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School board approves termination process for teacher Sharon Smith, board cites district leave policy
Summary
The Bay County School Board voted to move forward with termination of a teacher, Sharon Smith, subject to the employee’s right to request a hearing; the action was based on use of more than 10 unpaid sick days as described in district policy.
The Bay County School Board on March 24 approved the superintendent’s recommendation to terminate the employment of a teacher identified in the meeting as Sharon Smith, subject to the teacher’s right to request a formal hearing.
Board legal counsel and human resources staff explained the action is based on the district’s leave provisions. "School board policy 2.125 and [policies] 3.125 and 3.126 state that any overused sick leave greater than 10 days unpaid for the year gives the superintendent the option to terminate," a district HR speaker said during the meeting. Staff told trustees the employee had exceeded the 10‑day unpaid threshold and that the district had provided meetings and notice and had offered options such as FMLA and extended leave before bringing the recommendation.
Board members discussed requesting empirical district data on leave usage to provide context. Trustee Buchanan asked staff to provide comparative numbers so the board could understand the district’s overall leave trends. One board member noted the recommendation is not routine and indicated this was the first such case the board has considered this school year.
Action taken: The board approved the superintendent’s recommendation to proceed with termination subject to the employee’s right to request a hearing (motion by Board Member Moore; second by Board Member Chester). A roll call recorded the members present voting to approve; the superintendent’s written recommendation indicated the employee’s status would change to suspension without pay if the employee requests a hearing and termination would follow if no hearing was requested.
Authorities and policy: During deliberations staff cited school board policy numbers 2.125, 3.125 and 3.126 as the basis for the action. Board members asked HR to provide further empirical numbers on the incidence and trends of unpaid leave to inform future decisions.
Implementation: If the employee requests a due‑process hearing, district procedures will follow that process; if not, the termination will be executed as described by staff. The board’s action was procedural and did not include additional disciplinary detail in the public record.
