Howard public school staff will get paid leave for COVID-related isolation this school year, per new agreement

The Howard County teachers union and public school system reached an agreement earlier this month to provide paid administrative leave to staff who test positive for COVID-19 this school year, marking the continuation of a key pandemic-era support policy.

The previous leave policy was discontinued at the end of the 2021-2022 school year, as both the school system and union waited to see if there was a change in COVID conditions during the summer.

HCPSS employees will now receive up to six consecutive calendar days of leave when they test positive for COVID, according to an Oct. 11 letter to staff sent by chief human resources and professional development officer David Larner. The leave can be used twice, so long as positive tests occur 30 days apart.

“I think that this policy aligns with all we can do to maintain a healthy and safe environment for all students, staff and families,” said HCEA President Colleen Morris.

Regardless of vaccination status, students and staff this school year are required to isolate for five days after testing positive for COVID, based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They may return in person on day six if they are fever free and have reduced symptoms.

Prior to the new policy, staff had to use sick or unpaid leave if they had to isolate due to a positive test.

“We were putting staff in a lose-lose situation,” said Morris, explaining that teachers and school workers who contracted COVID yet were asymptomatic and felt well enough to work were still being forced to use sick days.

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Staff may now also obtain retroactive paid leave for days taken off due to COVID between Aug. 22 and Oct. 11, provided they can show proof of a positive test or communication with a supervisor or nurse from the time period. Although staff officially reported back on Aug. 18, the retroactive start date of Aug. 22 was chosen since it was the earliest most teachers could have contracted COVID within a high-density school environment.

During paid administrative leave, teachers are expected to provide substitute plans and continue to perform work-related tasks to support the classroom, as needed.

In an email Monday, school spokesperson Brian Bassett said that while HCPSS does not know the exact number of staff who have taken absences due to COVID so far this school year, about 200 individuals have submitted the form requesting their leave be retroactively changed.

“We are reviewing those submissions to confirm their validity,” Bassett said. “We also anticipate we will receive more requests.”

Ultimately, the new agreement gives both the school system and teachers more flexibility to address the realities of a nearly three-year-old pandemic.

“If the CDC changes their guidelines, then we will automatically go back to change the MOU,” Morris said. “If the CDC says you’re no longer required to quarantine for those five days, then we won’t be giving paid administrative leave for them.”

Visit the 2022-2023 HCPSS Health & Safety page to learn more about COVID-19 policies for this school year.