Staff tell Schuyler board new PTO, vacation limits cause confusion and hardship

Public commenters urged the Schuyler Community Schools board on Tuesday to clarify a recently imposed leave schedule that, they said, limits employees to one PTO day and one vacation day per month.

"We came to find out when we started the school year that we only have one PTO and one vacation per month," Paloma Arca said during public comment, asking how employees should handle multiple sick days or family emergencies without going unpaid. "What are we supposed to do? Are we supposed to go unpaid?"

Marisol Lopez, who also spoke during public comment, said staff typically receive contracts at the end of the year that describe upcoming leave; she said the late notice left employees unable to plan and appealed to the board to delay implementation. "If you want to do this, then you need to wait until next year so we can all see what's going to come," Lopez said.

Board members did not take immediate action on the PTO topic during the public comment period. The board chair thanked speakers and moved on to other agenda items. The commenters asked the board to clarify whether employees who exhaust the new per-month allowances would be unpaid or required to use other leave, and whether long-serving staff would receive different consideration; those questions were not answered in the recorded discussion.

The concerns raised during public comment will be available to board leadership for follow-up; one board member later suggested staff should have an opportunity to raise concerns with building principals before the board approves related personnel policies.

Ending: The board acknowledged the speakers and proceeded with the agenda; no formal vote or formal policy change addressing the PTO/vacation issue is recorded in the provided transcript portion.