CMS approves 80 hours of COVID leave for hourly employees during remote learning

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ hourly employees will have access to an additional 80 hours of emergency leave pay while the district remains closed to in-person instruction through at least mid-February.

The school board unanimously approved the leave policy Tuesday. The provision will allow employees whose jobs cannot be done remotely and who cannot be reassigned to other work to take paid leave until they are called back to their usual work duties when school buildings reopen, district officials said.

The employees affected by the policy include cafeteria workers, bus drivers and custodians.

Earlier this month, the CMS school board voted to extend remote learning through at least Feb. 12 after Mecklenburg County Public Health Director Gibbie Harris issued a directive recommending schools and workplaces remain remote through Feb. 2.

Under the current plan, CMS will start in-person learning Feb. 15 with pre-K, elementary, a small fraction of middle school students and some students with special needs. Middle and high school students are scheduled to return Feb. 22.

The newly approved leave policy is effective through Feb. 21. Chief Human Resources Officer Christine Pejot said employees may be asked to return to work sooner, depending on district needs, and they would be ineligible for leave once their job duties can be performed.

Pejot said the local leave policy approved Tuesday would not affect staffing readiness levels for a return to in-person instruction.

Covid-related leave

The district earlier extended a separate leave policy under the CARES act, which allows employees to take leave for coronavirus-related reasons. That provision is effective through March 31.

The leave under the CARES Act could impact staffing levels needed to open school buildings under the strict social distancing guidelines required by CMS and the state. In a weekly update on readiness metrics, CMS noted that its cafeteria, transportation and custodial staffing levels had all shifted to the “yellow” zone, indicating less than 90% coverage.

District spokesman Patrick Smith said in an email that the shift is driven by an increase in pending leave requests from employees. However, he said, those requests need to be reviewed before final approval.

“Once leave applications are processed, HR closely works with operational leads to determine the extent of the impact,” Smith said. “The situation is fluid, and we are closely monitoring the situation daily to help provide an informed assessment during our readiness review at the Feb. 9 board meeting.”

In November, CMS delayed the return of middle school students to in-person rotations due to a shortage of bus drivers, who had opted to take federal leave. The district ultimately shifted to remote learning in mid-December amid rising COVID-19 cases and worsening indicators of community spread.

The board will reevaluate community spread metrics and operational readiness at its Feb. 9 board meeting, where it will decide whether or not to maintain the Feb. 15 date for restarting in-person instruction.