Request By:
Mr. John W. Murphy, Jr.
Attorney at Law
Allen Building
Liberty, Kentucky 42539
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Robert L. Chenoweth, Assistant Deputy Attorney General and Chief Counsel
As the attorney for the Board of Education of Casey County, you have asked the Office of the Attorney General to consider a policy the Board has contemplated placing into effect relating to the compensation of retiring teachers for accumulated sick leave. The policy would authorize compensation to retiring teachers for accumulated sick leave under the provisions of KRS 161.155(5) at 30% not to exceed 60 days. It is the formal opinion of this office that such a policy would be inconsistent with the statutory provision governing this matter.
Local boards of education are to adopt regulations and/or policies relative to their employees, certified and classified. See KRS 160.290 and KRS 160.340. However, as stated at subsection (2) of KRS 160.290, rules and regulations made and adopted by a local board ". . . [s]hall be consistent with the general school laws of the state . . ." We believe the policy you have presented for our consideration is inconsistent with the provisions of KRS 161.155(5) as amended by the 1982 General Assembly effective July 1, 1982. Before quoting in full subsection (5), we do wish to mention that the 1982 General Assembly also has now statutorily authorized school districts to adopt sick leave provisions relating to employees of the school district other than teachers and administrators, frequently referred to as "classified employees", with potential retirement compensation consequences, if the school board in its discretion chooses to do so. See KRS 161.155(1)(b).
KRS 161.155(5) now reads in full:
"(5) After July 1, 1982, a district board of education may compensate, at the time of retirement, an employe or a teacher for each unused sick leave day. The rate of compensation for each unused sick leave day shall be based on a percentage of the daily salary rate calculated from the employe's or teacher's last annual salary, not to exceed thirty percent (30%). Payment for unused sick leave days shall be incorporated into the annual salary of the final year of service provided that the member makes the regular retirement contribution for members on the sick leave payment. The accumulation of such days includes unused sick leave days held by the employe or teacher at the time of implementation of such a program."
Also relevant to our discussion of the policy you requested us to consider are parts of KRS 161.155(3) which provide that: "Days of sick leave not taken by a teacher during any school year shall accumulate without limitation and be credited to that teacher. " And that: "Any district board of education may, in its discretion, allow teachers in its common school system sick leave in excess of the number of days prescribed in this section." KRS 161.155(5) seems to authorize flexible discretion in the percentage of the daily salary rate calculated from the employee's or teacher's last annual salary, but not to the number of sick leave days to which the percentage would apply. Twice in the subsection the language used by the General Assembly is "for each unused sick leave day." (Emphasis ours) We believe a literal interpretation must be given to this school law provision. Clear and unambiguous language in a statute will be held to mean what it plainly expresses. See Hawley Coal Co. v. Bruce, 252 Ky. 455, 67 S.W.2d 703 (1934). This being so, it is our opinion that a school board may not by policy choose to compensate an employee or teacher at the time of retirement for less than all of the unused sick leave days rightly accumulated. In this regard we note that in school districts where no more than the required ten sick leave days have been given to teachers, a teacher could have, counting the ten days for the current school year, 150 accumulated sick leave days. This number has been arrived at based upon the time when the limitation on accumulation of sick leave days was removed by the General Assembly. This occurred through Senate Bill 252, passed in the 1974 Session. That amendment became effective June 21, 1974. At that time, the maximum number of sick leave days a teacher could have had was 60. If a teacher was given ten sick leave days each school year since then, beginning with the 1974-75 school year, and has not used any, the teacher could have presently amassed a total of 150 days.
We trust the above will be of assistance to you and the Board of Education of Casey County. If you have further questions concerning this matter, please contact us.