FILE:  JQA

Cf:  IDDC

 

EXPECTANT AND PARENTING STUDENTS

 

 

The DeSoto Parish School Board is cognizant of the problems of marriage, pregnancy and parenthood among students prior to their graduation from high school.  The School Board authorizes the Superintendent to assure that such students have the opportunity to earn the education which they deserve.

 

It is recommended that a student who becomes pregnant shall notify the principal or school counselor in writing immediately upon knowledge of the condition.  Pregnant students will be permitted to continue in school in all instances when continued attendance has the sanction of the expectant mother's physician.  A physician's statement shall be submitted stating the student's medical condition, approval for continued attendance, and activities in which the student may not participate.  The student shall keep the school administration continually apprised of her progress.  The school shall not be held responsible for any medical problems that may arise with a pregnant student while she is in school.

 

Should the student need to be absent from school for a prolonged period of time, the student may enroll in the School Board’s homebound instruction program until released by her physician to return to regular classes.  Any student who is not able to return to regular classes shall be encouraged to enroll in an appropriate alternative education program.

 

Marital, maternal, or paternal status shall not affect the rights and privileges of students to receive a public education nor to take part in any extracurricular activity offered by the schools.

 

After delivery, the student shall be permitted to return to school as soon as she is physically able, upon certification by her physician.

 

In regard to each expectant and parenting student, each school and the DeSoto Parish School Board shall:

 

  1. Maintain confidentiality in regard to the student.

  2. Ensure a safe and supportive learning environment for the student.

  3. Promote academic success for the student.

  4. Utilize sensible attendance policies, taking into account all necessary factors.

  5. Provide a supportive school environment that promotes high school graduation.

  6. Excuse absences due to conditions related to pregnancy or parenting, including but not limited to labor, delivery, and recovery; prenatal and postnatal medical appointments and other medically necessary pregnancy-related absences; a child's illness or medical appointment; and legal appointments related to pregnancy or parenting, including but not limited to adoption, custody, and visitation.

  7. Provide at least ten (10) days of excused absences for both a parenting mother and a parenting father after the birth of a child.

  8. At the conclusion of any pregnancy-related or parenting-related period of absence, allow a student to make up missed work in a reasonable amount of time that shall not be less than the number of days the student was absent and choose from various options to make up the work, including retaking a semester, participating in an online course credit recovery program, being granted six (6) weeks to continue at the same pace and finish at a later date, or receiving home-based instruction services.

  9. Provide that for absences or checkouts for reasons provided above, a school shall accept either of the following:

 

  1. Documentation from a physician.

  2. Permission from a parent or legal guardian.

 

BREASTFEEDING

 

The high schools of the DeSoto Parish School Board shall:

 

  1. Provide for reasonable accommodations for a lactating student on a school campus to express breast milk, breastfeed, or address other breastfeeding needs, which shall include, at a minimum:

 

  1. Access to a private and secure room other than a restroom to express breast milk or breastfeed a child.

  2. Permission to bring a breast pump and any other equipment used to express breast milk to school.

  3. Access to a power source for a breast pump or any other equipment used to express breast milk.

  4. Access to a place to store breast milk safely.

 

  1. Provide that a lactating student shall be provided a reasonable amount of time to accommodate the need to express breast milk or breastfeed a child while at school.

  2. Provide that a student shall not incur an academic penalty as a result of use, during the school day, of the reasonable accommodations specified herein and shall be provided the opportunity to make up any work missed due to such use.

 

CHILD CARE

 

The DeSoto Parish School Board shall provide both high school student mothers and student fathers information regarding availability of child care options within (if available) and outside the school system, and shall provide them assistance in identifying child care providers.

 

Approved:  August, 2004  Revised:  January 6, 2022
Revised:  March 7, 2017 Revised:  October 13, 2022

 

 

Ref:    U.S. Constitution, Amend. XIV, Sec. 1

20 USC 1681 et seq. (Discrimination Based on Sex or Blindness)

La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §17:221.7; 17:221.8

Davis v. Meeks, 344 F.Supp. 298 (N.D. Ohio 1972)

Holt v. Shelton, 371 F.Supp. 821 (M.D. Tenn. 1972)

Cleveland Board of Education v. LaFleur, 94 S.Ct. 791 (1974)

Board minutes, 3-7-17, 1-6-22, 10-13-22

 

DeSoto Parish School Board