(a) In any school year whenever a professional or temporary professional employe is prevented by illness or accidental injury from following his or her occupation, the school district shall pay to said employe for each day of absence the full salary to which the employe may be entitled as if said employe were actually engaged in the performance of duty for a period of ten days. Any such unused leave shall be cumulative from year to year in the school district of current employment or its predecessors without limitation. All or any part of such accumulated unused leave may be taken with full pay in any one or more school years. No employe's salary shall be paid if the accidental injury is incurred while the employe is engaged in remunerative work unrelated to school duties.

Whenever the boards of school directors of two or more school districts may establish any joint elementary public school, high school or department, or whenever two or more school districts shall merge or form a union school district or administrative unit in accordance with the provisions of sections 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 296 and 297 of this act,¹ the professional or temporary professional employes employed by the several boards of school directors establishing such joint school or department or merged or union school district or administrative unit shall be entitled to the sick leave accumulated in the individual school districts subsequently establishing such joint school or department or merged or union school district or administrative unit.

Professional and temporary professional employes who sever their employment with one school district and enter into employment with another school district shall be entitled to all accumulated leave not exceeding a maximum of twenty-five (25) working days acquired during their employment in the school districts of the Commonwealth.

The board of school directors may require the employe to furnish a certificate from a physician or other practitioner certifying that said employe was unable to perform his or her duties during the period of absence for which compensation is required to be paid under this section.

The board of school directors of each school district shall maintain and supply annually to each professional and temporary professional employe a copy of a cumulative record of sick leave credited to and used by such professional or temporary professional employe. In any case involving a dispute over the amount of accumulated sick leave, a professional or temporary professional employe shall have a right of appeal to the Secretary of Education pursuant to such rules and regulations as he may establish.

(b) Whenever a professional or temporary professional employe shall be absent from duty because of a death in the immediate family of said employe, there shall be no deduction in salary of said employe for an absence not in excess of three school days. The board of school directors may extend the period of absence with pay in its discretion as the exigencies of the case may warrant. Members of the immediate family shall be defined as father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, husband, wife, parent-in-law or near relative who resides in the same household, or any person with whom the employe has made his home.

(c) Whenever a professional or temporary professional employe is absent because of the death of a near relative, there shall be no deduction in the salary of said employe for absence on the day of the funeral. The board of school directors may extend the period of absence with pay in its discretion as the exigencies of the case may warrant. A near relative shall be defined as a first cousin, grandfather, grandmother, grandchild, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law or sister-in-law.

(d) All compensation required to be paid under the provisions of this act² shall be paid to the employe in the same manner and at the same time said employe would have received his salary if actually engaged in the performance of his duties.

(e) Any board of school directors may adopt rules or regulations pertaining to the payment of salaries of employes when absent from duty, extending the period of leave with or without pay in excess of that herein provided, or authorizing leaves with pay for other purposes. This act is not intended to repeal any rule or regulation of any board of school directors now in effect which does provide for such additional compensation or additional period of leave with pay.