Your contract is poo-poo. I get 6 sick days and 2 personal days, I believe. We don’t have to explain any of them. We just call in and say we are “sick” or that we “need a personal day.” So long as our lesson plans are in, we’re good to go. Your admin sound like douches.
I'm a Xennial, so take this as you will. In my district we aren't allowed to take days immediately before or after school vacation days unless there's a severe illness or injury or something like that. Personal travel preferences would never make the cut. I don't think what you're planning to do would get you fired, but it would get you noticed. As a first year teacher, you're going to want to be noticed for the good things you're doing, not for the rules you're skirting. Your reputation and the impression you make on others are important in this profession, and you need to take steps to protect them. My advice is to come back on time.
It's not my favorite policy, but, it's actually the norm around here. I get my summer and week off every fall, (as well as the usual Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter breaks) so I'm not hurting too much for time off. Eh. Downsides in every job.
Your policy is pretty similar to ours. We get quite a few sick days and are expected to use them only when we ourselves are sick or when we are caring for a sick family member. We are encouraged to schedule appointments outside of contract hours whenever possible (but obviously that's really challenging with school hours being what they are). In some circumstances teachers can earn personal days which can be used for whatever; not everyone earns those days, though. I haven't had any personal days for years, and it's likely that I'll never have them again. Even so, I do get a lot of sick days each year, and they roll over if I don't use them. At one point I had well over 100 days banked, although I used most of them for two extended medical leaves.
This makes me curious of what everyone is allowed for sick and personal days? I get 15 sick and 2 personal days (although the 2nd personal day is taken out of sick time) a year. I thought that was normal, no? Perhaps it's better to ask in a new thread.
I get 10 sick days and another 6 days that can be booked and used for specific purposes (moving, funeral, convocation, family illness, etc); we don't get generic "personal" days.
I get ten sick and three personal days a year. Unused personal days roll over to sick days. Sick days roll over, too. I have about 90 sick days, I think. Most years I miss maybe a day or two for myself. One year I had surgery. Another year I was extremely ill. Another year my dad and FIL both died of cancer. I was part caregiver for my dad. This year I have been out 10-12 days, maybe. My mom has cancer. My DH has around 140 sick days.
Mine roll over, too. I don’t ever use them because I feel no need to. I get enough time off a year as it is. At my school, if you wish to give other colleagues your sick and personal days you are free to do so, so I probably will just donate mine.
Same here, but I'm holding onto mine so when I have kids I can use them for maternity leave. But our personal days are non-transferrable and don't rollover which is fine since it's really only one day a year. Thats pretty generous of you, kudos.
We get 15 sick days, 5 family illness days, and 2 personal days per year. Only the sick days transfer over from year to year. I have close to 90 sick days saved up from my 6 years of teaching. I try to use the personal days each year because they can be used for anything we want, even if just a mental health day. Upon retirement, we are able to cash out sick days. I've read that it's capped at $15,000, but I've heard teachers say they've gotten more so I am not entirely sure on that. I don't think we are able to donate them, but then again, I've never really looked into it as the situation has never arisen where it's been necessary.
Xennial/older millennial here...Not that I think it really matters... OP, if you're teaching in a CA public school, you are probationary for your first two years. That means the admin can let you go at the end of the year -- for any reason -- and you have *no* recourse. So you really need to decide whether saving a few hundred bucks on a plane ticket is worth potentially losing your job. I have said no to a lot of things as a new teacher...travel to weddings, family events, etc (I have attended way too many funerals lately, though). Saying no, at times, was a choice I made since I had worked hard to get into a good district, and I didn't want to have to keep job searching. It's up to you to gauge your own priorities.
My district is a little strange when it comes to teachers being absent. -During the school year, teachers get 3 sick days per month. -During the school year, teachers get 2 personal days every other month. -Essentially, each school year.....we earn 40 possible absent days. -The absent days do rollover for the next school year. *In addition, we have a lot of days off during the school year.
We get 20 sick days and 2 personal days per year. The sick days can be rolled over, for a max accumulation of 130 days. Sick days are for anything medical: illness, appointments, dependent's appointments, family leave, stress leave, etc. We can roll over personal days to a max of 3 personal days. They can be taken at any time, except for admin/inservice days. I don't believe you can take 3 consecutive days, either, but I'm not sure. I've never saved any long enough to find out!
