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District agrees to provide designated lactation spaces after teacher testimony about on‑site difficulties
Summary
Following testimony from a teacher who described difficulty expressing milk in shared or inappropriate school spaces, negotiators agreed the district will provide designated lactation rooms that comply with New York state law.
The Ithaca Teachers Association proposed contract language requiring the district to provide designated lactation spaces that are not classrooms or shared workspaces and that comply with New York state law. After a teacher gave a detailed account of her experience returning to work while nursing, district negotiators accepted the proposal.
Guest speaker Caitlin Moss, a humanities teacher who said she returned to work when her son was 3½ months old, described repeated denials of a private space to express breast milk and multiple incidents in which adults or students walked into the shared classroom while she was pumping. She said she ultimately stopped nursing when her child was six months old because of the difficulty. “I started out trying to use my classroom to express, but it was a shared classroom... I experienced more than once adults, and even children walking in on me while I was trying to have private time to do something my child needed to survive,” she said.
District negotiators responded immediately. The transcript records an exchange in which the chair and a district representative confirmed agreement. One district speaker said, “Unequivocally. Yeah. Absolutely,” when asked whether the district would provide space in compliance with state law.
Why it matters: New York state law requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for nursing parents. The union’s proposal seeks explicit contractual language guaranteeing nonclassroom, nonshared lactation space for staff, and union members emphasized the need for a separate follow‑up proposal to protect time during the workday for expressing milk.
Outcome: the transcript records acceptance of the proposal on lactation spaces and an announcement that a related proposal on protected time for expressing milk will be submitted next week. District and union negotiators said they would implement designated rooms in line with the statutory requirements.
Next steps: the union indicated it will submit an additional proposal addressing protected time for lactation; the district will implement designated lactation rooms that meet New York state law standards and will work with the union on operational details.
