Attendance Matters:
You deliver the safest and best transportation service to the most important people in the
school system, our students!
Our mission, “providing transportation services that protect children and support quality learning” makes
it imperative that all employees perform their assigned duties on every school day. Therefore, every
school day is considered an essential day of work for every Transportation Department employee!
Regular and prompt attendance is expected and required of our employees on those essential days.
Forsyth County Schools recognizes the importance of meeting employee needs and utilizing employee
abilities. Sound personnel policies that are known and understood by all employees are necessary for the
effective operation of Forsyth schools. These policies ensure consistency and fairness for all employees.
Two-way communication between employee and supervisor is essential to prevent misunderstandings.
Policy changes and clarifications are made known to employees in a variety of ways: through memos,
administrative bulletins, meetings, electronic retrieval, and system publications. Policies summarized in
this section are meant to provide employees with a general overview of the Transportation Department’s
expectations related to the BOE Policy GBRI: “Leaves and Absences.”
It is important that employees…
... are mindful of the negative impact their absence will have on their students (substitute drivers, late and
missed buses, late arrival to school or home, student misbehavior and service that can never be as safe as
what you provide.)
… plan where possible, to conduct personal business and make routine or follow-up doctor appointments
outside of their normal route times and / or on non-school days.
… have alternative plans of care during route times (6:00 to 9:00 a.m. and 1:30 to 5:00 p.m.) for family
members who may be ill or require assistance.
… communicate the need to be absent from work in advance and in writing where possible and/or
required.
... accrue and manage sick leave balances, which will ensure adequate coverage to the employee in the
case of extended absence due to illness, accident and / or disability.
… use accrued leave in compliance with the intentions of the school system policy. Sick leave has been
granted to employees for the express purpose of absence due to the employee’s illness or an illness in the
employee’s immediate family that requires the employee to care for said family member (or death of
immediate family). Personal leave is a function of sick leave and has specific guidelines concerning the
request for and approval of personal leave.
… plan and make every effort to work every school day. The person who can deliver the highest quality
transportation service to our students and schools is you. You know your route best! You know your
students best!
Sick Leave
Sick/Personal Leave Guidelines – Transportation Department
I.
Sick leave is a benefit. Personal leave is a function of sick leave. It should be used only when
necessary and should always comply with the spirit of the System’s BOE Policy GBRI.
Examples:
A. An employee is not entitled to sick leave if an immediate family member is sick but
capable of caring for himself or herself.
B. An employee is not entitled to sick leave to attend a funeral of a “non-immediate”
family member.
C. An employee should request personal leave if they have personal or professional
business that requires their absence from work.
D. An employee should request personal leave to attend a funeral of a “non-immediate”
family member or friend.
E. Personal leave may only be granted when the presence of the employee “is not
essential for effective school operation.” Transportation services are essential and
integral to “protect students and support quality learning.” Therefore, Transportation
employees are “essential for effective school operations” every school day and the
approval of personal leave will be judged while considering that standard.
F. Personal leave is not “lost.” Unused personal leave is returned to the employee’s sick
leave account at the end of the school year and may be used in compliance with Policy
GBRI at a future time.
II.
School days account for less than 50% of the days in the year. Employees should make every
effort to work every school day. Our mission, “providing transportation services that protect
children and support quality learning,” requires that every employee work on every day that
students need to go to school.
Examples:
A. Routine doctor appointments, dentist appointments, well baby check-ups, etc., should
be made between or after routes or on days when students do not attend school.
B. When at all possible, arrangements should be made by an employee to provide
alternative care for a sick family member during route times. Alternative care might be
in the form of other family members, friends, etc.
C. Employees should attempt to schedule personal and professional business during hours
when we do not transport students to school and/or on days when students do not attend
school.
D. Personal leave will not be approved for any “Critical Day” (as defined by the System
calendar) or on designated essential days (as defined by the Transportation Department)
except in the case of an emergency and only then with the approval of the Transportation
Supervisor or Director. If taken, the supervisor will code such absence “Leave Without
Pay” and such absence may be noted and included in the employee’s annual performance
evaluation.
III.
An employee should give as much notice as possible to their immediate supervisor when it
becomes apparent that the employee will be absent for all or part of their daily duties. It is
generally easier to “uncover” a route when a driver is able to drive unexpectedly than it is to
“cover” a route at the last minute.
Examples:
A. When a driver realizes in advance that he/she will probably be unable to drive his/her
routes, they should immediately contact their supervisor with the appropriate information
to request leave. If a driver determines that he/she is unable to drive their routes for that
day, they should contact Dispatch to allow adequate time to cover routes (between 5:30
to 6:00 a.m. and 1:00 to 1:30 p.m.) If unable to contact dispatch during those times, the
driver should immediately contact their supervisor for direction.
B. If a driver must request sick leave to attend the doctor and the appointment is made in
advance the driver should give a written request to the supervisor BEFORE making the
appointment. An advanced written request will allow the supervisor to consider
alternative plans to cover those routes and allow him/her to more effectively consider
other requests for leave for that day.
C. When a driver realizes that he/she must request personal leave due to “personal or
professional” business which must be conducted during the hours of work, they should
immediately contact their supervisor with the appropriate written information. The
supervisor will then approve or deny the request based on operational need on that day.
IV.
Good attendance is necessary to satisfactorily perform the duties that are required of any
employee in Transportation. No employee can perform your duties as well as you do! Therefore,
attendance will be a factor in your evaluation by your supervisor. Your evaluation reflects how
well your duties were performed over the course of the entire school year.
Most of our employees demonstrate an admirable work ethic and do everything possible to report
to work every day. It will be our goal to identify those employees whose attendance (and as a
result, performance) is unsatisfactory and work with those employees to improve both. It is
possible that unsatisfactory performance could contribute to adverse disciplinary actions, up to
and including termination.
Examples:
A. It should be the goal of every Transportation employee to work every scheduled
workday.
B. Absences near or in excess of the amount of sick leave that an employee can earn in a
year will be considered a “red flag.” Supporting documentation will be requested for
future sick leave requests. Counseling with the employee and performance review may
be necessary to improve the employee’s performance.
C. Personal leave requests near or in excess of the amount of personal leave that an
employee can earn in a year will be considered a “red flag”. Counseling with the
employee and performance review may be necessary to improve the employee’s
performance.
D. Employees should know the status of their sick and/or personal leave balance. They
should strive to maintain a balance that is sufficient to cover routine short-term absence,
as well as emergency longer-term absences if they become necessary.
E. Personal leave requests may be denied based on operational needs.
F. This job takes precedence over every other job an employee may hold. We will do our
best to cooperate with other employers, especially within the school system, but our job
of transporting and protecting students requires commitment, professionalism, skill and
focus. While other jobs may be a necessary part of our lives, they cannot be allowed to
interfere with our mission.
G. Due to the number of districts in the system, District Supervisors may only approve
one “Personal Leave” request per district per day. Therefore, as much notice as possible
(in writing) should be given to the Supervisor when requesting personal leave. If denied,
the supervisor MAY be able to suggest alternative dates near the requested date that
might be approved should it meet the employee’s need.
In addition:
1) No personal leave should be requested the first four weeks of school.
2) Approved personal leave will be limited to one request per nine weeks of the school
year.
3) Requests that fall outside these guidelines may be approved when operational
resources permit and for employees who routinely demonstrate exceptional
performance and/or attendance.
4) When leave is necessary, consideration should be given to scheduling and/or
requesting sick or personal leave:
a. To increase the chance that leave will be approved, weekdays are listed by
decreasing chance of approval due to the historical need of the department.
i. Wednesday (best chance for approval)
ii. Tuesday
iii. Monday
iv. Thursday
v. Friday (least chance for approval)
b. Mornings rather than afternoons.
c. For only the portion of the day/morning/afternoon that is necessary.
These guidelines are not designed to answer every question or clarify every issue that might arise.
Rather, they are intended to provide a general understanding of the sick leave policy and the
Transportation Department’s expectations concerning it. Questions, concerns or comments
should be directed to the employee’s immediate supervisor who will respond or request assistance
according to Transportation Department guidelines.