Colleen's Maternity Leave

Colleen is a friend of mine that I met while teaching at Shelby Intermediate School. She had a sweet baby boy on July 29th. Two weeks after her baby was born, Colleen (a teacher for 17 years) found out that she was being denied any maternity leave as the new school year starts back. The new SB20 law DOES allow 8 weeks of paid maternity leave and there was no reason to believe otherwise. However, the NC Department of Instruction is allowing districts to deny leave if one is a new employee. She is fighting this and has reached out to state senators, the local board of education, reporters, and LEAs. Colleen was already employed by the district she is working in before this law passed in North Carolina. She is heartbroken at the thought of leaving her newborn. We are trying to collect enough money so that she will be able to stay home for the month of September. Baby Cash will be 8 weeks old on September 29th. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for any support.