The South Butler School Board will not fire the teacher who was placed on unpaid leave last week following an investigation into the use of paid sick days.
By unanimous vote during a meeting Wednesday, the board voted to enter into what they called a “Last Chance Agreement” with the unnamed teacher. The employee will be reinstated. Details of the deal were not made public. The district also did not identify the employee or the school he or she works in.
According to district solicitor Tom Breth, in the spring of last year a different employee was found to have used sick days for vacation purposes so administrators recommended action be taken. That led to increased scrutiny of the way all other teachers use the 10 sick days they are given each year by law.
A large number of parents, teachers and students attended the Wednesday night’s meeting with several addressing the board about concerns over how the situation was handled. Breth said although there may be other district employees who have abused sick time in the past, there are no other active investigations going on at this time.
