By Barbara Hoberock, Oklahoma Voice
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Senate on Wednesday sent Gov. Kevin Stitt a measure that would allow teachers to use unused sick days to extend their existing six-week maternity leave.
House Bill 1601 would allow educators to use up to six weeks of banked sick leave hours to extend their leave.
“Sick leave must be used for recovery from childbirth, bonding with a newborn, or caring for a newborn,” according to the measure.
It would not require approval from the school board or employer, according to the measure.
Sen. Mark Mann, D-Oklahoma City, is the senate author.
He said it wouldn’t cost the state anything.
Mann, a former member of the Oklahoma City Public Schools Board of Education, said he would like teachers to have up to 12 weeks of paid maternity leave.
“But with the budget outlook we have right now, that is not possible,” Mann said.
Some private companies have significantly more paid maternity leave days, he said.
“So, we’ve got to do something because these young mothers, when they have a baby, they want to spend more than six weeks,” Mann said. “And quite frankly, brain research shows us that they need to spend more than six weeks with that newborn.”
Mann said the measure will help recruit and retain teachers.
Six weeks isn’t a lot of time, but it is better than what the state had been doing, which was requiring new mothers to take unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, Mann said.
“I would like to see male staff have at least a month off when they have a newborn,” Mann said. “There are some other things we can do that are pro-family, pro-baby, but I think this is a good, good step in the right direction.”Senate Education Committee Chairman Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, said he supported the measure, but said lawmakers were making some decisions for schools in terms of staffing.
“I’ve heard many times that we’ll just trust school boards and superintendents to do the right thing,” Pugh said. “But I think if you’ve heard from your teachers on this issue, that is not happening uniformly across every district in the state of Oklahoma.”The measure passed the Senate by a vote of 39-5.
