Day care services and information on health care for babies ? traditionally within the province of pregnant teenage girls ? could be extended officially to teen fathers through a proposed revision in Howard County school policy.
“It?s expanding the policy to recognize the services of both parents and not just the pregnant mother,” said board member Ellen Flynn Giles.
Educational services at the Teen Pregnancy and Parenting Program at Wilde Lake High School have been available to the mother and father after the child?s birth, but the policy revision would make providing such services official, school officials said.
“We do involve the fathers, if they?re interested in being involved with our child care services,” said schools spokeswoman Patti Caplan.
The Wilde Lake program offers services such as day care for infants, health care for babies and mothers, and an all-day instructional program with English, math, social studies and science.
Another revision, proposed by Craig Cummings, the school system?s coordinator of alternative educational programs, to the 36-year-old policy seeks to protect the mother and father against discrimination by adding the Title IX language.
“In accordance with Title IX, schools may not discriminate against an enrolled student in academic or nonacademic activities because of pregnancy, birth of a child, false pregnancy, miscarriage or termination of pregnancy,” the proposed policy stated.
Title IX was a U.S. law enacted to protect against discrimination.
A third revision proposed at the recent school board meeting would clarify that parenting students can choose to stay in regular classes rather than attend the Wilde Lake program.
Now, the current policy is vague in that there is less of an emphasis on the option to stay in regular classes.
A public hearing on the proposed changes will be held Dec. 13. The board will vote on the changes Jan. 10; the policy will go into effect July 1, Caplan said.
