NORTHFIELD BOARD OF EDUCATION FILE CODE: 4151.12/4251.12
Northfield, New Jersey
Policy
SABBATICAL
Policy
A. The Northfield Board of Education may, in its sole reasonable discretion, grant sabbatical leave to any teacher or administrator employed by the board;
B. The purpose of the sabbatical leave must be one of potential benefit to the district;
C. Sabbatical leave sought for the purpose of study must be done at an accredited college, university or other institution suitably accredited in its field and must be for the purpose of taking courses and/or doing work which leads to or directly productive of a higher degree in the individual’s field of specialization;
D. In addition to granting sabbatical leave for the purpose of study, the board may also grant sabbatical leave for the purpose of extended travel or for other reasons which the board deems to be of potential benefit to the district;
E. To be eligible, a teacher or administrator must have served a minimum of seven (7) years in the Northfield School District;
F. Sabbatical leave shall be at half pay for the period that the individual is on such leave;
G. No more than two individuals may be on sabbatical leave from the district at the same time;
H. Requests for sabbatical leave must be received by the Superintendent of Schools, in writing, no later than December 1 of the year preceding the school year for which the sabbatical leave is requested. Requests will include a clear explanation of the sabbatical project and a full explanation of the nature of the benefit the individual requesting such leave feels it will have for the district;
I. For teachers requesting sabbatical leave, an initial review of the proposed project will be by a committee composed of the Superintendent of Schools, appropriate principal and one teacher selected by the Superintendent of Schools. The recommendations of the committee shall then be reported to the board;
J. Final approval of all sabbaticals shall be by the full board, after review by the personnel and Instruction Committee. Applicants will be notified not later than January 31 as to whether their application has been approved or disapproved and all approvals shall automatically be deemed to be granted pending availability of funds;
K. In the case of administrators applying for sabbatical leave, initial review will be solely by the Superintendent of Schools and in the case of the application of the Superintendent of Schools for sabbatical leave, initial review shall be by the personnel and instruction committee of the board. In all other respects, the procedure for the review of the application of an administrator or the Superintendent of Schools will be the same as for the teachers;
L. Upon return from sabbatical, the individual shall render a full report to the board, in writing, setting forth what was accomplished on this sabbatical;
M. If, as a result of the sabbatical, a thesis, paper, book or other graphic or similarly reproducible product is produced, two copies shall be deposited with the district, at no cost to the district, any costs to be borne by the employee, as it is the board’s belief that where such a concrete end-product results, this is one of
the benefits to the district which mitigated in favor of approving the application for sabbatical leave in the first instance;
N. Upon return from sabbatical leave, a teacher or administrator shall be obligated to remain in the employ of the Northfield Board of Education for a period of no less that two full school years; or if not in the full-time employ of the board for two years, shall reimburse the board an amount equal to the salary actually paid to such person during the sabbatical leave. Such reimbursement may be extended over three years, one-third of the total amount due to be paid each year. A like provision applies to any administrator or the Superintendent of Schools, however, the provision for repayment is reduced to a two-year period. It is the express intention of the board that the provisions of this paragraph be considered an integral part of the conditions under which it approves sabbatical leave and any employee of the board who goes on sabbatical leave, pursuant to this policy, is deemed to have accepted and agreed to the provisions of this paragraph;
O. If approved, the Superintendent of Schools shall send written notice to the employee advising him/her that the board has approved the requested sabbatical leave. The notice shall specify the terms of the sabbatical leave, to include the school or place where the leave is to be taken, the duration and the purpose and shall specifically state that the leave is approved subject to the terms of this policy. The notice shall required the employee to indicate acceptance of the terms and conditions by signing and returning a copy of the notice to the board;
P. No employee on sabbatical leave may accept employment during what would be normal school hours in the district, unless the terms of said employment shall be made known to and expressly approved by the board at the time the sabbatical leave is approved by the board.
Adopted: No Date
NJSBA Review/Update: November 2009; December 2010
Readopted: October 24, 2011
Key Words
Sabbatical, Leaves
Possible
Cross References: *4112.2 Certification
*4131.1/4231.1 Staff development
4135.2/4235.2 Employment contract
*Indicates policy is included in the Critical Policy Reference Manual.