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Santa Fe ISD board adopts "Friends Helping Friends" policy to let employees donate sick days
Summary
Trustees unanimously approved DEC local 'Friends Helping Friends,' allowing employees to voluntarily and anonymously donate state and local sick‑leave days to colleagues facing catastrophic illness or family emergency, with administrative regulations and a committee to manage transfers.
The Santa Fe ISD Board approved a new DEC local policy titled "Friends Helping Friends" that allows employees to donate state and local sick‑leave days to other district employees dealing with catastrophic illness or family emergency.
Mister Sanchez explained the program is voluntary and intentionally not request‑based: donations would be offered by employees who know of a need rather than solicited by those in need. He said the policy prohibits mass solicitations and keeps donors anonymous while authorizing administrative regulations and committee review to prevent abuse.
Board members discussed operational details, including how donated time will translate across differing work schedules. Sanchez said the program uses a day‑for‑day equivalence so a full workday donated by an employee on an 8‑hour schedule will be reconciled when converted to an employee who has a shorter workday. "So the way it's written, it provides that equivalence without having either additional time or removal of time," he said.
Trustees moved, seconded and voted unanimously to adopt the policy and tasked administration with drafting implementing regulations and reconciliation procedures; the Human Resources department will track donated days in annual audits.
Next steps include creating a committee to review donation requests and a timeline for when administrative regulations will be presented to the board for final adoption.
