Trustees approve changes to employee handbook on anniversary pay date, vacation and family leave

Portage Township Schools trustees approved several changes to the district employee handbook intended to align pay and leave calculations with bargaining agreements and district practice.

Administrators said the anniversary date for salary determination and fringe benefits in section 4.1 will move from Jan. 1 to July 1 for hourly rate calculations unless a collective bargaining agreement states otherwise. The revisions also clarify that years of service count across school‑year and year‑round employment for vacation accrual and increase the ability to carry over vacation when employees convert from school‑year to year‑round status. In addition, the handbook’s extended family leave provision was updated to match new language in the USW contract, increasing the allowable days from one to two.

The board approved the employee handbook changes on a unanimous roll call.