Board approves policy change requiring employees to use comp time before ABL

Jones County Schools' board voted to add language to district leave and overtime policy to require that accrued compensatory (comp) time be used before staff apply ABL (annual/benefit leave). The change was presented by district staff as a cost-saving measure and approved by a voice vote.

A staff presenter told the board the proposed insertion of "red language" into the relevant policies would lower the district's year-end payroll liabilities because payouts for comp time would be minimized if comp time is used first. "My recommendation was that we add into the policy . . . that our comp time be used prior to our ABL," the presenter said during the discussion.

A board member moved to add the proposed language, a second was recorded and the motion carried. The presenter characterized the change as non-regulatory and routine payroll management: taking comp time first could convert excess ABL into sick leave toward service time rather than producing large cash payouts at the end of a fiscal year.

The vote was a voice vote; the motion passed with no recorded roll-call tally. The board did not specify an effective date in the public discussion; staff described the insertion as an immediate amendment to the policy language to be placed following existing text.

Next steps: staff will incorporate the approved language into the district policy documents and publish the revised policy for board records and staff notice.