Santa Fe teachers will use personal sick leave if they catch coronavirus
Aug. 3—As Santa Fe Public Schools teachers and staff prepare to return to classrooms Aug. 17, many will rely on personal sick leave days if they contract COVID-19, rather than emergency paid leave required by the state for the past two years.
A coronavirus pandemic guide released by the state Public Education Department in late July includes an update that indicates districts and charter schools no longer are required to provide the emergency leave, which was made mandatory by legislation during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years.
The requirement was figured into the Santa Fe school district's collective bargaining agreement with its teachers union. Employees were allowed up to 10 days of paid leave after contracting the virus in order to isolate and recover.
National Education Association Santa Fe President Grace Mayer said the union would advocate for extra leave again if COVID-19 cases spiked and the Public Education Department sets more stringent rules on quarantining and isolation.
COVID-19 cases have risen as school approaches. On Monday, the state reported 1,985 new cases as new subvariant BA.5 continues to spread in the U.S. The district's COVID-19 dashboard reported just three cases as contagious while on campus between July 20 and Tuesday.
The newest guidance from the education department, similar to information it released in April, says anyone who is not fully vaccinated and has had close contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case should stay home for five days and test for the virus.
Employees on nine-month contracts, which encompass many teachers in the district, have 10 paid sick leave days each year. That time accumulates from year to year, Mayer said.
"I don't think COVID-19 is going away, and I think we're going to have to figure out how we'll get back to a system that is equitable and works for people, with this as a health issue," she said.
In lieu of administrative leave for the coronavirus, the district is planning on providing employees an opportunity to join the district sick leave bank, which allows them to contribute one sick day to the bank in exchange for more sick leave days in the case of extended illnesses, district spokesman Cody Dynarski said Tuesday.
Other updates to the state's guidance for schools include the scrapping of a rule that required districts to report staff surveillance testing data to the state Department of Health.
While social distancing remains recommended — six feet of social distance for adults and three feet in schools for students — districts will be able to enforce distancing on an individual basis.
The last version of the state guidance, published in April, shows social distancing was required for at least unvaccinated staff and students.
Dynarski said social distancing would be encouraged but not enforced when school begins later this month. Masks also remain optional on campus, except for when entering the nurse's office.
