Professional Leave Request Process

This is the system for tracking Professional Development requests and expenses within our organization. We want to support professional development for our employees, and recognize that our resources are limited.

Professional Development is paid leave time for an employee to attend conferences, training, and workshops which directly relate to their professional goals and instructional content. The District may or may not pay for all expenses related to Professional Development. There are three types of Professional Development.

1. Required PD: an employee may be required by District, State or a program to attend PD which is directly related to their instructional content or job.  These types of requests will, most likely, be approved.
2. Grant-Funded PD: an employee may be invited to participate in PD paid for with Grants funds and not District Funds to attend PD, which is directly related to their instructional content or job. These types of requests will, most likely, be approved.
3. Optional PD:  this is professional development which is directly related to an employee’s instructional content or job, but is not required.  The employee pays for the registration, travel and related expenses.  This is taken as a PD day, and thus doesn’t count against an employee’s PTO.   *Employees should keep receipts for all expenses, in case the District’s finances improve and it can provide reimbursements at a later date.

Expenses around Professional Development include the travel, registration and substitute costs.  Here are the travel expense guidelines which we follow.    

All employees should follow these three steps to apply for Professional Development Leave:

1. Employee completes the Professional Leave Application form at least two weeks prior to the anticipated absence. If the form is not submitted with at least two weeks’ notice, approval is not guaranteed.  This form is for your principal to determine the PD process.
2. Principal (or department director) reviews the application and then informs the employee in writing, if the PD leave request has been approved or not and to what degree (given the three types above).  While the questions in the form offer guidance, each situation is reviewed by the principal and determinations will be made on a case by case basis. 
3. If approved, the employee submits leave request into AESOP as Professional Development, and either uploads completed form or indicates principal approval in the Administrator Notes section in Aesop. 
4. If not approved, the employee may still attend the training using PaidTime Off, following the provisions of that leave type.

*Absences required by a coaching (CHSAA) or stipend position are called Activity Leave, as they involve supervising students. These leaves should be discussed with your coaching or stipend supervisor, if needed and are separate from PD leaves.