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Dear Editor:
As a former teacher who has left education to pursue other interests in recent years, it’s becoming increasingly problematic for me to hear the confused interpretations of education shared in the public realm.
A column published on Wednesday, Nov. 29 in The Reporter was no exception.
In her column, Melba Kiser discussed highlights of the new Noblesville teachers contract with unique and uneducated opinions given on the New Dependent Leave clause. Since Ms. Kiser seems to have misinterpreted the contract, I thought it prudent to discuss it more in depth.
Teachers receive their sick leave at the start of the year. Noblesville awards 13 days the first year, according to the contract, and 10 thereafter. These days are labeled as “sick leave,” and include a separate delineation of paid time off (PTO). Hamilton Southeastern has a similar structure. There are restrictions on how many days of PTO a teacher can use, regardless of accrual, and there are restrictions as to where these days can be taken, such as in conjunction with other scheduled days off or holiday breaks. Each year, teachers accrue their number of days, even if they haven’t used them all. The Noblesville contract states teachers can accrue up to 184 days.
The New Dependent Leave allows teachers to use up to 30 days of their accrued time to be with their new baby. The language reads: “a bargaining unit member may elect to use up to 30 sick days within a year of a child’s birth or foster or adoptive placement … the thirty day maximum applies regardless of the number of births or placements in a given year. If the bargaining unit member does not have accrued sick leave, PTO may be substituted … New dependent leave runs concurrently with FMLA.”
In her column, Ms. Kiser stated that “this is a new addition to the teachers’ contract and is over and above all other time out of school … I believe that the 30-day policy may be ripe for misuse.” This statement is factually incorrect according to the Noblesville teachers contract language. This is not 30 “EXTRA” days to take – it is allowing teachers to use the sick or PTO time they have accrued with less restriction than usual.
As an example, if a teacher had 30 days saved up, and wanted to go on an Alaskan cruise all through March, they would not be able to do so. That would connect to spring break, first of all, and second of all, they would not be granted permission to use those days concurrently during the school year. However, a teacher who has a newborn at home, or a new foster placement, may need to take multiple days in a row during the first year. Teachers, like anyone, can have premature babies or babies with health problems. Additionally, there can be multiple issues that arise for mothers following birth, and Indiana does not have stellar maternal health statistics.
Perhaps Ms. Kiser needs to reflect more on raising children and how difficult it can be in the first year. How would supporting your new child or growing family be “ripe for misuse?”
As the parent of a child with complex medical issues, I had to take multiple days off while I was a teacher to prepare my child for procedures and to be with him while he recovered. Had my district enacted such a policy, I wouldn’t have had to submit doctor’s note after doctor’s note and hope I would be approved to take four consecutive days while he was in the hospital or recovering at home. Any teacher in Noblesville or Indiana as a whole has a right to use their accrued sick time to support their new or growing family without judgment or manufactured confusion. How this could be “misused” is beyond me, but I do know this: we can’t continue to pretend to be family-focused communities if we don’t work to support families.
Kudos to the Noblesville School District for enacting a policy that allows for its teachers and their families to do whatever they need in their first year.
Going forward, I hope The Reporter and Ms. Kiser pay more attention to details and evidence before insinuating problems that do not actually exist.
Alyssa Roberts
Fishers