Teenage mothers may get laxer penalties for missing class at schools in the Española School District, as the Española School Board got another step closer to approving a new policy for pregnant or parenting students.
The policy, which aims to allow pregnant or parenting students more excused absences, was unanimously approved by Board members during its second hearing, at a Jan. 7 Board meeting. Board President Lucas Fresquez voted via phone.
The policy will apply to students at the Española Middle School and Española Valley High School.
District Superintendent Danny Trujillo said the policy will accommodate these students, who are often marginalized educationally. He said teenage pregnancy is an issue in schools around the country.
“I think just nationwide, we’re seeing more and more young girls get pregnant at that (teen) age,” Trujillo said. “They added this language to meet the needs of these students. They may be permitted for pregnancy and limited parenting purposes, and a lot of those purposes is to teach them how to be a parent.”
The policy is gender specific to female students, Trujillo said.
Currently, students in the District are allowed 10 excused absences before they are automatically dropped out, Trujillo said. Students are not allowed to make up missed class work and homework.
According to the proposed policy, pregnant or parenting students “may be permitted excused absences for the pregnancy and for limited parenting purposes along with the opportunity to make-up work missed during the absence, provided the student communicates the pregnancy and parenting status to the appropriate school personnel.”
With the policy, teenage mothers would be allowed four excused absences more than regular students, for a total of 14 per year. They would also be allowed 10 additional excused absences for medical needs deemed necessary by a physician for the pregnancy or for childcare, the policy states.
These equal 24 excused absences for teenage mothers.
They would also be allowed time equal to the number of days they were absent to make up missed classwork, according to the policy.
Trujillo said the proposed parenting policy is fair to regular students because most of the additional excused absences are tied to medical issues.
“I think it’s fair because most of it is about a medical condition,” he said. “It can’t be just because they got pregnant.”
He said teachers would require medical documentation to determine the legitimacy of pregnant or parenting students’ absences.
Student mothers should be “parenting a child under thirteen years of age,” the policy states.
Similar school districts in the state are also considering passing the same policy this year, Trujillo said. So, it is not unique to local schools.
“I think all these policies are legally researched and are nationally normed and these policies are sent to every school district in New Mexico,” he said. “We subscribe to the same agency.”
Trujillo said although the proposed policy aims to give more educational leeway to pregnant and parenting mothers, it does not encourage teenage pregnancy in the District.
“Given the times in our society, it exists, but it’s not a social norm,” he said. “It’s a social exception to the rule. Because of that exception — and we want to ensure that that child gets good education and graduates — it’s like a safety net for them.”
Board member Annabelle Almager said she supported the policy to help discourage more students from dropping out.
“I backed it up because females do get pregnant at that age,” she said. “It’s important to help them and to prevent them from dropping out. It’s hard enough to be pregnant, than being an individual on their own.”
Almager said giving pregnant students more excused absences is fair to regular students.
Also, it is fair to allow them to make up absences because teenagers who get pregnant need time to adjust to their pregnancy without having to deal with additional academic stress, she said.
“We want people to get an education and we want to be able to help as much as possible,” she said. “I would hate to see somebody drop out and not finish school. (Teenage pregnancy) will never be normal at this age. It’d be nice if it weren’t happening at this age.”
The Board will conduct the third and final hearing of the proposed policy at its next meeting, Jan. 21.
Almager said she doesn’t know what to expect of the policy.
“It just depends,” she said. “There’s five of us. It’s going to be well talked about for sure.”