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Union seeks expanded family leave: 60 sick days for birth-giving parents, 30 for non-birthing and family-care

Ithaca City School District 26 Ithaca Teachers Association bargaining session · October 10, 2025
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Summary

The ITA proposed expanding parental and family leave in the collective bargaining agreement to provide more paid sick-day coverage for birth-giving and non-birth-giving parents and to add a family-care category aligned with FMLA timelines; the union said the expansion responds to exit-interview feedback about respect and retention.

The Ithaca Teachers Association proposed expanding family leave and access to the association27s sick bank to cover longer parental and caregiving leaves.

Aurora presented the proposal as an amendment to Article 16 (Leaves of Absence). For birth-giving parents the ITA proposed allowing use of up to 60 accumulated sick days for pregnancy-related disability leave, to be used within the 12 weeks immediately following birth; teachers without enough sick days would be granted access to the ITA-funded sick bank. For non-birthing parents the ITA proposed up to 30 accumulated sick days for bonding following birth, adoption or foster placement; those 30 days must be used within one calendar year and need not be consecutive. The ITA also proposed a new family-leave category permitting up to 30 accumulated sick days per academic year to care for family members who experience qualifying FMLA events.

The ITA said the change was amended from an earlier draft to explicitly include care for elderly and other family members in addition to new parents. Aurora said exit interviews and member feedback often reference family-leave language and differential treatment for birth types as a factor in members27 sense of respect and, at times, in departure decisions.

District staff asked for historical context and said they would research when current language was negotiated. The ITA confirmed it had not included a proposal to increase the sick bank contribution but noted existing contract mechanisms permit replenishment if the bank runs dry.

Discussion points: ITA framed the change as aligning ICSD policy closer to New York State paid family-leave timelines and to FMLA; the district requested documentation on when the current leave language was negotiated and said it would return with that information for the next session.

No formal agreements were reached; both sides will continue to negotiate next week.