Brownsville Independent School District trustees approved five days of paid sick leave for all fully vaccinated and boosted personnel employed as of Dec. 1, 2021, who later contract COVID 19 and have to miss work.
The board of trustees approved the measure at its monthly meeting Tuesday by unanimous vote.
“We’re one big family and we’ve got to take care of each other and do what’s best for each other, so what we thought about is to have this COVID leave for our employees who have the two vaccines already administered plus the booster because the employees have done everything that’s been asked of them to do,” Superintendent Rene Gutierrez said Wednesday, saying the district would cover the five days the employees are required to quarantine if they test positive for the virus.
“The district is going to give them those days and we’re going to take care of our employees because we’re advocating for everyone to get the vaccines because the science says that’s the best way to deal with this virus,” Gutierrez added. “If our employees already have done that and then if they do get COVID after the three vaccines, then the thing to do for them is to allow them to have that COVID leave rather than using their sick days.”
Since returning to classes on Jan. 5, BISD has experienced a higher than usual rate of absenteeism among teachers and staff due to COVID, resulting in a shortage of substitute teachers and central office staff having to cover some classes.
Gutierrez said the effort exemplified teamwork.
“We had staff members from a number of departments stepping in and covering classes. … What’s been occurring these past few days with our campus staff and our support staff coming together for our kids is a classic example of BISD is a family. We’re all working together in the best interest of our students,” he said.
BISD had an attendance rate of 75% on Jan. 5, the first day back from holiday break. This week it had increased to the mid-80s, and Gutierrez was hopeful attendance would move past the 92% the district had experienced during the fall semester.
