School board works to minimize unpaid leave
By Michael Johnson, Editor
The Underwood School District holds to a standard of providing students the best education possible. Having teachers gone from their classroom does not hold with that, Superintendent Brandt Dick said. Therefore it was important for school board members to address an issue of certified staff requesting too much unpaid personal leave. “It just needs to be minimized,” Dick said. Board member Brad Landenberger said that there is a contractual obligation in place for staff to be at the school. He, along with board members Mike Heger and Kelli Ruff, discussed the issue during a personnel committee meeting. Their opinion was that any absence of a teacher from their classroom takes away from the educational opportunity of the students. The direction of the committee was to minimize the leave of absence. Board member Jim LeRoy had a couple questions regarding the situation. He asked whether this issue was isolated to a couple teachers or was done in general. Dick said that there have been as many as four staff members that have been taking more leave for vacation days.
