The Bullhead City School District superintendent presented a proposed overhaul to the district’s paid time off policies at the Dec. 16 workshop, recommending a split between paid sick time and paid leave time and establishing a new medical leave assistance program to replace a one-to-one leave-sharing model.

Under the draft policy, the existing shorthand that converted "sick" references to a single paid-time-off category would be replaced by two distinct designations: paid sick time and paid leave. The superintendent said the change restores a separate personal leave category that had been deleted in earlier revisions and reflects how the district has been operating in practice.

The superintendent described a new program (GCCG in the draft) that would allow employees to donate days into a centrally administered medical leave assistance program. "We wanted the idea of a leave bank ... it's called the medical leave assistance program," the superintendent said, explaining that employees who exhaust personal balances could apply to the pooled program rather than having to find a specific colleague willing to transfer days.

Board members pressed for numerical clarifications. The superintendent said accrual would be capped at 150 days and accrual stops once that cap is reached; employees could still receive annual accrual in the next year but would only be able to use up to the 150-day cap. For non-sick paid leave, the draft limits usage to 10 days per year. The superintendent also cited a suggested donor cap ("20 or 25 days") to prevent employees with fewer years of service from donating so many days they left themselves unprotected.

Trustees discussed whether a doctor's note would be required after three days of illness. The board clarified the language uses permissive wording — "may" rather than "shall" — to allow employees who use home COVID tests or who cannot access a clinician quickly to avoid routine doctor-visit requirements.

The superintendent said one regulation tied to Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requirements would not change because it is a federal legal obligation, but other exhibits and regulations will be reorganized to accompany the new policy. The changes were presented for workshop review; the board listed these items for first reading and requested clean copies for the second-reading packet.