday approved a “last chance” agreement and reinstated a middle school teacher who was suspended without pay for allegedly misusing sick days.
Neither the board, administrators nor solicitor Thomas Breth identified the teacher. But several middle school students who spoke on the teacher's behalf referred to the teacher as a female.
Breth told about 100 students, parents and teachers who attended the school board committee meeting that the teacher's suspension was not the first time district administrators have clamped down on alleged misuse of sick days by a district employee.
Breth said “corrective action” was taken against a different professional employee who allegedly used paid leave time for vacation last spring. That employee was also not identified Wednesday night.
This school year similar allegations arose against another professional employee, Breth said. He said an investigation found “credible evidence” of misuse of sick days and the employee was suspended without pay.
One parent said the teacher was removed from her classroom on Oct. 19. District officials did not address that claim Wednesday night.
Breth said he presented the results of the investigation to the administration and the teachers' union. The administration made a recommendation on how to address the matter to the board, and he prepared a modified recommendation after meeting with local teachers' union representative Brooke Witt.
That recommendation and the last chance agreement “keeps employment intact,” Breth said. The teacher and the union approved the agreement, he said. After the meeting, he declined to say when the teacher would return to work.
The board is continuing to investigate sick leave usage in the district, Breth said.
Teachers receive 10 sick days a year, which is mandated in the state School Code, and unused sick days are accumulated, he said.
Of the district's 166 teachers, 52 used at least 75 percent of their sick days during the previous school year and those teachers average 14.5 years of service in the district, Breth said.
In total, the teaching staff is allotted 7,780 sick days and 6,980, or 90 percent, of those days were used, he said.
He acknowledged that the statistics don't prove sick day misuse and some teachers have health issues.
The district spent $250,000 on substitute teachers last year, Breth said. However, responding to another question later, Breth said the amount spent on substitutes was not all for teachers who took paid time off.
Students praised the teacher in question, but teachers in the audience said the statistics painted teachers in a negative light and the way the district dealt with the teacher that was reinstated Wednesday was disrespectful.
Some teachers said their administrators told them they might have to submit receipts from medical appointments or pharmacies when they call off sick.
“You have created paranoia about taking sick days,” one teacher said.
Responding to a question from a teacher, Breth said going on vacation out of state or traveling are not appropriate use of sick days.
“These are not borderline calls. The situation we've addressed are clear abuses,” Breth said.
