Your Leave Time
A reminder on your leave.
Too many Campus Administrators are looking to make their campus teacher attendance numbers look good at your expense and/or your health. The number of member calls about leave or harassment for taking leave is on the increase, mainly in EPISD.
There are two types of leave, they are:
1. Discretionary, which requires permission.
2. Non-Discretionary, which does NOT require permission.
This focuses on Non-Discretionary Leave.
Non-Discretionary leave is for illness/injury or emergency or death, be it yours or a close family member’s. This includes treatment for illness/injury. A doctor’s note is only required for 3 or more days of consecutive sick-leave if your admin requests it.
Policy and law say to call it in, if possible. You put the absence in TEAMS and call when possible. Go to or take that family member to the ER or Urgent Care, then worry about calling it in.
You are not responsible for getting a Substitute, and cannot be denied Non-Discretionary
(Sick) leave due to the lack of subs
If you (or your spouse/partner or your children or certain others) are sick or in need of medical/dental treatment, that qualifies as Non-Discretionary.
If you (or your spouse/partner or your children or certain others that need your care) as a doctor’s or dentist appointment or is hospitalized, that is Non-Discretionary.
Here is a frequently asked question, “If I (or my spouse, child or parent) has a Doctor’s appointment on the Wednesday in the middle of STAAR/EOC Testing (April 8th or 15th) can I take Non-Discretionary leave?”
The answer is yes, and I remind you your principal cannot deny you that leave.
The TEAMS Absence Codes to use for Non-Discretionary Leave are:
10 – Personal Illness
11 – Illness of Family
12 – Family Emergency
13 – Death of Immediate Family
14 – Death of Other Family Member
If your Administration gives you any hassle about caring for the health of your family or yourself, contact your Federation immediately. (915.562.3738)
T-TESS and Leave
Has your Campus Administrator threatened to write you up for taking too much leave, particularly Non-Discretionary?
Has your T-TESS Evaluator threatened to take points in one of your T-TESS Domains for taking too much leave, particularly Non-Discretionary?
Has your T-TESS Evaluator dinged you in one of your T-TESS Domains for taking too much leave, particularly Non-Discretionary?
Guess what? The Texas Commissioner of Education ruled that doing so violates the law (TEC 22.003) in the case of Melinda Houston vs. Point Isabel ISD, Docket No. 014-R10-01-2016.
So, if this does or has happened to you, contact your Federation to discuss options. I will be providing the Trustees a copy of the case with comment.
Why is the EP AFT so intense on protecting your leave rights?
1. You have earned this leave. It is yours to use.
2. The frequency and blatancy of Administrators trying to intimidate or shame members into NOT using it continues to increase.
3. How many of you have been told to take care of your or family medical issues during the Summer, not when they happen during the school year?
4. EPISD Central Office bureaucrats and heavy handed EPISD Campus Administration (or wannabe administrators) have increased the workload, time demands and stress levels in EPISD, needlessly and without benefit to students.
5. To be blunt, I am sick and tired of the constant increase of the number of Federation Sisters and Brothers becoming seriously ill because they had been intimidated or shamed from taking necessary sick or medical leave.
It is time for Administration to start taking care of the adults who actually educate the children.
In Solidarity,
Ross
