Committee debates shortening notice for staff returning from leave; public commenter cites teacher-discipline statute

During the Orleans Parish School Board School Policy Committee’s June 2 meeting, the committee debated a proposed amendment to policy GBRI (personnel leaves and absences) that would shorten the time window for return-from-leave notification from 30 days to 3 days.

Public commenter Collette Tippy objected to the proposal and told the committee the amendment and related items "don't appear to be in compliance with LARS 17:443," the state statute governing teacher-discipline procedures and the right of review, and asked that the item be postponed to allow for additional legal review. Kathy Moss, the board's general counsel, replied to the committee that "the legal department has reviewed all of the policy amendments and we have no concerns with them."

Staff described the operational reasons for the change. Ms. Dukes told the committee the shorter window responds to recurring coverage issues: "the reason is we've had employees in instructional positions that have been on leave and we typically notify them within 4 weeks [to see] if they are coming back ... and so, we change that window from 30 days to 3 days communication with them during this time period," she said, adding the change is intended to ensure schools have timely notice of staff availability and that staff provide physician certification in advance of a leave ending.

Committee members pressed staff on whether the proposed change would affect teacher dismissal procedures. The committee was told existing board policies regarding teacher dismissal would still have to be followed even if the GBRI amendment is adopted.

The committee voted to move the GBRI amendment (Item 5.4) to the full board for consideration; the committee did not adopt the policy at this meeting. The full board will receive the proposed amendment for final action at a later meeting.