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Operations committee reviews employee handbook; Chair proposes three paid emergency-closing days for hourly staff
Summary
At an operations committee meeting, the Platteville School District Chair presented proposed handbook language to align 10-month/hourly staff with contracted staff during emergency closings, recommending three paid days and raising questions about handling days beyond three; the Chair will forward the changes to the full board for action.
The Platteville School District operations committee reviewed proposed changes to the district employee handbook and discussed a staff request to give hourly (10-month) non-exempt employees paid leave for emergency school closings.
Operations Committee Chair said the handbook review is routine and that the board is not discussing salary or wages now, while health-care decisions are pending; she said she will forward the handbook with the proposed language to the full board for its regular meeting. "We are purposefully waiting to see the first big step is health care and we should have that sometime in April," the Chair said.
The item originated from paraprofessional staff asking for better alignment between hourly non-exempt employees and professional contracted staff during emergency closings. Chair described the current practice for contracted staff: "The first 3 days are absorbed," after which the district expects some online asynchronous work for secondary students and activity grids for younger grades. The proposal under discussion would grant three paid days to hourly staff for emergency closings, matching that absorbed period for contracted employees.
Committee members questioned how additional days beyond three would be handled. The Chair said the intent was to give three paid days but that staff who have remaining paid time could still use PTO for days four and five; she asked the committee to discuss whether that approach was equitable. A committee member responded, "As we discussed it, we rarely get more than five days," and said the suggested policy gives staff meaningful choices and reflects staff input.
No formal vote was taken in the operations meeting. The Chair said she will forward the proposed handbook language, the current handbook and suggested amendments to the regular board meeting for consideration and potential approval.
Other items previewed for the regular board meeting included a student-learning presentation on the multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) that will track a fictional student through tiers 1–3; a budget update (no figures were discussed at this meeting); consent-agenda personnel items including a speech therapist resignation/retirement (the employee had not met the district's 15-year threshold for retirement benefits), a custodian resignation and a recommended hire for a high-school assistant coach; notice that two staff have met the retirement-benefit threshold; a Westview fiscal-education intern placement; and an auditorium HVAC project for which the previously vetted vendor is ready to schedule work pending suitable weather. The Chair closed the operations meeting and said she would handle the remaining items at the regular board meeting that evening. The meeting adjourned at 07:07 p.m.
