4000 Personnel
4100 General
4170 Health and Welfare
4171 Communicable Diseases - Staff
The purpose of this regulation is to outline a procedure for the handling of a situation which involves a communicable disease.
A. Definition:
The Board recognizes that there are two distinct categories of communicable diseases. The first category includes the common communicable diseases, acute or short term, such as chicken pox, impetigo, streptococcal infections. These cases are addressed in the public health guidelines in the district by following the appropriate procedures for dealing with these diseases. For some cases the guidelines require that the staff member may be removed from school until he/she has a statement from his/her physician authorizing a return to school.
The second category includes the chronic, communicable, contagious and/or infectious diseases including hepatitis B, and HIV/AIDS.
B. Identification of an Ill Employee:
Employees affected by a communicable or life-threatening disease will be identified through self-report or on the basis of the district having reasonable cause to suspect that a staff member is ill. Reasonable cause would exist in, but is not limited to, situations where the employee’s health is observed to be deteriorating to the point of interfering with the performance of his/her duties, the employee displays persistent physical symptoms of illness or where there is similar reasonable evidence of the existence of such disease.
If a supervisor has been informed or has reasonable cause to believe that an employee is affected by a communicable or life-threatening disease, the supervisor shall immediately notify the Superintendent. The Superintendent or his/her designee shall confer individually with the supervisor and the staff member.
C. Determination of Fitness for Continued Duty:
If there is reason to believe that the employee’s physical or mental health is potentially detrimental the welfare of students or other employees, the superintendent may require that the employee submit to an appropriate medical examination, with the cost of this examination borne by the district. This examination will include appropriate medical tests and additional documentation of the staff member’s condition relative to fitness for employment involving contact with students and other employees and his/her ability to carry out assigned duties.
A district medical advisory committee shall be established to make recommendations on continued employment. This committee may include:
1. The Superintendent of Schools
2. A principal
3. A school nurse
4. A physician
5. The physician of the staff member
The principal, nurse and physician shall be selected by the Superintendent of Schools.
D. Recommendations:
Recommendations regarding the employee’s fitness for continued duty and contract with students and other staff shall be made on a case-by-case basis by the superintendent. Cases not directly addressed in the Public Health Guidelines shall be reviewed as necessary by the district’s medical advisory team. The recommendations will be based on:
1. Medical reports regarding the condition of the employee;
2. The type of duties and interaction in the work place required of the employee in performance of his/her assignment;
3. The impact of continued employment on both the affected employee and others in the work place.
Recommendations shall be submitted to the superintendent of schools for review and determination of course to be pursued within the policy.
E. Provision for Return to Duty:
If an ill staff member is determined to be fit for continued duty, the supervisor shall be informed of the employee’s medical condition, the reasonable accommodations/precautions, if any, to be observed in the work setting, and any factors that would warrant the reconsideration of continued duty. A regular schedule of medical examinations may be required.
F. Provision for Discontinuation of Employment:
If an ill staff member is determined to be unfit for continued duty, he/she will be entitled to use of family leave, accumulated paid sick leave, and sick leave bank provisions as outlined in District policy.
If all leave options are exhausted and the employee is not deemed fit to resume duties, employee will be terminated through the employee’s resignation/retirement or Board of Education action including initiation of dismissal proceedings under applicable Colorado Statute or District policies.
G. Confidentiality:
The school district personnel shall respect the privacy of the staff member having a communicable disease. Only those individuals deemed to have a bonafide need to know, as determined by the superintendent, shall be advised of the staff member’s condition.
Adopted: 5/18/88
Revised: 11/12/96
Revised: 3/16/99
Moffat County School District RE-1 Regulation 4171