St. Mary OKs Atchafalaya Construction
July 15, 2008
Rickie J. Harris
July 17, 2008
T’bonne schools’ leave liability nearly $1.2M
By KEYON JEFF
Terrebonne Parish School Board members claim the school system is carrying a $1.2 million unbudgeted liability because employees are not using their annual leave days.
Leading the way is School Superintendent Ed Richard Jr., who has 204 used leave days valued at over $101,000.
School officials calculate accrued annual leave pay by multiplying an employee’s daily pay rate by his number of unused leave in a year. At a daily rate of $498.68, Richard’s 204.5 days of unused leave would cost the school district $101,980.68.
Other 12-month employees hoarding large amounts of annual leave pay are Kathleen Tamplain, supervisor of assessment and staff development ($61,804), Philip Martin, assistant superintendent, curriculum and instruction ($59,587) and Harris Henry, executive director of finance & auxiliary services ($56,096).
According to district records, 29 Terrebonne Parish School District employees have accrued over $10,000 in unused accumulated annual leave benefits.
In fact, of the school system’s 239 12-month staffers, only 48 have no unused leave showing as of June 30.
In recent months, some school board members have suggested that 12-month employees are intentionally not using annual leave time in order to bolster their retirement packages.
“These people are not taking their leave and waiting until they retire and, basically, just walking off with a big retirement check,” said board member Clark Bonvillain.
“I looked at the budget last year and saw that one employee had a $67,000 payout,” said board member Rickie Pitre “It’s extraordinary that one person can accomplish this. We have over 200 employees that can cash out at any time.”
In the unlikely event that 12-month employees retired en masse, the board would have to pay almost $1.2 million in benefits.
Some board members said this is an unbudgeted liability.
However, the district’s finance department insists leave accumulation payout is budgeted either as part of the current year’s budget or the next, depending on when the employee retires.
“Annual leave is part of an employee’s salary, and their salary is budgeted,” said Judith Martin, chief accountant for the school district. “We budget everyone’s salary for the entire year.”
Others board members, while ensuring the matter is correctable, believe the outrage displayed by their peers is misguided.
“We (the board) have always known there was a liability,” said board member Donald Duplantis. “It is always broken down on a year-by-year basis. It’s just like any unfunded mandate – retirement systems, teacher payout. It’s one of those liabilities that’s just there.”
The school board first created an annual leave policy for 12-month employees in 1982. Back then, accrued leave days were capped at 20. Any used time could not be converted to money.
“Then those bunch of clowns with the state Legislature, they came up with a law that says we have to pay any unused leave in cash to the retirees when they either quit us or leave us,” Bonvillain said.
The cap placed on unused leaved was lifted about a decade ago. How that happened is a matter in question.
Depending on who one asks, either the school board voted to remove the cap or the administration at that time discarded the cap without board approval.
“It was the board that uncapped it,” superintendent Richard insisted. “The staff has nothing to do with this. This is policy.”
“I don’t recall that at all!” Bonvillain countered.
At the July 7 Education and Policy Committee meeting, the school board asked Richard’s staff to develop a plan to limit unused accumulated annual leave days.
The Finance, Insurance and Section 16 Lands Committee will also place the issue on its July 21 agenda, Pitre said.
When asked about the possibility of a cap on their accumulated leave days, most 12-month employees either had no comment or said it would not bother them.
“If they decide to do that, we’ll do whatever they wish,” Richard said. “They already capped [accumulated] sick leave to 25 days, so if they put a cap on annual leave, that would be consistent with the board’s thinking.”
“We’ll do whatever is in the best interest of the school system,” said Walt Prejean, school district data processing manager, who has accrued over $38,000 in annual leave pay.
“It wouldn’t change how we do the budget,” said Martin, who has over $12,000 of accrued annual leave pay. “I’m still going to put a person’s yearly salary into the budget. Most times, I don’t have to add any money. If I do, I take money off their salary account and put it down to the annual leave payoff account. It’s the same dollars.”
Some school board members want a policy similar to the one developed by the Lafourche Parish School Board, which restricts unused accumulated annual leave days to 25.
Terrebonne school board members suggested 30 days as a possible limit.
Currently school district 12-month employees receive up to 20 leave days per fiscal year (July 1-June 30). Any unused leave days can be rolled over yearly for an unlimited period.
Most businesses either force employees to use leave days by a certain date or limit the number that can be amassed.
Some central office personnel argue that the annual leave benefit is the only advantage to being a 12-month worker instead of a nine-month worker, like teachers and principals.
“As a 12-month person, when you’re walking out the door, you have that lump sum of money as a little extra savings on the side to compensate your retirement,” said Curtis Constrantiche, retirement specialist for the school district. “Some people might invest it to help themselves out. Someone else might have worked nine-months and worked somewhere during the summer to offset their income.”
Employees also claim it is difficult to find time to take their leave days.
They said they are needed in the office during the school year and, in the summer months, reports to the Louisiana Department of Education are due.
“Some people tend to store up more leave because the summertime, when most people would assume you would use your annual leave, that’s some of the busiest times of the year,” Constrantiche said. “You’re closing out the last school year and the next year is opening soon. It’s a hectic time around here.”
But some school board members are not buying that rationale. They have remedies as simple as better management by supervisors to eliminating annual leave outright.
“Keep in mind they get all the holidays the other employees get,” Pitre said. “Why should they be given 20 days when their compensation already covers time away?”
If changes were made to the annual leave policy, Duplantis would like to see current employees protected.
“All the people working for us should be grandfathered in, and not penalized through no fault of their own,” he said. “The board granted this a number of years ago before I came on. The employees are not doing anything wrong.”
In the meantime, Richard does not seem to be concerned about subtracting his unused leave from his six-figure benefit payout.
“Whatever they charge me to do, I’ll do,” he said. “No problem.”
Employee Name Richard, Edward J. Unused Leave 204.50 hours Total Liability $101,980.06
