Toronto’s Catholic elementary teachers took an average of 16 sick and “emergency” days off last year, which means almost all of them will qualify for a bonus day off — a perk that was actually intended as an incentive for good attendance, the Star has learned.

As part of the provincial deal between the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association, the Ontario government and school boards, the extra day was a reward for teachers who were absent at least one day less than each board’s average.

In Toronto, in 2014-15, Catholic elementary teachers were entitled to 11 paid sick days and five paid personal/emergency days off, as well as short-term leave, according to documents obtained by the Star.

Overall, the average was 16 days, making the bonus available to everyone who took up to 15 days off during the school year, which one board insider called “just silly.”

In recent days, Education Minister Liz Sandals has faced mounting criticism over teachers’ increasing absences and also landed in hot water with the unions after suggesting sick days were on the rise because teachers can no longer bank them and cash out at retirement.

Her office refused to comment on this latest revelation when reached by the Star.

“Our expectation is that the ministry will be funding the bonus as this was part of the collective agreement negotiated centrally at the provincial level,” said John Yan, spokesperson for the Toronto Catholic District School Board.

“The government’s assumption was that the cost of the bonus would be offset or self-funded,” he said, adding Catholic boards across the province could not have anticipated that the average would be so high.

According to the contract, the board was required to make public the previous year’s average absentee rate as of Oct. 15, 2015, which could give teachers an idea of how many days they could take off this school year without losing the bonus.

Teachers on short-term or maternity leave are not eligible for the bonus, which is paid not at the full-time rate but at the rate paid to occasional teachers.

The Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association said it had not heard from any other boards about the incentive day off. It was not part of deals struck with public elementary or secondary teachers.

Patricia Minnan-Wong, president of the Toronto Elementary Catholic Teachers (TECT), said she could not verify the accuracy of the board’s numbers, but that other leaves, such as short-term disability, could lead to the “perception that the number is high.”

“Not all of my teachers are taking all of those days,” she said. She said, however, that the formula was arrived at provincially, which her union local took no part in. The bonus will be offered next year as well.

However, in general, Minnan-Wong said the Toronto Catholic board has been “very happy with the (collective agreements) and the sick leave provisions, and indicated publicly that they are happy with what came out of provincial bargaining — that they’d made gains provincially that they couldn’t make locally.”

While there is a central deal in place, the Toronto board and TECT are currently negotiating a local contract, with the board pushing for an attendance management program.

“I do question the timing of this being raised,” said Minnan-Wong, adding she prefers a proactive employee assistance program that provides teachers with “early supports and intervention to remain well and not take sick days.”

The board previously had one, but the program was among the many budget cuts, she added.

Her members will take a strike vote this week, and in the meantime, she said, she’s hoping a conciliator can bring the two sides closer to an agreement.

The Toronto Catholic board has 3,980 full-time elementary teachers, and its most recent report had 211 on maternity leave and 137 on an extended absence.

For high school teachers in the Toronto Catholic board, average absences are slightly lower, at 13.6 days — meaning anyone who took 12.6 days off or less qualified for the bonus.

One source familiar with teacher attendance said the real issue is how days off disrupt students’ learning because supply teachers are called in — and they now are entitled to sick leave, too, which can mean a revolving door of teachers in some classes.

The old system where teachers could bank unused days was a long-term liability but preferable because it worked as an incentive, the source said. But “the culture now is ‘use it or lose it.’”

The source noted that while teachers aren’t compensated at full rates for the bonus day off, they can carry it over to next year.

The bonus formula is in place for the duration of the three-year provincial contract. Teachers who have fewer days off than the average are entitled to take a voluntary, unpaid day.

In the Toronto Catholic board, teachers on short-term or maternity leave would not receive the extra pay. It is unclear how many days off teachers in other Catholic boards are taking, though the five additional “emergency” extra days are, among Catholic boards, unique to the Toronto one.

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The bonus day deal was not part of collective agreements reached with the public board teacher unions — the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario or the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation.

Sick days are costly for boards, which have to hire substitutes. Yan said the Toronto Catholic board will have a better idea by the end of this month how much extra it will spend on supply teachers.

According to a memo sent out by TECT and obtained by the Star, in local negotiations the Catholic board is “proposing significant strips to your current collective agreement, including … implementing attendance management — a regressive, demoralizing and ineffective costly program that monitors teacher absences for the ultimate purpose of cutting salary and benefits.”

The union also said the board is trying to claim 20 minutes of teachers’ 60-minute lunch, and “not responding to the legitimate concerns of teachers such as taking appropriate steps to protect members from harassment/reprisal, ensuring that members do not work an extended day.”

The bulletin also notes that the board’s budget consultation includes charging teachers $5 a day for parking, or $970 per teacher per year.

From the collective agreement between the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association, Catholic trustees’ association and the Ontario government:

EARNED LEAVE PLAN

The following program is applicable to all permanent teachers.

OECTA bargaining units must elect between the following provision and the pre-existing attendance-related earned leave program, but shall not receive benefit under both. Such election shall be resolved prior to ratification of local collective agreements at these boards. If an OECTA bargaining unit elects a pre-existing attendance-related earned leave program, the program shall not be bargained or otherwise changed.

This program shall not diminish any right or entitlement under any other unpaid leave provision or practice in effect as of August 31, 2014.

a) The board will communicate no later than October 15, 2015, the 2014/2015 board average annual rate of permanent teachers’ absenteeism by bargaining unit consisting of the use of paid sick leave, short-term disability, and other paid leave days excluding bereavement, jury duty, quarantine, association leave, long-term disability, and WSIB.

b) For the 2015-16 school year, each permanent teacher with a rate of absenteeism less than or equal to the greater of:

i. the 2014-15 board average (as calculated in a) above) minus one (1) day; or

ii. seven (7) days

shall be provided with one partially-paid day (PPD) off reimbursed at the occasional teacher rate of pay and access to one voluntary unpaid day leave of absence.