Code Number: 501.12
The Board encourages pregnant and parenting students to continue their education program and activities. A pregnant student may notify the building administrator or the guidance counselor of her pregnancy.
A school will excuse a student’s absences due to pregnancy or pregnancy-related conditions, including recovery from childbirth, for as long as the student’s physician deems the absences to be medically necessary. When the student returns to school, she will be reinstated to the status she held when the leave began, which will include the opportunity to make up any work missed. A school may offer the student alternatives to making up missed work, such as retaking a semester, taking part in an online course credit recovery program, or allowing the student additional time in a program to continue at the same pace and finish at a later date, especially after longer periods of leave. The student should be allowed to choose how to make up the work. If the school requires students with other medical conditions to submit a note from a physician, it may require the same from a pregnant student.
Any special services provided to students who have temporary medical conditions must also be provided to a pregnant student with pregnancy-related disabilities. Therefore, if a school provides special services, such as homebound instruction or tutoring, for students who miss school because they have a temporary medical condition, it must do the same for a student who misses school because of temporary disabilities related to pregnancy or childbirth.
No rule shall be applied concerning a student’s actual or potential parental, family, or marital status which treats students differently on the basis of sex.
- First Adoption:
- 2015-02-09
- Revision Adoption:
- June 22, 2020
- Reviewed Dates:
- May 26, 2020
- Legal Reference:
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34 C.F.R. 106.31, .40
Iowa Code §§ 216.9; 279.8; 280.3