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Teacher and substitute ask board to revisit incentive policy after maternity-leave exclusion
Summary
A Franklin Park Elementary teacher told the board she lost an incentive because she was on approved leave; a substitute who covered for her urged the district to base incentives on performance rather than physical presence during a particular week.
Marie Ortega, a third-grade English-language arts teacher at Franklin Park Elementary, told the board that she expected a teacher incentive but was disqualified because she was on approved leave for the birth of her child. "If approved leave results in disqualification from an incentive intended to reward teacher dedication and impact, it sends an unintended message that life events carry professional penalties," Ortega said.
Kiara Busher, the substitute who covered Ortega's classes, described Ortega's active engagement while on leave (monitoring assessments remotely, FaceTiming with students and PLC follow-ups) and called the existing incentive-calculation rules "inequitable." "The teacher incentive should be awarded based on performance and value added, not on whether the teacher was present during a random week," Busher said.
Board members acknowledged the concern and asked staff to provide an explanation of the applicable rules and a follow-up on how incentive eligibility is determined. No formal change to policy was made at the March 10 meeting; board members asked staff to report back with details and possible remedies.
