State Board of Education approves permanent rule for parental leave

State education leaders on Wednesday gave final approval to a permanent rule offering paid parental leave to public school employees. Under the policy, a full-time eligible employee who is a birthing parent will be entitled to eight weeks of paid parental leave.

The policy divides that leave time into four weeks of “physical and mental recuperation” and an additional four weeks for parent-child bonding. A non-birthing parent will be entitled to four weeks for parent-child bonding.

A part-time eligible school employee who becomes a parent is entitled to a prorated share of paid parental leave, based upon the hours in that employee’s weekly schedule.

If a newborn is placed up for adoption or into foster care, the parental leave is limited to four weeks.

The permanent rule also establishes guidelines for school employees who may experience a miscarriage or stillbirth, allowing the birthing parent to receive four weeks of leave after the first trimester. If a newborn dies after birth, both parents would be entitled to the full eight-week benefit.

The State Human Resources Commission adopted temporary rules back in 2023 with the State Board of Education (SBE) also passing a temporary policy in October of last year. Wednesday’s action clarifies some previous questions and makes the statutory paid parental leave rule permanent.

Although the state board previously allowed public school employees to take unpaid leave for up to one calendar year following the birth or adoption of a child, employees are now entitled to a paid parental leave benefit.

The state board estimates that the proposed rule will have an annual cost ranging between $324,000 and $436,000 statewide, though that figure could vary greatly based the rate of utilization and other factors like future pay increases.

Charter schools can choose to adopt the policy if their respective boards of directors agree.

The General Assembly appropriated $10 million in recurring funds for the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 school year to help the public school system pay for the leave benefit and hire substitute teachers.

A fiscal analysis prepared for the State Board of Education notes that public school employees are “disproportionately young and female when compared to the State’s labor force as a whole” making the paid parental leave policy a valuable tool for recruitment and retention.