1. (1) DEFINITIONS.--As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires, the term:

   1. (a) "Educational support employee" means any person employed by a district school board as a teacher aide; a teacher assistant; an education paraprofessional; a member of the transportation, operations, maintenance, or food service department; or a secretary or a clerical employee.
   2. (b) "Instructional staff" shall be used synonymously with the word "teacher" and includes teachers, librarians, and other comparable members engaged in an instructional capacity in the schools.
2. (2) ELIGIBILITY.--Any member of the instructional staff or any other employee of a district school system employed on a full-time basis in the public schools of the state who is unable to perform his or her duty in the school on account of personal sickness, accident disability, or extended personal illness, or because of illness or death of father, mother, brother, sister, husband, wife, child, other close relative, or member of his or her own household, and consequently has to be absent from his or her work shall be granted leave of absence for sickness by the superintendent or by someone designated in writing by the superintendent to do so.

3. (3) PROVISIONS GOVERNING SICK LEAVE.--The following provisions shall govern sick leave:

   1. (a) Extent of leave.--

      1. Each member of the instructional staff employed on a full-time basis shall be entitled to 4 days of sick leave as of the first day of employment of each contract year and shall thereafter earn 1 day of sick leave for each month of employment, which shall be credited to the member at the end of that month and which shall not be used prior to the time it is earned and credited to the member. Each other employee shall be credited with 4 days of sick leave at the end of the first month of employment of each contract year and shall thereafter be credited for 1 day of sick leave for each month of employment, which shall be credited to the employee at the end of the month and which shall not be used prior to the time it is earned and credited to the employee. However, each member of the instructional staff and each other employee shall be entitled to earn no more than 1 day of sick leave times the number of months of employment during the year of employment. If the employee terminates his or her employment and has not accrued the 4 sick days available to him or her, the school board may withhold the average daily amount for the sick days utilized but unearned by the employee. Such leave shall be taken only when necessary because of sickness as herein prescribed. Such sick leave shall be cumulative from year to year. There shall be no limit on the number of days of sick leave which a member of the instructional staff or an educational support employee may accrue, except that at least one-half of this cumulative leave must be established within the district granting such leave.

      2. A school board may establish policies and prescribe standards to permit an employee to be absent 6 days each school year for personal reasons. However, such absences for personal reasons shall be charged only to accrued sick leave, and leave for personal reasons shall be noncumulative.

      3. District school boards are authorized to adopt rules permitting the annual payment for accumulated sick leave that is earned for that year and that is unused at the end of the school year, based on the daily rate of pay of the employee multiplied by up to 80 percent. Days for which such payment is received shall be deducted from the accumulated leave balance. Such annual payment may apply only to instructional staff and educational support employees.

      4. A school board may establish policies to provide terminal pay for accumulated sick leave to instructional staff and educational support employees of the district school board. If termination of employment is by death of the employee, any terminal pay to which the employee may have been entitled may be made to his or her beneficiary. However, such terminal pay shall not exceed an amount determined as follows:

      a. During the first 3 years of service, the daily rate of pay multiplied by 35 percent times the number of days of accumulated sick leave.

      b. During the next 3 years of service, the daily rate of pay multiplied by 40 percent times the number of days of accumulated sick leave.

      c. During the next 3 years of service, the daily rate of pay multiplied by 45 percent times the number of days of accumulated sick leave.

      d. During the next 3 years of service, the daily rate of pay multiplied by 50 percent times the number of days of accumulated sick leave.

      e. During and after the 13th year of service, the daily rate of pay multiplied by 100 percent times the number of days of accumulated sick leave.

      5. A school board may establish policies to provide terminal pay for accumulated sick leave to any full-time employee of the district school board other than instructional staff or educational support employees as defined in this section. If termination of the employee is by death of the employee, any terminal pay to which the employee may have been entitled may be made to the employee's beneficiary. However, for such employees hired on or after July 1, 1995, terminal pay shall not exceed an amount determined as follows:

      a. One-fourth of all unused sick leave accumulated on or after July 1, 1995; however, terminal pay allowable for such accumulated sick leave shall not exceed a maximum of 60 days of actual payment.

      b. For unused sick leave accumulated prior to July 1, 1995, terminal payment shall be made pursuant to a district school board's policies which are in effect on July 1, 1995.

   2. (b) Claim must be filed.--Any district school board employee who finds it necessary to be absent from his or her duties because of illness, as defined in this section, shall notify his or her immediate supervisor, if possible, before the beginning of the workday on which the employee must be absent or during that day, except for emergency reasons recognized by the school board as valid. Any district school board employee shall, before claiming and receiving compensation for the time absent from his or her duties while absent because of sick leave as prescribed in this section, make and file within 5 working days following his or her return from such absence with the superintendent of the district in which he or she is so employed a written certificate which shall set forth the day or days absent, that such absence was necessary, and that the employee is entitled or not entitled to receive pay for such absence in accordance with the provisions of this section; however, the school board of any district may prescribe regulations under which the superintendent may require a certificate of illness from a licensed physician or from the county health officer.
   3. (c) Compensation.--Any employee having unused sick leave credit shall receive full-time compensation for the time justifiably absent on sick leave, but no compensation may be allowed beyond that which may be provided in subsection (4).
   4. (d) Expenditure authorized.--District school boards are authorized to expend public funds for payment to employees on account of sickness. The expending and excluding of such funds shall be in compliance with rules promulgated by the Department of Management Services pursuant to chapter 650.

4. (4) SICK LEAVE POOL.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a school board, based upon the maintenance of reliable and accurate records by the district school system showing the amount of sick leave which has been accumulated and is unused by employees in accordance with this section, may, by rule or collective bargaining agreement, establish one or more plans allowing participating full-time employees of a district school system to pool sick leave accrued and allowing any sick leave thus pooled to be disbursed to any participating employee who is in need of sick leave in excess of that amount he or she has personally accrued. Such rules or agreements shall include, but not be limited to, the following provisions:

   1. (a) Participation in any sick leave pool shall at all times be voluntary on the part of employees.
   2. (b) Any full-time employee shall be eligible for participation in any sick leave pool after 1 year of employment with the district school system, provided such employee has accrued a minimum amount of unused sick leave, which minimum shall be established by rule and provided further, a sick leave pool is established that allows participation by that particular employee.
   3. (c) Any sick leave pooled pursuant to this section shall be removed from the personally accumulated sick leave balance of the employee donating such leave.
   4. (d) Participating employees shall make equal contributions to the sick leave pool. There shall be established a maximum amount of sick leave which may be contributed by an employee to the pool. After the initial contribution which an employee makes upon electing to participate, no further contributions shall be required except as may be necessary to replenish the pool. Any such further contribution shall be equally required of all employees participating in the pool.
   5. (e) Any sick leave time drawn from the pool by a participating employee must be used for said employee's personal illness, accident, or injury.
   6. (f) A participating employee shall not be eligible to use sick leave from the pool until all of his or her sick leave has been depleted, unless otherwise agreed to in a collective bargaining agreement. There shall be established a maximum number of days for which an employee may draw sick leave from the sick leave pool.
   7. (g) A participating employee who uses sick leave from the pool shall not be required to recontribute such sick leave to the pool, except as otherwise provided in this section.
   8. (h) A participating employee who chooses to no longer participate in the sick leave pool shall not be eligible to withdraw any sick leave already contributed to the pool.
   9. (i) Alleged abuse of the use of the sick leave pool shall be investigated and, on a finding of wrongdoing, the employee shall repay all of the sick leave credits drawn from the sick leave pool and be subject to such other disciplinary action as determined by the school board to be appropriate. Rules adopted for the administration of this program shall provide for the investigation of the use of sick leave utilized by the participating employee in the sick leave pool.

History.--s. 540, ch. 19355, 1939; CGL 1940 Supp. 892(144); s. 22, ch. 23726, 1947; s. 1, ch. 29624, 1955; s. 1, ch. 57-79; s. 1, ch. 61-61; s. 1, ch. 65-31; s. 1, ch. 65-201; s. 4, ch. 65-424; s. 4, ch. 67-181; s. 1, ch. 69-300; s. 1, ch. 70-197; s. 1, ch. 74-81; s. 1, ch. 76-44; s. 3, ch. 76-168; s. 1, ch. 77-457; s. 1, ch. 79-109; ss. 15, 16, ch. 79-385; ss. 1, 3, ch. 80-116; s. 7, ch. 80-378; ss. 1, 3, ch. 80-392; s. 2, ch. 81-174; ss. 2, 3, ch. 81-318; ss. 20, 28, 31, ch. 82-242; ss. 1, 2, ch. 84-85; s. 5, ch. 84-94; s. 2, ch. 84-213; s. 1, ch. 84-266; s. 1, ch. 85-131; ss. 6, 7, ch. 92-67; s. 1249, ch. 95-147; s. 1, ch. 95-381.