LEAVE OF ABSENCE FOR TEMPORARY DISABILITY.

(a) Each full-time educator employed by a school district shall be given a leave of absence for temporary disability at any time the educator's condition interferes with the performance of regular duties. The contract or employment of the educator may not be terminated by the school district while the educator is on a leave of absence for temporary disability. "Temporary disability" in this section includes the condition of pregnancy.

(b) A request for a leave of absence for temporary disability must be made to the superintendent of the school district. The request must be accompanied by a physician's statement confirming inability to work and must state the date requested by the educator for the leave to begin and the probable date of return as certified by the physician.

(c) The board of trustees of a school district may adopt a policy providing for placing an educator on leave of absence for temporary disability if, in the board's judgment and in consultation with a physician who has performed a thorough medical examination of the educator, the educator's condition interferes with the performance of regular duties. A policy adopted under this subsection must reserve to the educator the right to present to the board testimony or other information relevant to the educator's fitness to continue the performance of regular duties.

(d) The educator must notify the superintendent of the desire to return to active duty not later than the 30th day before the expected date of return. The notice must be accompanied by a physician's statement indicating the educator's physical fitness for the resumption of regular duties.

(e) An educator returning to active duty after a leave of absence for temporary disability is entitled to an assignment at the school where the educator formerly taught, subject to the availability of an appropriate teaching position. In any event, the educator must be placed on active duty not later than the beginning of the next term.

(f) The length of a leave of absence for temporary disability shall be granted by the superintendent as required by the individual educator. The board of trustees of a school district may establish a maximum length for a leave of absence for temporary disability, but the maximum length may not be less than 180 days.