DONOR DAYS


I may be a bit selfish, but I am also extremely reasonable. Our school district is pretty generous when it comes to the number of sick days that are given to the staff. When some teachers retire, they have as many as 200 days because if they don’t use their days during a school year, they rollover to the next year. Some school districts even compensate retiring teachers for their unused sick days for a portion of their daily value.

With that being said, teachers take sick days each year for mental health, to rest or recover when sick, to take care of a sick family member, and many other personal reasons. I am fortunate to have days left over each year. Again, I can be compensated for these days when I retire, or If necessary, I can use these days should I ever need to take FMLA.

In my school district, we are allowed to donate our unused sick days to other staff members who have exhausted their own so that they can continue to receive pay while on FMLA. Our district does offer disability insurance, but many teachers don’t apply for it because either they feel that they will never use it or they don’t want yet another deduction coming out of their checks. Since that is the case, they use up all of their sick days very quickly when they fall ill.

Recently, one of my colleagues, who rarely speaks to me, approached me and another teacher to ask us if we would be willing to donate our unused sick days to two of our colleagues who have been out on FMLA. I kindly said no and didn’t feel bad about it. I have to think about my own future. And, it may be a bit insensitive and petty of me, but the teachers never speak to me and I don’t think that they would do it for me if the roles were reversed. Additionally, one of the teachers did the same thing last year, so it now appears to be a pattern. Another reason why I declined was because both of the teachers are near the end of their careers. I have many years to go and I never know if I will need to take leave myself at some point.

I appreciate the opportunity to donate your sick days to your colleagues who genuinely need them and who you care about. However, professionally thinking, you need to be mindful of how the decisions that you make today may impact your future. 

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