Teachers and staff in Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools will get four weeks paid parental leave, starting in the new school year.
The district’s analysis found an average of 75 employees were using unpaid leave every year for the birth or adoption of a child. Board vice-chair Rani Dasi said she hopes other school systems will follow Chapel Hill-Carrboro's lead.
"In an industry that's 80 percent women, it's just really unfathomable to me that we would not provide that basic service. So, I strongly support that recommendation,” she said before the vote at a school board meeting on July 20.
School system officials initially proposed two weeks paid leave, but board members voted to extend it to four weeks. The policy change is part of a package of incentives the district is offering in hopes of recruiting and retaining staff.
Several school systems around the country, including Florence South Carolina and El Paso Texas have adopted paid parental leave.
