RELATES TO: KRS 156.070, 156.160, 160.290
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS 156.160 requires the
Kentucky Board of Education to promulgate administrative regulations
establishing standards which school districts shall meet in student, program,
service, and operational performance, including regulations for the protection
of the physical welfare and safety of public school children, as well as the
pay of teachers during absence because of sickness or quarantine. KRS 156.070
provides the Kentucky Board of Education with the management and control of the
common schools and all programs operated in those schools. KRS 160.291
authorizes fringe benefit payments by local boards of education which are
deemed to be for services rendered for the benefit of the common schools. This
administrative regulation establishes paid quarantine leave to employees in
response to the COVID-19 emergency. This emergency regulation is necessary to
address the imminent threat to public health, safety, and welfare; and to
protect human health; while safely and efficiently operating public schools
during the 2021-22 school year in light of the COVID-19 public health
emergency.
Section 1. COVID-19
Quarantine Leave.
(1) During the 2021-22
school year, each district board of education shall provide each eligible
person employed as a full or part-time employee in the public schools paid
leave during the period the employee is placed in quarantine due to exposure to
COVID-19. Exposure to COVID-19 shall include exposure to any variant of
COVID-19. This leave shall be in addition to any other leave provided by
statute or board policy.
(2) In
order to be eligible for leave under this section, the employee shall:
(a) Be placed in quarantine due to COVID-19
exposure by a licensed treating physician, physician's assistant, or advanced
practice registered nurse, a public health department, the Department for
Public Health, or the school district for which the employee works;
and
(b) Have received either two
(2) doses of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine or a single dose of Johnson
& Johnson's Janssen vaccine prior to the quarantine period, present a
statement from a treating medical professional that a disability prevents the
employee from taking the COVID-19 vaccine, or is prevented from taking the
COVID-19 vaccination based on sincerely held religious belief.
(3) If a school district places an
employee on quarantine due to exposure to COVID-19, then the district shall
provide the employee with written documentation supporting the quarantine
determination.
(4) A school
district may require the employee to provide written documentation from the
entity placing the employee in quarantine due to COVID-19 exposure.
(5) Quarantine leave shall not be used if the
employee has an active COVID-19 infection.
(6) A school district, at its discretion, may
determine quarantine leave is unnecessary when an employee can fulfill his or
her job duties remotely during the quarantine period.
(7) In order to shorten the quarantine
period, a school district may require an employee on quarantine leave to
undergo a COVID-19 test at district expense and provide the results to the
district. Such test shall occur no sooner than the earliest date recommended by
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Department for Public Health quarantine
guidelines. A district may require an employee testing negative for COVID-19 to
return to work in accordance with CDC and Department for Public Health
quarantine guidelines.
(8) Leave
granted pursuant to this section shall not accumulate or carry over beyond the
2021-2022 school year and shall not be transferrable to any other
classification of paid leave established by
KRS 161.155,
KRS 161.154, or local
school district policy.
This is to certify that the chief state school officer has
reviewed and recommended this administrative regulation prior to its adoption
by the Kentucky Board of Education, as required by KRS 156.070(5).
