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Wednesday, November 11, 2026Nov 11

Hamilton County school board lowers the vacation day accrual cap for new 12-month employees

Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / Hamilton County school board Chair Joe Smith, R-Hixson, looks on as school board member Marco Perez, independent of Signal Mountain, speaks during a meeting Jan. 18. The board voted Thursday to change its vacation policy for 12-month employees.
Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / Hamilton County school board Chair Joe Smith, R-Hixson, looks on as school board member Marco Perez, independent of Signal Mountain, speaks during a meeting Jan. 18. The board voted Thursday to change its vacation policy for 12-month employees. Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / Hamilton County school board Chair Joe Smith, R-Hixson, looks on as school board member Marco Perez, independent of Signal Mountain, speaks during a meeting Jan. 18. The board voted Thursday to change its vacation policy for 12-month employees.

The number of vacation days a 12-month employee new to the school district can accumulate was reduced under an updated policy approved by the Hamilton County Board of Education.

Under the revised policy, passed Thursday, 12-month employees, such as administrators and maintenance staff, can bank up to 800 hours, or 100 eight-hour days, which would be reimbursed at their daily rate upon retirement. Employees hired before Aug. 15 will continue to follow the previous policy, which allowed them to accrue up to 1,680 hours, or 210 eight-hour days.

The school board approved the update 10-0. School board member Karitsa Jones, D-Chattanooga, was absent.

(READ MORE: A guide to district staffing, new Tennessee laws as Hamilton County students head back to school)

The revised policy also condenses the rates at which 12-month employees accrue vacation days. Employees who have worked for the district for up to nine years accrue 12 vacation days per year; 10-19-year employees accrue 18 days, and those who work 20 or more years accrue 24 days. Previously, 10-14- and 15-19-year employees accumulated vacation days at different rates.