By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
Paid time off (PTO) and accumulated sick time were the focus of discussion between the Hays USD 489 Board of Education and the Hays Kansas National Educators Association (H-NEA) bargaining team Wednesday night.
Zach Butte, H-NEA team member and a Hays High School teacher, presented a proposal from the Leave Committee, including a three-tier system for paying staff for unused accumulated sick leave.
Licensed professional employees who began contributing to the KPERS program prior to July 1, 1993, would be able to “use their severance pay as a part of their last three years of average salary upon retirement in that lump sum payment,” Butte explained.
Those who quality would receive $65 a day for all accumulated sick leave in excess of 20 days. These employees would be in Tier One.
Butte also explained the proposal for the remaining two tiers.
The Second Tier qualifiers who entered KPERS after July 1, 1993, would have a 100-day cap–minus the first 20 days–paid at $65 a day. There would be a limit of 50 days for the first year. Year two would be the 15 remaining days plus a new year of leave–11 days–for a total of 26 days at $65 a day.
Tier Three employees would receive $55 a day for unused days after reaching a 100-day cap.
Although both sides agreed to the idea of paid time off, there was considerable discussion about what situations and how many days would qualify.
The H-NEA union supported a separate leave pool or additional PTO for bereavement as well as serious illness leave to attend to relatives.
Board member Greg Schwarz said it would be “an accounting nightmare” for the school district to have more than one leave pool.
Lance Bickle started the meeting with a list of updated proposals from the USD 489 board, although H-NEA co-chairperson Kim Schneweis said the list included items not in the board’s notice letter to the union. “There’s no obligation to address things if they weren’t in the notice letter,” Schneweis added.
“I guess I’m looking at it, we’re trying to work this as a team,” Bickle replied. “They’re just proposals…not set in stone.”
The negotiating teams will meet again next Tuesday, May 26, at 5 p.m. in the Rockwell Administration Center Toepfer Board Room, 323 W. 12th.