United Independent School District trustees approved a board resolution to continue providing employee wellness days for the 2025–26 school year and directed staff to return with clarified administrative guidance on how the days are to be used.

The resolution continues the district’s wellness‑day initiative and includes a rollout of any available 2024–25 wellness days that must be used by the end of the 2026 school year; staff clarified teachers would generally need to use days by contract deadlines (for example, teachers by May 30 and administrators by June 30), though exact dates depend on contract status. The resolution also authorizes the superintendent to create and implement administrative regulations consistent with board feedback.

Why it matters: trustees and staff said wellness days support employee mental health and that many employees used the days in 2024–25. Several trustees pressed staff to remove restrictive language that required advance notice in situations where mental‑health crises are unpredictable and to make the administrative rules more empathetic and flexible.

Board discussion focused on whether wellness days should be treated as discretionary leave (with typical preapproval and restrictions around holidays and assessment windows) or afforded greater flexibility for episodes of anxiety, depression or other mental‑health needs that can arise without notice. Staff said discretionary‑leave policy requires restrictions such as not taking leave immediately before/after holidays or during assessments; in practice, supervisors and administrators handle many wellness incidents on a case‑by‑case basis and staff agreed to draft clearer administrative language and return to the board for review.

Decision and next steps: trustees approved the resolution to continue wellness days and directed staff to draft administrative regulations clarifying qualifying circumstances, rollover rules and procedures for recording wellness days. Staff said they can recode sick days as wellness days where appropriate and will present refined language as a future agenda item.