Employee Benefits


Contract Days and Pay Periods

Employees will work a specified number of days per individual contract as determined in each unit agreement. The salary shall be paid semimonthly on the 15th and 30th of each month, subject to withholding tax and shall be prorated if the teacher in not employed for the entire contract term due to resignation or termination.

Leave of Absence

The DCA Board of Directors may grant leaves to qualified full-time employees in accordance with its adopted policies. A full-time employee is one who is scheduled for a minimum 35 hours a week and 175 days a year.

Employees may request a leave of absence for various reasons. All requests must be made in writing to the Headmaster. Individual requests will be reviewed and, when indicated, presented to the Board of Directors who will render a decision.

Sick Leave

Full-time teachers are entitled to ten (10) days of sick leave pay each school year. Teachers employed for less than a full year contract shall receive a prorated part of the authorized sick days calculated to the nearest ½ day. Teachers employed on a full contract but scheduled for less than a full work day shall receive the authorized sick leave equivalent to their normal working day. Unused sick leave days will not accumulate.

Family and Medical Leave

Employees who have been employed by the DCA for at least 12 months and have worked at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months immediately preceding the need for leave are eligible for family and medical leave. Eligible employees can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave each year between September 1 and August 31 for the follow¬ing reasons:

• The birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child
• To care for a spouse, parent, or child with a serious health condition
• An employee’s serious health condition

Eligible employees are entitled to return to their pre¬vious job or an equivalent job at the end of their leave. Under some circumstances, teach¬ers who are able to return to work at or near the conclusion of a semester may be required to continue their leave until the end of the semester.

Family and medical leave runs concurrently with accrued sick leave and absences due to a work-related illness or injury. DCA will designate the leave as family and medical leave, if applicable, and notify the employee that sick leave will run concurrently.

In some circumstances, employees may take family and medical leave in blocks of time or by reducing their normal weekly or daily work schedule. Intermittent leave may be taken under the following circumstances:

• An employee is needed to care for a seriously ill spouse, child, or parent
• An employee requires medical treatment for a serious illness
• An employee is seriously ill and unable to work
• An employee becomes a parent or has a foster child placed in his or her home

When the need for family and medical leave is foreseeable, employees who want to use it must provide 30-day advance notice of their need. When the need for leave is not foresee¬able, employees must contact the Headmaster as soon as possible. Employees may be required to provide the following:

• Medical certification from a qualified health care provider supporting the need for leave due to a serious health condition affecting the employee or an immediate family member
• Second or third medical opinions and periodic recertification of the need for leave
• Periodic reports during the leave regarding the employee’s status and intent to return to work
• Medical certification from a qualified health care provider at the conclusion of leave of an employee’s ability to return to work

Salary Schedule

Employees are paid in accordance with administrative guidelines and a pay structure established for each position. The school’s salary schedule is reviewed by the administration and Board each year and adjusted as appropriate. All contract employees will receive written notice of their pay and work schedules before the start of each school year. Salaries are paid semimonthly on the 15th and 30th of each month. For more details about the current salary schedule, please contact the DCA office.

Worker’s Compensation Coverage

Employees are covered by Worker’s Compensation if an accident which requires medical attention occurs while at school. An injured employee MUST notify his/her supervisor as soon as the accident occurs. The Headmaster will report the accident and supply the employee with instructions to follow for qualifying for Worker’s Compensation. When the employee reports to a doctor or hospital, he/she may indicate that he/she is covered by Worker’s Compensation at DCA. Failure to follow this process may delay or disqualify the employee for Worker’s Compensation benefits.

An employee absent from duty because of a job-related illness or injury may be eligible for workers’ compensation weekly income benefits if the absence exceeds two calendar weeks.

An employee receiving workers’ compensation wage benefits for a job-related illness or injury may choose to use sick leave. An employee choosing to use paid leave will not receive workers’ compensation weekly income benefits until all paid leave is exhausted or to the extent that paid leave does not equal the pre-illness or -injury wage. If the use of paid leave is not elected, then the employee will only receive workers’ compensation wage benefits for any absence result¬ing from a work-related illness or injury, which may not equal his or her pre-illness or -injury wage.

Attendance Incentive Program

Each classroom teacher with sick leave benefits will be paid ½ of the daily rate of salary for each unused sick leave day. This amount will be paid to the teacher by June 30th of each year.

Tuition Discounts

All full-time staff members with children that attend DCA will receive a 50% discount on tuition costs. All part-time staff members with children that attend DCA will receive a 25 % discount on tuition costs. A full-time employee is one who is scheduled for a minimum 35 hours a week and 175 days a year.

Health and Retirement Benefits

At this time no health or retirement benefits are available to DCA employees. The DCA Board of Directors is currently exploring options in order to provide these benefits to its full time employees.