Each employee in the School District eligible to receive sick leave benefits, may participate in the Sick Leave Bank. New employees are ineligible to join during the first year of employment, unless he/she has sick leave days to transfer from a previous school district. 

Participant contributed sick leave days shall form a fund of sick leave days that will be available to all eligible participating employees upon recommendation of the Sick Leave Bank Committee for the purpose of alleviating the hardship caused by absence from work necessitated by extended or recurring illness extending beyond the employee's accumulated sick leave.
 
The committee shall have the authority to establish such guidelines as it deems necessary to implement this program. After complete review of the application, the Sick Leave Bank Committee shall have the authority to make final decisions within the guidelines as to the disposition of the case.

In order for an employee to be eligible to join and to apply for sick leave benefits from the Sick Leave Bank, the employee must: 

1. have at least two days of accrued sick leave
2. be a contributor to the Sick Leave Bank, and 
3. have been absent from work due to illness or accident for: 
   1. all his/her accumulated sick leave and personal leave days, and 
   2. have illness or injury that will require more than ten (10) additional days.

 
When joining the Sick Leave Bank, each participating employee shall contribute two days of his/her accumulated sick leave to the bank at the time of enrollment. The contributed sick leave days shall form a fund of sick leave days that will be available to all eligible particiapting employees upon recommendation of the Sick Leave Bank Committee for the purpose of alleviating the hardship caused by absence from work necessitated by extended or recurring illness extending beyond the employee's accumulated sick leave. To keep the Sick Leave Bank solvent, the Sick Leave Bank Committee may ask for additional days from participating employees. Participants, who choose not to contribute the additional days, shall be dropped from the sick leave bank.

A letter requesting days from the sick leave bank accompanied by verification of illness from a licensed physician shall be submitted to the Sick Leave Bank Committee for their recommendations. The committee shall review the request and determine the eligibility of the employee. If the committee deems necessary, it shall require proof of illness at the time of application and from time to time after it has been made. The committee may request a second opinion from a doctor of their choice which would be paid for by the School District.
 
The maximum number of days that may be granted in any one (1) fiscal year for certified employees will be ninety (90) working days and will be reviewed by the Sick Leave Bank Committee on a case by case basis. The maximum number of days that may be granted for classified employees will be ninety (90) working days lifetime benefit.

The number of sick leave days granted shall not exceed the number of days absent from work due to illness, or injury, or accident. Whenever an employee has been sick for a continuous incident lasting ten (10) working days beyond his/her accumulated sick leave, the committee may allow retroactive coverage for five (5) of the ten (10) days.

Sick Leave Bank grants to individuals will not be carried over from one (1) fiscal year to another; all such grants will end at the termination of the school year. If an employee does not use all of the days granted by the Sick Leave Bank, the unused sick leave days will be returned to the Sick Leave Bank.

Following the use of any days from the Sick Leave Bank, the employee will be required to repay the Sick Leave Bank at the rate of one (1) day per year until said individual repays days in full or leaves the District. 

Sick Leave Bank grants to individuals will not be carried over from one (1) fiscal year to another; all such grants will end at the termination of the school year. If an employee does not use all of the days granted by the Sick Leave Bank, the unused sick leave days will be returned to the Sick Leave Bank.

The Sick Leave Bank, chaired by the Director of Human Resources (who shall vote only in the case of a tie), shall consist of five members. Each member of the committee must be a contributing member of the Sick Leave Bank. The committee shall develop and distribute rules and procedures for the orderly administration of the Sick Leave Bank.