High School Offers Maternity Leave for Teen Moms

[Honeykiss1974]

Students get 2-month maternity leave


By CELESTE KATZ
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER


Melinda, 16, expects to return to East Harlem school soon. She gave birth to daughter Eurycides in November.

Teen moms are getting maternity leave.
For the first time, high school and middle school students who have a baby will get a two-month excused absence from class, thanks to a new Department of Education policy.

"If a staff member had a baby and was about to deliver, they would go on maternity leave. So why not have the same thing for students?" said Bernard Gassaway, senior superintendent for alternative schools and programs.

But the schools are going most employers one better - students not only get sanctioned time off, they'll get some help.

The Ed Department plans to send social workers and nurses to check on new moms and babies in their homes. And schools are sending classwork home so students can keep up.

Gassaway said he hopes the new policy keeps more young mothers from dropping out.