[SchoolFinance] Question on Paid Time Off (PTO) Practices

[Lucie Tabor]

We have not gone with PTO, we have Sick and EPL buckets for teachers.  It
has been asked for in negotiations and we've refused.  It's difficult
enough having to deal with 5 days' worth of EPL for teachers who only work
182 days a year and get AMPLE time off during a calendar year, it does not
make any sense (to me) to allow even more flex time for which they would
not have to provide a reason to even use.
The EPL bucket costs us more in Subs and that's enough of a headache.

For recruiting subs, we have had to increase the daily rate and offer
multiple incentives - free lunch, mileage, and EPL!
We now also provide a higher hourly rate ($5 to $6/Hr extra) for any Ed
Tech that covers for teachers for any period during the day.

And let's throw the new PFML in there for fun!  (Grrr).
- Lucie




On Wed, Mar 18, 2026 at 10:00 AM Andrea Disch <adisch at msad11.org> wrote:

> I am looking to see if there are districts that currently offer Paid Time
> Off (PTO) instead of separate sick, personal, and other accrued absences.
>
> Our teachers have raised PTO in current negotiations, and we are already
> dealing with a high number of staff absences, so I’m especially interested
> in how a PTO model has impacted absence rates and overall leave usage.
>
> If your district offers PTO, I’d appreciate hearing how it’s structured
> and how it’s working in practice.
>
> Thank you,
> Andrea
>
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-- 
Lucie Tabor
*Director of Finance*
*Valley Unified Educational Service Center (VUESC)*
*Serving the School Districts of MSAD 27, MSAD 33 and Madawaska School
Dept.*
*Upper St. John Valley*
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