| Mingo County Schools |
| Bylaws & Policies |
3245 - SABBATICAL LEAVE POLICY FOR PROFESSIONAL EDUCATORS AND TEACHER AIDES
Professional educators and teacher aides are eligible for sabbatical leave. Sabbatical leaves may be granted generally on a full-time basis to conduct research, completion of an advanced degree related to subject area, teacher exchange program, completion of baccalaureate degree for aides, or participation in other professional development activities that would contribute to the improvement of both the individual and the educator’s services to students.
Eligibility- Professional Educators
Any full-time professional educator, as defined in WV Code 18A-1-1, who has a minimum of ten (10) years of public school service in West Virginia is eligible to apply for a sabbatical leave.
Eligibility- Teacher Aides
To be eligible to apply for sabbatical leave, teacher aides must have a minimum of ten (10) years of West Virginia public school service and have a cumulative grade point of 3.2 on a possible 4.0 scale, and have successfully completed at least sixty-four (64) semester hours of course work at an approved institution of higher education.
Selection Criteria
The following criteria shall be used in selecting applicants for sabbatical leave:
| A. | completion of an application | |
| B. | the need of the individual applicant with respect to his/her current job assignment | |
| C. | the needs of the school system with respect to identified deficiencies | |
| D. | priority will be given to those applicants who have not been previously granted sabbatical leave |
Sabbatical Leave Requirements/Conditions
| A. | Classroom Teachers shall comprise at least ninety-five percent (95%) of the sabbatical leaves granted. | |
| B. | The Board may compensate employees during the sabbatical leave, if the necessary funding is available. Employees may only receive up to one-half (1/2) of their regular salary. | |
| C. | Though an individual is on sabbatical leave, the County shall deem the employee as a full-time employee for the purposes of years of experience, accumulation of seniority, participation in the Teacher Retirement System and the Public Employees Insurance Program. | |
| While the District has the obligation to deem an employee full-time for the above-stated reasons, employees who are on sabbatical leave shall be reported to the State Board of Education on the personal services report and their positions can be counted up to one-half (1/2) full-time equivalent in the school foundation support program. | ||
| When returning from sabbatical leave, employees shall be assigned to the same position from which they left. An employee on sabbatical leave is permitted to bid on other positions. | ||
| D. | Employees receiving sabbatical leave shall be required to return to employment by the board which granted the leave for a period of at least one (1) year for each year on leave or repay the compensation and benefits received during that time and have deducted the retirement credit and years of service credit accrued during the sabbatical leave. |
Sabbatical Leave Advisory Committee
The County's Staff Development Council shall serve as the Sabbatical Leave Committee. It shall be the responsibility of the Council to review applications and make recommendations to the Superintendent regarding who should be granted sabbatical leave. The Superintendent will submit the recommendations of the Council to the Board for approval of the applicants to whom leave will be awarded. If a teacher aide is not a member of the council, a representative teacher aide will need to be added to the Sabbatical Leave Committee.
Application Requirements and Procedures
Applications shall be submitted to the Superintendent at least six (6) months prior to the anticipated beginning of the sabbatical leave. Applications shall be reviewed and recipients selected at least three (3) months prior to start of leave.
Final Report
It is the responsibility of the employee who has been granted sabbatical leave to file a report with the Superintendent within six (6) weeks after the employee returns from sabbatical leave. The report shall provide evidence of the professional experiences that the employee undertook during the sabbatical leave. Further, the report may include a transcript of grades where course work was involved, a copy of any degree conferred upon the employee, written reports and other requirements that are agreed upon between the employee and board of education prior to the sabbatical leave.
WV Code 18-2-11
West Virginia Board of Education policy 5530
© Neola 2010