Il testo completo di questa pagina non è ancora stato tradotto, quindi qui sotto è mostrato in inglese. Il riepilogo, le etichette e le informazioni sulla sicurezza qui sopra sono tradotti.
A 16-year-old in Fresno, California finds out in October that she is pregnant. She is on the debate team, and a counselor suggests she 'might be more comfortable' at the district's separate program for pregnant students. She wants to stay where she is. Title IX, the 1972 federal law that bans sex discrimination in any school that takes federal money, is on her side. Its regulation, 34 CFR 106.40, names pregnancy specifically, and it applies to public middle schools and high schools, most private schools that accept federal funds, and colleges.
What the regulation says, line by line
The core text is short. Section 106.40(b)(1) says a school shall not discriminate against any student, or exclude any student from any class or extracurricular activity, because of pregnancy, childbirth, false pregnancy, termination of pregnancy, or recovery from any of those. The only exception is when the student herself asks to join a separate program.
That separate program is legal only if it is voluntary and comparable. 'Comparable' means the classes, credits, and quality have to match what non-pregnant students get, under paragraph (b)(3).
Paragraph (b)(2) covers the doctor's note question. A school may ask a pregnant student for a physician's certification that she can keep participating only if it asks every student with a physical or emotional condition needing a doctor's attention for the same thing. A note required from pregnant students alone is not allowed.
Leave, absences, and coming back
Paragraph (b)(5) is the one a parenting student needs most. A school must treat pregnancy, childbirth, and recovery as a justification for a leave of absence for as long as the student's physician says is medically necessary. When that period ends, the student 'shall be reinstated to the status which she held when the leave began.' In plain words: the same grade, courses, and standing.
Paragraph (b)(4) adds that pregnancy has to be handled the same way as any other temporary disability under any medical benefit or policy the school runs. If a student with a broken leg gets homework sent home, a student recovering from childbirth gets the same.
One caution. In 2024 the Department of Education issued a longer version of this rule with new items, such as a required lactation space and a duty to route students to the Title IX Coordinator. A federal court vacated (cancelled) that 2024 rule in January 2025, and the Department says the 2020 text is what is in effect. The five paragraphs above come from that 2020 text.
The court case behind the enforcement
The Supreme Court shaped the lawsuit part in Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education (1999). A fifth grader in Georgia was harassed by a classmate for months while the school did nothing. The Court held that a school can be sued for money under Title IX when it knows about student-on-student harassment that is severe and pervasive, and responds in a way that is clearly unreasonable. Harassment aimed at a student for being pregnant is sex-based harassment, so the same rule reaches it.
Where to look and what to do
Every school that takes federal money must name a Title IX Coordinator and publish that person's contact information. Search the district website for 'Title IX Coordinator'; the name is often on the nondiscrimination notice at the bottom of the page. That person, not a counselor or a coach, is the one whose job is to fix this.
Write one short email. Say that you are pregnant or have recently given birth, list what you need (excused absences with a doctor's note, make-up work, staying in your current classes and activities), and ask for a reply in writing. Keep a copy. If the school refuses or stalls, a complaint can be filed with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Education; its website has the online form and the deadline, which is generally 180 days from the act you are complaining about.
Da ricordare
- Under 34 CFR 106.40, a school cannot exclude a student from any class or activity because of pregnancy, childbirth, or recovery.
- A separate program for pregnant students is legal only if joining is voluntary and the program is comparable.
- Medically necessary leave is a right, and the student must be reinstated to the status she had when it began.
- Find the Title IX Coordinator, ask in writing, and keep a copy; the Office for Civil Rights takes complaints if the school does not act.
Fonti
Questo articolo offre informazioni educative generali, non consulenza legale personalizzata. KidsKnowRights non è uno studio legale, e leggere questo articolo non crea un rapporto avvocato-cliente. Le leggi cambiano a seconda dello stato, dell'età e delle circostanze, e cambiano nel tempo. Per un consiglio su una situazione reale, parla con un avvocato abilitato o con un'organizzazione di assistenza legale gratuita.