[SchoolFinance] Inquiry: Use of Sick Leave Bank for Postpartum Recovery

[Andrea Disch]

Thank you!



Andrea Disch

Business Manager


Maine School Administrative District No. 11
150 Highland Avenue • Gardiner, Maine 04330



207-582-5346

*aDisch at msad11.org <aDisch at msad11.org>*

*www.msad11.org <http://www.msad11.org>*





On Wed, Nov 12, 2025 at 10:56 AM Winslow, Natasha <nwinslow at rsu50.org>
wrote:

> Hi Andrea,
>
> RSU 50 added maternity/ paternity leave two years ago to our language as
> acceptable uses of the sick bank. We have not had anyone out on maternity/
> paternity leave until recently and no requests have come in for that
> spacific use yet. Here is our language:
>
> D.  Sick Leave Bank
>
> The Board agrees to maintain a sick-leave bank under the following
> conditions:
>
> l.   Only teachers covered by this Agreement are eligible.
>
> 2. The Sick Bank Committee shall administer the sick-leave bank. The
> Committee shall be comprised of the Superintendent of Schools and the
> President of the Association. Unanimity is required to grant days from the
> sick-leave bank.
>
> 3. Participation in the sick-leave bank shall be voluntary.
>
> 4. Each sick-leave-bank participant will donate one (l) day of his/her
> sick leave to the bank at the beginning of each school year (no later than
> September 15). New teachers may only donate a day after completing six (6)
> months of employment (March 1).
>
> 5. To qualify for sick leave from the sick-leave bank, the following
> conditions must be met:
>
> a.  Use of the sick-leave bank is limited to serious illness, disability,
> maternity leave and paternity leave.
>
>        b. The bank may not be utilized until the teacher has exhausted
> his/her own personal sick leave.
>
> c. The member must have been ill and absent from work at least five (5)
> consecutive school days. Reimbursement will be retroactive to the beginning
> of the five-day period.
>
> d. Upon approval, a member may draw on the sick-leave bank up to forty
> (40) days of sick leave for serious illness or disability that has been
> substantiated by appropriate medical information upon initial application
> and is satisfactory to the Sick Bank Committee of the need for sick-bank
> leave.  In extreme cases, ten (10) additional days may be granted by the
> Sick Bank Committee.
>
> e. Members withdrawing sick leave from the bank are under no obligation to
> replace those days used except as a regular contributing member of the bank.
>
>    f.  The bank shall accumulate whole or partial sick-leave days on an
> annual basis not to exceed a total of one hundred fifty (150) days,
> excepting that days that must be contributed by new teachers shall be added
> to the 150-day maximum. When the bank reaches a level below twenty (20)
> days during any given year, teachers will be assessed an additional day,
> providing all teachers have at least one (l) day of accumulated sick leave.
>
>
> On Wed, Nov 12, 2025 at 10:46 AM Andrea Disch <adisch at msad11.org> wrote:
>
>> Dear Colleagues,
>>
>> I’m reaching out to ask whether any of your districts currently restrict
>> staff members recovering from childbirth—who lack sufficient personal sick
>> leave—from drawing time from an associated sick leave bank.
>>
>> Our current Collective Bargaining Agreement specifies that this is not
>> permitted. However, we were previously advised by counsel that prohibiting
>> employees from accessing the sick leave bank for postpartum recovery could
>> constitute discrimination, prompting a change in past practice.
>>
>> I’d appreciate learning whether others are facing similar language in
>> their agreements, and if so, how your districts are addressing it in
>> practice.
>>
>> Thank you in advance for any insights you can share.
>>
>> Best,
>> Andrea
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> SchoolFinance at maillist.informe.org
>> http://maillist.informe.org/mailman/listinfo/schoolfinance
>
>
>
> --
>
>
> *Natasha Winslow**Business Manager*
>
>
> *RSU 50 <http://www.rsu50.org/>*nwinslow at rsu50.org
>
> *Phone:* 207.757.8223  Ext.012 | *Fax:* 207.757.8257
>
> *District Website: rsu50.org <http://rsu50.org/>*
>
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