§1201. Amount of sick leave; reimbursement; injury on the job

A.(1) Every member of the teaching staff employed by any parish or city school board of this state shall be entitled to and shall be allowed a minimum of ten days absence per school year because of personal illness or because of other emergencies, without loss of pay. Any portion of such sick leave not used in any year shall be accumulated to the credit of the member of the teaching staff without limitation. However, upon initial employment a member of the teaching staff employed by a school board shall not be allowed any sick leave in a school year unless and until he reports for duty and actually performs work for the board during that school year at which time the ten days otherwise provided for in this Paragraph shall accrue. The minimum of ten days of sick leave provided in this Subsection shall be allowed based on a member of the teaching staff beginning work at the beginning of a school year. In the case of a member of the teaching staff who begins work in the first month of a school year, ten days shall be allowed; in the case of a member of the teaching staff who begins work in the second month of a school year, nine days shall be allowed; in the case of a member of the teaching staff who begins work in the third month of a school year, eight days shall be allowed; in the case of a member of the teaching staff who begins work in the fourth month of a school year, seven days shall be allowed; in the case of a member of the teaching staff who begins work in the fifth month of a school year, six days shall be allowed; in the case of a member of the teaching staff who begins work in the sixth month of a school year, five days shall be allowed; in the case of a member of the teaching staff who begins work in the seventh month of a school year, four days shall be allowed; and, in the case of a member of the teaching staff who begins work in the eighth month or thereafter of a school year, three days shall be allowed.

(a) Any parish or city school board may reimburse a member of the teaching staff for any unused sick leave accumulated prior to the current year up to ten days during any school year upon the request by a member of the teaching staff. At the time of such request, the parish or city school board shall inform the member of the teaching staff making the request of the prohibition as provided in Subparagraph (c) of this Paragraph.

(b) A parish or city school board electing to reimburse a member of the teaching staff as provided in Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph shall establish a rate of pay for this reimbursement which shall be not more than seventy-five dollars per day.

(c) Any unused sick leave reimbursed to a member of the teaching staff as provided in this Paragraph shall not be used in the calculation of any employee benefit otherwise applicable including retirement or severance pay.

(d) Any teacher reimbursed pursuant to the provisions of this Paragraph shall be eligible for payment for extended sick leave only for such number of days absent for which extended sick leave is granted which exceeds the number of days for which the teacher has been reimbursed under the provisions of this Paragraph.

(2) When a member of the teaching staff is absent for six or more consecutive days because of personal illness, he shall be required to present a certificate from a physician certifying such illness. Each parish and city school board may adopt such rules and regulations as are necessary relative to the use of such sick leave, either current or accumulated, for emergencies. The parish and city school boards may grant additional sick leave, without loss of pay, or with such reduction of pay as they may establish and fix.

(3) All sick leave accumulated by each member of the teaching staff pursuant to the provisions of this Subsection shall be vested in the member of the teaching staff by whom such leave has been accumulated. In the event of the transfer of such member of the teaching staff from one city or parish public school system to another in this state, or upon the return of such member of the teaching staff to the same school system within five years or such longer period of time as may be approved by the governing authority of the school system to which the member of the teaching staff returned, regardless of the dates on which the leave was accumulated or the date of the transfer or return of the member of the teaching staff, such vested leave shall be transferred or returned to or continued by the school system to which he transfers or returns and shall be retained to the credit of such member of the teaching staff. When any member of the teaching staff uses accrued sick leave which has been transferred from one public school system to another, the sick leave used shall be assessed against the most recent sick leave earned and accrued and successively from sick leave accrued last to sick leave accrued first.

(4) All actual costs incurred by any city or parish school board as a result of the use by any member of the teaching staff of any accumulated leave transferred, returned, or continued as provided in Paragraph (3) of this Subsection shall be paid by the employing city or parish school board.

B. Upon the retirement of any public school member of the teaching staff, or upon his death prior to retirement, his employer shall pay to such member of the teaching staff or to his heirs or assigns, sick leave which has accrued to such member of the teaching staff but which remains unused at the time of his retirement or at the time of his death if prior to retirement, not to exceed twenty-five days of such unused sick leave. Such pay shall be at the rate of pay received by the member of the teaching staff at the time of retirement or death prior to retirement; provided that any parish or city school board may pay such unused sick leave beyond twenty-five days at its discretion.

C.(1)(a) Any member of the teaching staff of the public schools who is injured or disabled while acting in his official capacity as a result of assault or battery by any student or person shall receive sick leave without reduction in pay and without reduction in accrued sick leave days while disabled as a result of such assault or battery. However, such member of the teaching staff shall be required to present a certificate from a physician certifying such injury and disability. If the member of the teaching staff who is receiving sick leave without reduction as provided in this Section begins to draw his benefit from the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana, the leave shall cease.

(b)(i) A member of the teaching staff of the public schools who while acting in his official capacity is disabled as a result of physical contact with a student while providing physical assistance to a student to prevent danger or risk of injury to the student shall receive sick leave for a period up to one calendar year without reduction in pay and without reduction in accrued sick leave days while disabled as a result of rendering such assistance. Such member of the teaching staff shall be required to present a certificate from a physician selected by the teaching staff member certifying the disability. Nothing in this Subsection shall prohibit a city, parish, or other local public school board from extending this period beyond one calendar year.

(ii) At any time during the period of certified disability, if the school board questions the validity of the physician certification provided for in this Section, the board may require the teaching staff member to be examined by a physician selected by the board. In such a case, the board shall pay all costs of the examination and any tests determined to be necessary. If the physician selected by the board certifies the disability, the leave shall be granted or continued as appropriate. If the physician selected by the board disagrees with the certificate of the physician selected by the staff member, then the board may require the staff member to be examined by a third physician whose name appears next in the rotation of physicians on a list established by the local or state medical society for such purpose and maintained by the board. All costs of an examination and any tests required by a third physician shall be paid by the board. The opinion of the third physician shall be determinative of the issue.

(iii) The opinion of each physician consulted as provided in this Subparagraph shall be submitted to the school board in the form of a sworn statement that shall be subject to the provisions of R.S. 14:125.

(iv) The board shall not reduce the pay or accrued sick leave of a member of the teaching staff who is absent from his duties to seek medical attention or treatment as a result of an injury as provided in this Subsection.

(v) If the member of the teaching staff's physician determines that the member is able to return to active service as a member of the teaching staff with restrictions and the board does not allow the member to return to active service as a member of the teaching staff subject to those restrictions, then the member's leave shall be granted or continued as provided in this Subsection.

(2) The sick leave authorized by this Subsection shall be in addition to all other sick leave authorized in this Section, provided that additional sick leave earned during the period of disability as a result of such assault and battery shall not be accumulated from year to year, nor shall such additional sick leave be compensated for at death or retirement or compensated for in any other manner except as authorized in this Subsection.

D.(1) Any member of the teaching staff in the public schools who is injured or disabled while acting in his official capacity shall be entitled to weekly wage benefits under the workers' compensation law of the state of Louisiana and/or to sick leave benefits under Subsection A of this Section, at his option, but in no event shall such benefits exceed the total amount of the regular salary the member of the teaching staff was receiving at the time the injury or disability occurred.

(2) In any case in which a member of the teaching staff personally elects to supplement workers' compensation with accumulated sick leave, the amount of sick leave used shall be calculated on an hourly basis.

Acts 1990, No. 643, §1; Acts 1991, No. 360, §1, eff. July 6, 1991; Acts 1995, No. 663, §1; Acts 1995, No. 1089, §1; Acts 1999, No. 663, §1, eff. July 1, 1999; Acts 2004, No. 603, §1, eff. July 1, 2004; Acts 2014, No. 741, §1; Acts 2017, No. 227, §1.