Kentucky Administrative Regulations › Title 702 - EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT CABINET - BOARD OF EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION - OFFICE OF DISTRICT SUPPORT SERVICES › Chapter 1 - General Administration › Section 702 KAR 1:192E - District employee quarantine leave

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 1, July 1, 2024
RELATES TO:
				KRS
				156.070,
				156.160,
				160.290
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY:
				KRS
				156.160 requires the Kentucky Board of
				Education to promulgate administrative regulations establishing standards which
				school districts shall meet in student, program, service, and operational
				performance, including regulations for the protection of the physical welfare
				and safety of public school children, as well as the pay of teachers during
				absence because of sickness or quarantine.
				KRS
				156.070 provides the Kentucky Board of
				Education with the management and control of the common schools and all
				programs operated in those schools.
				KRS
				160.291 authorizes fringe benefit payments by
				local boards of education which are deemed to be for services rendered for the
				benefit of the common schools. This administrative regulation establishes paid
				quarantine leave to employees in response to the COVID-19 emergency. This
				emergency regulation is necessary to address the imminent threat to public
				health, safety, and welfare; and to protect human health; while safely and
				efficiently operating public schools during the 2021-22 school year in light of
				the COVID-19 public health emergency.
Section
			 1. COVID-19 Quarantine Leave.
(1)
			 During the 2021-22 school year, each district board of education shall provide
			 each eligible person employed as a full or part-time employee in the public
			 schools paid leave during the period the employee is placed in quarantine due
			 to exposure to COVID-19. Exposure to COVID-19 shall include exposure to any
			 variant of COVID-19. This leave shall be in addition to any other leave
			 provided by statute or board policy.
(2) In order to be eligible for leave under
			 this section, the employee shall:
(a) Be
			 placed in quarantine due to COVID-19 exposure by a licensed treating physician,
			 physician's assistant, or advanced practice registered nurse, a public health
			 department, the Department for Public Health, or the school district for which
			 the employee works; and
(b) Have
			 received either two (2) doses of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine or a
			 single dose of Johnson & Johnson's Janssen vaccine prior to the quarantine
			 period, present a statement from a treating medical professional that a
			 disability prevents the employee from taking the COVID-19 vaccine, or is
			 prevented from taking the COVID-19 vaccination based on sincerely held
			 religious belief.
(3) If
			 a school district places an employee on quarantine due to exposure to COVID-19,
			 then the district shall provide the employee with written documentation
			 supporting the quarantine determination.
(4) A school district may require the
			 employee to provide written documentation from the entity placing the employee
			 in quarantine due to COVID-19 exposure.
(5) Quarantine leave shall not be used if the
			 employee has an active COVID-19 infection.
(6) A school district, at its discretion, may
			 determine quarantine leave is unnecessary when an employee can fulfill his or
			 her job duties remotely during the quarantine period.
(7) In order to shorten the quarantine
			 period, a school district may require an employee on quarantine leave to
			 undergo a COVID-19 test at district expense and provide the results to the
			 district. Such test shall occur no sooner than the earliest date recommended by
			 Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Department for Public Health quarantine
			 guidelines. A district may require an employee testing negative for COVID-19 to
			 return to work in accordance with CDC and Department for Public Health
			 quarantine guidelines.
(8) Leave
			 granted pursuant to this section shall not accumulate or carry over beyond the
			 2021-2022 school year and shall not be transferrable to any other
			 classification of paid leave established by
			 KRS
			 161.155,
			 KRS
			 161.154, or local school district policy.
This is to certify that the chief state school officer has
				reviewed and recommended this administrative regulation prior to its adoption
				by the Kentucky Board of Education, as required by
				KRS
				156.070(5).