By Rachel O’Brien 
Deputy Policy Editor, OpenTheBooks.com  

A first year teacher in the Metro Nashville Public Schools gets 12 sick days, three personal days, and 10 vacation days. It’s a ten month work year with scheduled holidays such as winter break and spring break. 

Generous sick time policy allows employees to accrue an unlimited number of unused days, with the option of being paid for the days or rolling them into service time for pension benefits. 

And the days have a lot of monetary value. The first 50 days are paid out at $50 per day; the second 50 days at $75 per day; and 100 days are paid out at $100 per day.

The more than 9,500 school employees had a total of 444,724 unused sick days accrued. 

Top 10 Employees With Most Accrued Sick Days  

Name Sick Days     Position          Pay    Start 

We found thirteen employees had at least 350 days accrued as of July 28, 2022, according to the records provided to OpenTheBooks via an open records request. There were 32 who had 300 or more days off, 68 people had at least 250 days accrued, and 198 people had 200 or more days saved. 

The employee with the most sick days accrued is Wylie Young, an auto mechanic for the schools, who earns $26/hour, or approximately $54,246 annually, and was hired in May 1985. He has almost 500 sick days accrued. 

Following Wylie is Angela Reed, a secretary/clerk, paid $19/hour, or approximately $39,915 annually, and hired in September 1987 — with 465 unused sick days. 

Teachers and other staff get 12 sick days each year and there’s no limit on how many unused days they can accrue, according to the district’s sick leave policy. 

Teachers hired from other school systems can bring their unused sick days and teachers can be paid for unused sick days when they retire, according to the MNPS retirement guide.  

Support staff — whose retirement policies are the same as for Metro government employees — can also have unused sick leave days turned into pension credits that count toward service time to increase their benefits or allow them to retire at an earlier age. 

In August 2021, the school district began offering staff who test positive for Covid-19 more sick days — but only if they were vaccinated.  

Staff were already permitted to work remotely if they got sick from Covid and needed to quarantine, but the sick days came into play if they were too sick to work from home. 

At the time, Metro Schools Director Dr. Adrienne Battle said, "If you have chosen not to get the vaccine to significantly reduce the chances of illness from Covid, then it’s not the responsibility of the district to financially compensate you for that decision," Channel 5 Nashville reported. 

Rules for “banking” vacation days too 

Teachers get 10 vacation days during their 10-month school year and a maximum of 50 unused vacation days can be paid out at a full day’s pay rate when they retire, according to the retirement guide. 

Employees working year-round get 12 to 25 days of vacation per year, depending on years of service. They can carry 50 days to the next year and can be paid for unused vacation days when they retire. 

The employee with the most vacation days accrued is Wanda Feliciano, an enrollment specialist, who earns $18.95/hour, or approximately $39,416 annually, and was hired in September 2013. She has 61 vacation days accrued. 

A close second is Shelia T. Northington, an assistant principal, who earns $90,720 and was hired in September 2001 — with 60 days. 

School employees had a total of 102,786 unused vacation days accrued, with the average employee having 11 vacation days saved. 

Teachers get between three and six personal days each year, depending on years of service. Unused personal days can be credited toward accumulated sick leave. 

Non-teacher employees get two to three personal days, depending on years of service. 

A Nashville schools spokesperson said, “Metro Schools values our hard-working employees and the support they provide to ensure the success of the students and families we serve.”