EDUCATION AND SERVICES FOR SCHOOL-AGE PARENTS

EDUCATION AND SERVICES FOR SCHOOL-AGE PARENTS

ag5751Adopted December 5, 2023

5751 - EDUCATION AND SERVICES FOR SCHOOL-AGE PARENTS

The District recognizes that pregnant and parenting students have the right and responsibility to attend school. This attendance right and responsibility applies to students regardless of their marital or parental status. Further, the District will educate pregnant and parenting students and will provide reasonable accommodations to support and encourage all pregnant and parenting students to obtain their high school diploma. No student will be excluded from, denied the benefit of, or discriminated against under any educational program or activity because of pregnancy or parenting responsibilities.

A school-age parent is any person under the age of twenty-one (21) who is not a high school graduate and is a parent, an expectant parent, or a person who has been pregnant within the immediately preceding 120 calendar days.

The District will not deny admission to or participation in any curricular, extra-curricular, student services, recreational, or other program or activity based upon pregnancy, marital, or parental status.

Procedure

Students who anticipate deviations from their regular school experience or accrue absences due to pregnancy or parenting should notify their school counselor or building principal as early as possible to discuss their educational programming. The school counselor and building principal will work with the student to develop a plan to assist the student in participating in District curriculum and extra-curricular activities. Such a plan may include, but is not limited to the following:

  1. providing online courses;
  2. accessing coursework on-line;
  3. providing home-based independent study;
  4. providing homebound instruction;
  5. allowing for a modified or reduced schedule of classes;
  6. arranging meeting times with teachers;
  7. identifying child care providers that meet statutory requirements for quality and care;
  8. providing schedule flexibility (e.g., later start times, changes to the class schedule) whenever possible to enable full participation and reduce school tardiness and absences due to medical, childcare, or other pregnancy or parenting related concerns;
  9. permitting additional time to the pregnant or parenting student for class changes;
  10. permitting the pregnant student the use of elevators when this need is supported by the student's physician and when it is possible to do so;
  11. permitting the pregnant and parenting student to engage in alternative activities that satisfy physical education requirements when requested by the pregnant or parenting student and her physician;
  12. providing hall passes for bathroom use;
  13. providing pregnant and parenting students with class and homework assignments missed during any short term or an excused period of absence to enable the student to complete the assignments and receive credit for them if they are satisfactorily completed by the student within a reasonable amount of time; and

    Tests may also be made up within a reasonable amount of time and the teacher has the discretion to determine if the same or reasonably equivalent test shall be administered.
  14. providing other curricular adjustments, modifications, and means of supplementing classroom attendance deemed appropriate by the school administrators.

Pregnant and parenting students shall be notified that they may request and be provided additional reasonable accommodations to ensure continued participation and enrollment in school. Accommodation requests will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Alternative methods of instruction or other alternative programs for pregnant and parenting students are voluntary for the student, and the student may elect whether to engage in an alternative method of instruction or the traditional methods of instruction available to their peers. Pregnant and parenting students shall be allowed to attend their regular classrooms and complete regular coursework.

Attendance and Leave of Absences

Pregnant and parenting students are permitted to attend to their own health care, their child’s medical care, or other pregnancy or parenting related appointments with the benefit of having any such absences or tardiness excused. A student must be permitted to take a leave of absence for pregnancy, childbirth, and any other pre-natal and post-natal related medical needs, along with recovery for the duration that is deemed medically necessary by the student’s licensed health care provider. At the conclusion of the leave of absence, a student shall be immediately enrolled in the school of record at the same grade and status as when the leave began. Pregnant and parenting students shall be allowed to participate in all activities including extra-curricular activities throughout the student’s pregnancy and thereafter. A pregnant and parenting student may be asked to obtain certification from the student’s licensed healthcare provider regarding the student’s safe participation in an extra-curricular activity when such certification is required of students for other conditions requiring the attention of a licensed health care provider.

Any absences accumulated due to pregnancy or pregnancy-related conditions, or care for an ill child, should not count towards any District policies in effect under Policy 5200. Pregnant and parenting students with excused absences or tardiness shall be treated like all other students with excused absences or tardiness for any other medical reasons.

Pregnant and parenting students will be provided with assignments, classwork, and any additional needed support to ensure the student keeps up with class requirements when absent.

Breastfeeding and Lactation

The school shall provide reasonable accommodations to any lactating student to express breast milk, breastfeed an infant child, or address other needs related to breastfeeding. A student shall not incur an academic penalty for using any of these reasonable accommodations, and shall be provided the opportunity to make up any work missed due to such use.

Reasonable accommodations include, but are not limited to:

  1. access to a private, clean and secure room, with an electrical outlet, other than a restroom, to express breast milk or breastfeed an infant child;
  2. permission to bring onto a school campus a breast pump and any other equipment used to express breast milk;
  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 expressed breast milk safely; and
  5. a reasonable amount of time to accommodate the student's need to express breast milk or breastfeed an infant child.

A student shall not incur an academic penalty nor face any attendance or tardy penalties as a result of her use during the school day of these reasonable accommodations and shall be afforded an opportunity to make up any work or tests missed due to such use.

Child Care

If in-school child care is not available, a list of qualified licensed child care providers will be provided to pregnant or parenting students. Nothing in this guideline is intended to prohibit or limit any referral for a student or a student’s child to an early Head Start program or any other available community resources.

Privacy and Confidentiality

Pregnant and parenting students have the right to have their health and personal information kept confidential in accordance with applicable law. School staff should make every effort to keep personal information and health records confidential and in compliance with Wisconsin and Federal law. Information about students’ pregnancies and related conditions should not appear in their cumulative record and cannot be used as an adverse factor when they are being considered for educational or job opportunities, awards, or scholarships.

Bullying and Harassment

Pregnant and parenting students have the same rights as other students to be free from discrimination, bullying, and harassment. Such school policies are incorporated herein and apply to all students.

Additional information regarding 'Instruction and Services for School-Age Parents' may be accessed through the following DPI link:

https://dpi.wi.gov/sites/default/files/imce/sspw/pdf/schoolageparents.pdf

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