256.21 - SABBATICAL PROGRAM.

        256.21  SABBATICAL PROGRAM.
         1.  If the general assembly appropriates money for grants to
      provide sabbaticals for teachers, a sabbatical program shall be
      established as provided in this section.
         a.  A teacher with at least seven years of teaching experience
      in this state may submit an application for a sabbatical to the
      department of education not later than November 1 of the preceding
      school year.
         b.  A teacher's application shall include a plan for the use
      of the period of the sabbatical, including but not limited to
      additional education, use of a fellowship, conducting of research,
      writing relating to a particular subject area, or other activities
      relating to an enhancement of teaching skills.  The teacher's plan
      must be accompanied by the written approval of the superintendent of
      the school district and a statement by the superintendent describing
      the benefits of the sabbatical to the school district.
         2.  The state board of education shall adopt rules under chapter
      17A relating to submission of sabbatical plans and criteria for
      awarding the sabbaticals, including both the benefit to the teacher
      and the benefit to the school district.  Sabbaticals shall be awarded
      by the department not later than January 1 of the preceding school
      year.
         a.  A sabbatical grant to a teacher shall be equal to the
      annual salary specified in a teacher's contract pursuant to the
      salary schedule adopted by the board of directors or negotiated under
      chapter 20 plus the cost to the district of the fringe benefits of
      the teacher.  The grant shall be paid to the school district, and the
      district shall continue to pay the teacher's regular compensation as
      well as the cost to the district of the substitute teacher.  Teachers
      and boards of school districts are encouraged to seek funding from
      other sources to pay the costs of sabbaticals for teachers.  Grant
      moneys are miscellaneous income for purposes of chapter 257.
         b.  A sabbatical approved by the department may be for any
      period of time not exceeding one year.
         c.  A teacher granted a sabbatical under this section shall
      agree either to return to the school district granting the leave for
      a period of not less than two years or to repay to the department of
      education the amount of the sabbatical grant received during the
      leave.
         3.  Notwithstanding section 8.33, if moneys are appropriated by
      the general assembly for the sabbatical program for a fiscal year,
      the moneys shall not revert at the end of that fiscal year but shall
      carry over and may be expended during the next fiscal year.
         4.  This section does not preclude a school district from
      providing a sabbatical program for its teachers separate from the
      sabbatical program provided under this section.  
         Section History: Recent Form
         87 Acts, ch 224, §32; 89 Acts, ch 135, § 53; 2009 Acts, ch 68, §1