Request By:
Mr. Joe D. Gormley, Superintendent
Woodford County Schools
131 Maple Street
Versailles, Kentucky 40383
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; Robert L. Chenoweth, Assistant Attorney General
You have written to the Office of the Attorney General asking for an interpretation of the provisions of KRS 161.154 (3) requiring that "personal leave granted under this section shall not be treated as having effect on the provisions of KRS 161.152 to 161.155. . . ." You asked concerning this matter whether this language means that a board of education which has provided for emergency leave pursuant to KRS 161.152 may not reduce the emergency leave granted if it decides to grant personal leave under KRS 161.154.
A board of education has absolute discretion to have a policy providing emergency leave (KRS 161.152) and/or personal leave (KRS 161.154) and the number of days up to three for each type of leave. The language you refer to in KRS 161.154(3), we are of the opinion, means only that if a board adopts policies for both emergency and personal leave, these policies may not be conditioned on each other. The policies are to be considered separately in application to those entitled to the policies provision.
In view of the above it is our opinion that a board of education may reduce the number of days provided in its emergency leave policy and then adopt a personal leave policy providing for up to three days, as the board sees fit. We do caution, however, that there can exist no disparagement between the number of emergency leave days established for certified personnel and noncertified personnel. See OAG 76-427, copy attached.
Furthermore, see OAG 77-115, copy attached, wherein this office concluded that a local board of education may enact such a personal leave policy for its noncertificated employees as it deems proper under its broad plenary powers spelled out in KRS 160.290.