78R5916 CAS-D

By:  Smith of Tarrant                                             H.B. No. 1626



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to use of personal leave by school district employees.               
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 22.003(a), Education Code, is amended to 
read as follows:
	(a)  A state minimum personal leave program consisting of 
five days per year personal leave with no limit on accumulation and 
transferable among districts shall be provided for school district 
employees.  School districts may provide additional personal leave 
beyond this minimum.  The board of trustees of a school district may 
adopt a policy governing an employee's use of personal leave  
granted under this subsection.  Under [, except that] the policy, 
the board of trustees may address absenteeism among employees by 
restricting [not restrict] the purposes for which the leave may be 
used to leave for:
		(1)  an illness of the employee;                                       
		(2)  an illness of a member of the employee's immediate 
family;      
		(3)  a family emergency; or                                            
		(4)  a death in the employee's immediate family.                       
	SECTION 2.  This Act applies only to the use of personal 
leave a school district employee accrues on or after September 1, 
2003.  The use of personal leave a school district employee accrues 
before September 1, 2003, is governed by Section 22.003(a), 
Education Code, as that law existed on August 31, 2003, and that law 
is continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.