Did a Louisiana teacher have to work six years before using extended sick leave?

Plain-English summary

The Monroe Parish School Board asked whether teachers had to finish six years of service before using a statutory allowance of up to ninety days of extended sick leave, and whether the board could prorate that allowance for newer teachers. In Opinion 03-0079, the Louisiana Attorney General said no to both restrictions. Under the statute he read, a teacher could use the allowance even in the first year once regular sick leave was exhausted and the other statutory conditions were met.

The AG relied on the statute's phrase permitting extended leave "at any time" when the regular sick-leave balance was gone. He rejected the example of limiting a teacher with three years of experience to forty-five days. He also said a district had no discretion to impose additional timing or use conditions beyond those in the statute, however difficult the cost might be for a district.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2003. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

What the opinion meant at issuance

Teachers

The opinion said a new teacher's eligibility did not depend on completing six years of service. It still required the absence of remaining regular sick leave and compliance with the statute's own conditions.

School districts

The AG said a district could not prorate the ninety-day extended allowance based on time employed, or add its own limits on when and how the statutory leave was used. He said further restrictions would require legislation.

Common questions

Q: Could a first-year teacher use extended sick leave? A: The AG said yes under the 2003 statute if the teacher had exhausted regular sick leave and met the statute's conditions.

Q: Could a district give only forty-five days after three years of work? A: No. The opinion rejected prorating the ninety-day allowance by years of service.

Q: Could the school board set extra conditions because new-teacher leave was costly? A: The AG said the statute did not give the board discretion to add restrictions beyond those the Legislature provided.

Background and statutory framework

The AG interpreted LSA-R.S. 17:1202, which then described up to ninety days of extended leave in each six-year employment period for personal or immediate-family illness. The period was a measuring window, not a six-year waiting period. The source date is clearly April 11, 2003.

Citations and references

Primary authority in the opinion: LSA-R.S. 17:1202. The opinion compared related extended-leave provisions for special-school teachers and bus drivers.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/03-0079

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain — the linked PDF is authoritative.

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
One American Place
301 Main Street, Suite 600
ClVIE DIVISION
P.O. Box 94005
BATON ROUGE
TEL.: (225) 342-7013
FAX: (22.~) 342-2090
RICHARD P. IEYOUB
70804-9005
ATTORNEY GENERAL

APR 1 1 20O3
OPINION NO. 03-0079

103 SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS - PENSION & BENEFITS, TEACHERS’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM

LSA-R.S. 17:1202
LSA-R.S. 17:1201
LSA-R.S. 17:500.2
LSA-R.S. 17:47(D)

1) The statute does not require a teacher to complete six years of service prior to becoming eligible to take up to ninety days of extended sick leave.
2) A teacher may take up to ninety days of sick leave in his or her first year of employment provided the teacher has no remaining regular sick leave balance and provided the teacher does so in the manner provided in LSA-R.S. 17:1202.
3) Limitations may not be placed on the use of the ninety days extended
Mr. Douglas Lawrence
sick leave period by school districts such that eligibility and use of extended
Attorney at Law
sick leave time is pro-rated according to the period that a teacher is employed
during a six-year pedod.
648 East Jefferson Avenue 4) According to LSAoR.S. 17:1202, school districts do not possess any
Bastrop, LA 71220
discretion at all in determining when or how the ninety days of extended
sick leave may be used, particularly in instances where a teacher is new or has not been employed for a year or for any other significant period of time.
Dear Mr. Lawrence:

I am in receipt of your request for an Attorney General’s Opinion on behalf of the Monroe Parish School Board regarding the interpretation of LSA-R.S. 17:1202. You state that the meaning of subsection A(1) of the statute and the language therein which provides that "[e]very parish and city school board shall permit each teacher to take up to ninety days of extended sick leave in each six-year period of employment..." is at issue.

Specifically, you seek a response to the following questions:

In interpreting this Subsection, does the statute require that a teacher complete six years of service prior to becoming eligible to take "up to ninety days of extended sick leave?" May a teacher take up to ninety days of sick leave in her or his first year of employment? May limitations be placed on the use of the ninety day extended sick leave period by school districts, such that eligibility and use of extended sick leave time is pro-rated according to the period that a teacher is employed during a six-year period? For example, may a teacher with only three years of experience be limited to using only up to 45 days of extended sick leave? Do school districts possess any discretion at all in determining when or how the ninety days of extended sick leave may be used, particularly in instances where a teacher is new, or has not been employed for a year or for any other significant period of time?

Page 2

Mr. Douglas Lawrence
OPINION NO. 03-0079
Page - 2 -

LSA-R. S. 17:1202A(1) states the following:

A. (1) Every parish and city school board shall permit each teacher to take up to ninety days of extended sick leave in each six-year period of employment which may be used for personal illness or illness of an immediate family member in the manner provided in this subsection at any time that the teacher has no remaining regular sick leave balance.

LSA-R.S. 17:1201 was amended by Act 1999 No. 1341. The amendment eliminated the prohibition on certain deductions from the salary of a teacher. Sections A(2) through E(3) which completes the remainder of the statute is all new law. It sets forth the definitions of the terms used in the statute as well as the requirements for being in compliance with Section A(1).

Act 1999 amended and reenacted LSA-R. S. 17:47(1) which deals with extended sick leave and personal leave for teachers in special schools as well as LSA-R.S. 17:500.2 which deals with extended sick leave for school bus drivers. The language used in LSA-R.S. 17:1202, LSA-R.S. 17:47(D) and LSA-R.S. 17:500.2 concerning extended sick leave contains the same language.

There are no cases or Attorney General Opinions interpreting LSA-R.S. 17:1202. Therefore, we are limited to reviewing the language as set forth in the statute.

You ask whether the statute requires that the teacher complete six years of service prior to becoming eligible to take "up to ninety days of extended sick leave?" The statute states that the ninety days of extended sick leave may be used "at any time" the teacher has no remaining regular sick leave balance.

You inquire whether a teacher may take up to ninety days of sick leave in his or her first year of employment? It appears that a teacher may take up to ninety days of sick leave in the first year provided the teacher has no remaining regular sick leave balance and provided the teacher does so in the manner provided in LSA-R.S. 17:1202.

Next, you ask whether limitations may be placed on the use of the ninety days extended sick leave period by school districts such that eligibility and use of extended sick leave time is pro-rated according to the period that a teacher is employed during a six-year period? You cite an example of a teacher with only three years of experience being limited to using only up to 45 days of extended sick leave.

Once again, the statute states that the ninety days of extended sick leave may be used "at any time" that the teacher has no remaining regular sick leave balance. Therefore, in

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Mr. Douglas Lawrence
OPINION NO. 03-0079
Page - 3 -

response to your question, it is the opinion of this office that limitations may not be placed on the use of the ninety days of extended sick leave by school districts by prorating the use of the leave by the period of time a teacher has been employed.

You also ask whether school districts possess any discretion at all in determining when or how the ninety days of extended sick leave may be used, particularly in instances where a teacher is new or has not been employed for a year or for any other significant period of time? You state that in some situations it may not be fair for school districts to have the potential financial risk of a teacher who has been employed for a limited period of time and exhausted his or her sick leave and would therefore qualify for extended sick leave. Although you may be correct in your illustration, the language as used by the legislature does not appear to allow any limitations other than those set forth in the statute to be placed on the use of the 90 days after the initial 10 days of sick leave have been exhausted. Any limitations would have to be provided for legislatively. Therefore, school districts possess no discretion other than what is provided in LSA-R.S. 17:1202 in determining when or how the ninety days of extended sick leave may be used.

I hope this opinion sufficiently addresses your concerns. If I can be of further assistance, please let me know.

Very truly yours,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
ATTORNEY GENERAL

BY:
BETH CONRAD-R~J~INSON
ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL

RPI:BCR:sc