Board pulls contentious leave-buyback item after hour-long debate over Munis, caps and fairness

A proposal to consolidate vacation leave buckets into a single accrual bank with a fixed cap — and to offer a one‑time buyback of excess days as of June 30 — produced some of the meeting’s most heated exchanges.

Finance and HR said auditors had flagged inconsistent administration of multiple leave banks and recommended simplifying the policy. The proposal would measure accrual monthly, cap carryover and offer a one‑time buyback for employees who exceeded a designated cap at a transition date. The packet proposed a 45‑day cap; trustees and commentators advised raising the cap to 50 or reopening the policy for a fuller review. After lengthy testimony from employees and trustees about administration problems with the district’s Munis payroll system and the emotional impact on staff, the board unanimously agreed to withdraw the buyback item from the consent agenda and to re‑post the policy for first read with corrections and more time for public comment.

Board direction: staff were asked to correct typos and attachment errors in the draft policy, run additional analysis on the fiscal impact of a 45‑day versus 50‑day cap, and prepare a clean, annotated draft for the next public agenda. Trustees emphasized care in communications with staff and urged that changes not be rushed.