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Board warned state expansion of paid parental leave will increase district costs by hundreds of thousands
Summary
Dr. Quinn told trustees the state doubled paid parental leave to 12 weeks while providing no new funding; the district has already paid about $600,000 and staff recommended increasing the substitute budget by $500,000 to prepare for larger costs.
Dr. Quinn reviewed the district's experience paying for state-mandated paid parental leave and the local budget implications after a recent state action. He said the district has borne roughly $600,000 in costs to date for leave taken under the prior policy and that the state has approved doubling leave to 12 weeks without adding state funding to cover districts' additional costs.
"The state put no new money in," Dr. Quinn said, and added that the general assembly "has just passed doubling it to 12 weeks of paid parental leave with no new line item for funding." He asked trustees to increase the substitute budget by $500,000 in preparation for higher long-term substitute costs, noting long-term substitutes are paid at daily teacher rates and that extended leaves are expensive. Board members discussed whether budgeting more or less would be prudent and asked staff to refine estimates for the next meeting.
