The St. Joseph Board of Education met in a special session Tuesday in part to review how the district will be handling the continuing impacts of the pandemic on its employees.
School leaders discussed how there are currently four employees who have experienced a COVID-19 illness recently. However, this is likely not indicative of the pace of infection that will take place in the fall, as most of the more than 1,500 people who work in some capacity for the SJSD currently are off duty for summer break. The first day of school is Aug. 22, and the bulk of employees will return to duty earlier in August.
“To be honest with you, there’s probably a lot more than four, because right now only the 260-day employees are working,” said Superintendent Gabe Edgar. “But you know, anybody that’s under the 260-day contract is not working right now, so we felt like it was advantageous for us to stay ahead of the game and be proactive.”
On a unanimous vote, six board members — with Phil Vandel not present — acted to extend the practice of offering five paid days off in home isolation to anyone who tests positive for COVID-19. The policy will be extended at least through Dec. 31, with the board able to revisit the matter sooner if it is deemed necessary. The hope is that COVID-19 will be a reduced factor in school life and the five-day time consideration can be phased out at year’s end.
The board acted on the understanding that the five-day period will be usable only once before Dec. 31 by each employee, as indicated by Assistant Superintendent Brian Kraus, human resources director. That includes those who have become sick since the new fiscal year began on July 1 and took time off before the board acted. Kraus said that this practice is in keeping with policies adopted by the 32 members of the Cooperating School Districts of Greater Kansas City, which the SJSD is a part of.
“We would allow them to use district leave so that they don’t have to use their own employee leave,” Kraus told the board. “And you guys are always free to revisit this later if there is a need.”
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