By Jim Spencer
SpencerSpeaks.com
There will be no specific maternity leave policy in Denver Public Schools, because there doesn’t need to be, administrators and school board members said this week.
What there soon will be are newly clarified regulations about long-term absences for all students who miss school for health-related reasons.
The volatile issue of how to handle students who have babies in a school division with one of the state’s highest teen pregnancy rates arose during a December hearing. There, one pregnant student claimed girls in her condition needed more support. The student and a couple of counselors claimed that DPS policies could force new teen mothers back to class before they are physically or emotionally ready.
School board member Kevin Patterson called the conversation “off the wall.â€
“If a kid has surgery, there’s always a health plan that can make accommodation,†he said. “To say the new mom has to come back the day after delivery does not make sense.â€
And it isn’t happening, school officials insist.
“The assumptions were not correct,†school system spokesman Alex Sanchez said of the student and counselor claims.
Still, the policy needs adjustment, admitted school board chairwoman Theresa Pena.
What it won’t get is a controversial title that radio talk show hosts, critics of public education and political challengers of DPS’ elected school board can feast on.
“We are not going to have a maternity leave policy,†Pena stressed. “What need to be changed are regulations. Different schools were handling things differently, not just for young mothers, but any long-term absence. It needs to be addressed.â€
Sanchez said the school system already offers support to pregnant students under an overall health leave policy. “We have never given unexcused absences to anyone who missed school to have a baby,†Sanchez said.
Nor has the school system automatically given unexcused absences to teen mothers who take time off to recover from delivery and bond with newborns, Sanchez continued.
“What happens is if the student comes to school and says, ‘I’m pregnant. Here’s my plan.’ that’s an excused absence. But students are still accountable and responsible for the school work they miss.â€
Pena said the school system needs “to update regulations so there is some consistency.â€
The conflict stems from competing demands of recovery and academic progress.
“If you ditch school for 30 days, it’s a truancy situation,†said Pena. “That’s different than a health care situation.â€
The goal, she emphasized, “is to keep kids in school.â€
Giving birth and bonding with newborns clearly falls into the category of health-related absence. The problem is that birth and bonding should not exempt new teen moms from having to do school work if they want to pass on to the next higher grade.
Whether or not your absence is excused, after you miss a certain number of assignments, you’re not academically prepared for promotion.
“It goes to an attendance issue of so many accrued absences,†Pena said.
It also goes to a sad irony.
As bad as the pregnancy rate is in Denver Public Schools, the dropout rate is worse.
So administrators will tweak the scales that balance health with learning, hoping to keep the school board from a politically risky vote.
“We’re waiting for the language,†Sanchez said of the policy clarification.
It should “respect family or medical professional†wishes while insuring that students who must miss school continue to make academic progress.
“It’s about the application of current policy,†Patterson said.
He’s right. It should not take a vote of the Board of Education to get teachers to homebound students whether they just had a baby or an appendectomy. But the students of the Denver Public Schools need to understand one thing before they answer the unprotected call of hormones that can change the rest of their lives:
Bonding with your baby will never give you the skills to provide a decent home for that child.
Copyright 2008 by Jim Spencer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
3 users commented in " High School Student Moms Must Balance Bonding, Books "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackJim,
DPS like any other school system have students that are teenage mothers. Raging hormones know no geographic or economic boundaries.In many cases these moms are single parents. These young women are in a position where they are forced to grow up quickly.
While a school district can provide a variety of surport systems for these students, the bottom line is that the student will only graduate from high school if they complete their course work. For some students it may be a GED program later in life.
There are school districts that have programs that provide daycare within the school while the mother is attending classes,the new mother receives instruction in nutrition and other parenting skills, and she and her child can receive assistance for health care.
All the schools can do is offer help, the student will determine if they graduate or not based on their actions.
Jim,
I don’t see how this is politically divisive? It sounds as though if a person missing school for whatever reason, as long as it is excused, they will be given an opportunity to catch up. Obviously if somebody misses 4 months, then that may make it impossible to do so.
What COULD be “divisive” is if you propose mandating that it is the teachers responsibility to reach into the students home (outside of the classroom) and create a special type of accomodation, more so than just sending home class assignments.
What type of workload is proposed for the teacher? What if a teacher has 5 or more students out of the class at the same time? It should be the parents (or the pregnant, ill or otherwise student’s) responsibility to pick up any class assigments (or have them mailed) that can be done at home. If the absence is too long, and the student cannot manage to keep up, unfortunately the child must be held back until they can complete the work. It just makes sense…
I know this issue first hand. I missed 2 months of school in the 5th grade due to a major surgery. I was nearly held back.
Also, what does “respect family or medical professional†wishes while insuring that students who must miss school continue to make academic progress mean? What are family wishes? Religion or I am keeping my son out of school because we are travelling to Holland for two months? How can they make academic progress IF they are not there, either mentally or physically?
It’s important for someone to pick up the assignments and see that the student does them if they are off for illness. Otherwise they get hopelessly behind in even two weeks. A tutor to the home would be helpful if needed.
What would be even better for students who desired it would be an on-line high school, where they do their work AT HOME (not in a school). The year’s work is preassigned and they get their supplies at the beginning of the school year. This gives them flex hours which would work out well with illness,baby care, jobs, etc. This works out well for teens especially. Anyone who has tried to roust a sleepy teen at 6 A.M. for school can testify this is the time they sleep! Being able to do their work later is very beneficial to good grades.
They also learn good work/study/self-starting habits that carry them over into college.
DPS seems to be so reticent to try something different, but they would have far fewer dropouts if they offered an on line ed program.
So far as the teen pregnancies,the teens need to have birth control devices and info available thru the school nurse and sex ed classes. Telling them “abstinence” just doesn’t cut it in this day and age. Parents
either don’t talk to them, or won’t because of religious reasons. I think in some cultures it’s almost a badge of maturity for a 15 yr. old girl to have a baby. What they are essentially doing is dooming themselves (and their baby) to a life of dire poverty.