The Sault Area Public School District strives to provide a safe environment and strong educational curriculum for our students. Accordingly, the Personnel Office aims to recruit the best available candidates for the betterment of the district and community.

At Will Employment

Except as otherwise provided by an employee’s collective bargaining agreement or individual contract, employment between an employee and the Sault Area Public Schools is on an at-will basis. This means that the employee is free to resign his/her employment at any time, for any reason, and the Sault Area Public Schools retains that same right. No individual supervisor, manager or officer can make a contrary agreement, except for the Superintendent, and even then, such an agreement must be set forth in a written employment contract with the employee, signed by the Superintendent.

Board Policies and Regulations

All employees of the Sault Area Public School District are required to abide by the policies and regulations of the Board of Education. Copies of these policies and regulations are kept in the Superintendent’s office.

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

FMLA requires The Sault Area Public School District to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid or paid, job-protected leave to eligible employees for certain family and medical reasons. Employees are eligible if they have worked for the Sault Area Public School District for at least one year and for 1,250 hours over the previous 12 months. The method used for calculations is a “rolling” 12-month period measured backward from the date an employee uses any FMLA leave. Employees are required to use any available sick and vacation time. The FMLA leave begins on the employee’s first day off work. The complete FMLA regulations are located in all buildings and copies can be obtained from the Human Resource Services office. We are working with an outside contractor to ensure that we are correctly complying with FMLA.

Fingerprinting

Effective January 1, 2006, the State of Michigan mandated that fingerprints and criminal background checks be secured for all current and new employees of Michigan Public Schools. Schools must secure fingerprints and request criminal background checks for all covered individuals on or before July 1, 2008. Schools are prohibited from allowing covered individuals who are convicted of "listed offenses" to work under contract in any school.

Harassment

The work and learning environment should be professional and free from intimidation, hostility or other offenses that might interfere with work performance. Harassment of any sort – verbal, sexual, physical – will not be tolerated. HRS will continue to provide annual training to all employees on various harassment policies including workplace, sexual and fair treatment.

Leaves of Absence

All leaves of absence, whether paid or unpaid, must be requested in advance.  It is the obligation of the employee to keep Human Resource Services apprised of contact information (address and phone number) while the employee is on an unpaid leave. Failure to report back to work on the first day after expiration of the leave of absence will be considered a voluntary termination of employment.

On-Line Training for Bloodborne Pathogen, Sexual Harassment, and Diversity

All employees shall receive Blood Borne Pathogen training annually and other topics.  These trainings are available on line.  Should you have additional questions please contact our office. Following are instructions:

1. Go to http://sault.mi.safeschools.com/login
2. Click on LOGIN
3. Enter user name provided by Personnel Office
4. From here, you are able to click into the tutorials assigned.

School Safety Law

On January 1, 2006, all Michigan School Districts must comply with a series of Public Acts related to school safety (2005 PA 129-131 and 138). Commencing January 1, 2006, all employees, new and current, will be required to have a criminal history record check conducted by the Michigan State Police (MSP) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).  The new law also requires you, as an employee of the district/school to self-report to your employer and the Michigan Department of Education when you have been arraigned/charged with a crime.  You must do so within three business days or you will be guilty of an additional crime.  Employees will report this information to the Personnel Office at 906-635-6612 or the Superintendent's Office at 635-6609.

Updating Teacher Certifications

It is the teachers responsibility to keep certification up to date.  You can contact the Michigan Department of Education.  To check on the status of your certification click here.

Workers’ Compensation

Workers’ Compensation is the system used to provide wage replacement, medical and rehabilitation benefits to men and women who are injured while at work. Report injury to supervisor immediately, if medical treatment is needed must obtain an Authorization for Treatment and Injury Report forms from school office, signed by supervisor or authorized person. The Authorization for Treatment form goes to Riverside Medical and the injury report should be sent to Human Resources. All injuries must be reported to Human Resources within three days of accident.