FILE: GBRIC
MATERNITY AND ADOPTIVE LEAVE
MATERNITY LEAVE
The Bogalusa City School Board shall grant to regular employees leave without pay for maternity purposes for a reasonable period of time before and after the birth of a child. Reasonable period of time means that period during which the female employee is disabled on account of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. Regular employees, for purposes of this policy, shall mean teachers serving under contract (not to include substitute teachers or teachers replacing others on leave) and other female employees who are employed by the School Board on a regular basis. Such leave shall be granted upon proper application to the School Board for maternity leave.
The Bogalusa City School Board recognizes that any employee who becomes pregnant shall be eligible for maternity leave (leave without pay), but shall be allowed to choose maternity leave or to use current and accumulated sick leave for the period of leave normally occasioned by pregnancy and childbirth. The leave period normally occasioned by pregnancy and childbirth is considered to be twelve (12) weeks. Any leave taken pursuant to this policy shall run concurrently with any leave available to an employee under policy GBRIBA, Family and Medical Leave.
Employees may be permitted to use current and accumulated sick leave days in lieu of maternity leave upon proper request. The period of disability for which sick leave may be used shall be determined by the employee’s physician, in conjunction with the employee and appropriate school personnel, and submitted to the School Board in writing.
Each employee granted maternity leave in accordance with state law who has no remaining sick leave days available may also be granted up to thirty (30) days of extended sick leave in each six-year period of employment in accordance with policy GBRIB, Sick Leave.
An employee who becomes pregnant shall notify the Superintendent or his/her designee in writing (by completing the Request for Maternity Leave form) within thirty (30) days of the beginning date of the leave, when possible, or as soon as practicable once the need to begin the leave becomes known, except in emergency situations. Written notification must be accompanied by a statement from a physician verifying the stage of pregnancy and the expected dates of disability due to pregnancy. Such certificate shall follow the same standards as for submission of certificates for sick leave as found under Certification of Absence in policy GBRIB, Sick Leave. Failure to comply with the notice and other requirements of this policy may be considered willful neglect of duty and may result in termination of employment.
Maternity leave (leave without pay) may be granted up to one (1) year. Maternity leave shall not affect tenure, teaching or working experience acquired before the leave. Maternity leave granted only for the period of leave normally occasioned by pregnancy and/or childbirth shall not interrupt an employee’s consecutive service for sabbatical leave purposes.
ADOPTIVE LEAVE
The School Board shall grant leaves of absence not to exceed thirty (30) days to regular employed teachers after the legal adoption of a child. If multiple children are adopted on the same date, the event shall be considered a single qualifying event. The granting of such leave shall not affect any of the tenure rights with the teacher may have acquired under state law.
Each employee granted adoptive leave in accordance with state law who has no remaining sick leave days available may also be granted up to thirty (30) days of extended sick leave in each six-year period of employment for personal illness related to illness of an infant, or for required medical visits certified by a physician as relating to infant health.
Adoptive leave shall not interrupt the consecutive service for sabbatical leave purposes.
Revised: January 31, 2019
Revised: August 31, 2023
Ref: 29 USC 2601 et seq. (The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993)
La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§17:1171, 17:1211, 23:334, 23:341, 23:342
Board minutes, 1-31-19, 8-31-23
Bogalusa City School Board