[teachertobe09]

Just curious if anyone has had a pre-TTC chat with their employer about maternity leave, or if any of the teachers on the board here know anyone in a similar situation as me (read below).

DH and I keep going back and forth on when we should start TTC #2 because I have no idea how long of a maternity leave my principal will approve. I am the only person who teaches my classes (computers) and when me or any of the specials teachers are out, there is no sub so I don't know what will happen when I go on leave. My predecessor was male so he didn't have this problem, lol!

I pay into a ST disability insurance so I am eligible for up to 22 weeks leave (same plan I had when I was PG with Selin and I was approved for all the time off but I was working in an office back then and not teaching). I would like to start TTC in April so that my earliest due date would be Jan 2013 but I'm worried about when I would have to return to work and if there is going to be a gap between the end of my leave and summer. Most teachers aim for spring babies so they get a nice long leave but I just have no idea how long of a leave my principal is going to approve since I'm not a traditional homeroom teacher.

Unfortunately, there are no other teachers I can ask at my school about this because all of the other female teachers are either way older than me and their kids are in HS/college, or they are unmarried and don't have any kids yet. There is one teacher there who has two kids in our school but this is her first year teaching there so she was in a different district when she was on maternity leave.

So my question is this:

Should I broach the subject with my principal (who is new to the school this year too, but has 5 kids of her own and I get along with her very well) and let her know we are trying to plan for our next baby and roughly how long of a leave would I be allowed to take?

Or should I just keep my mouth shut, start TTC in April and see what happens? (We got PG w/Selin our first cycle NPP so I'm hoping we'll have similar success second time around).

I feel like I'm totally rambling here but hopefully this all makes sense. Thanks for reading!

[teachertobe09]

Just curious if anyone has had a pre-TTC chat with their employer about maternity leave, or if any of the teachers on the board here know anyone in a similar situation as me (read below).

DH and I keep going back and forth on when we should start TTC #2 because I have no idea how long of a maternity leave my principal will approve. I am the only person who teaches my classes (computers) and when me or any of the specials teachers are out, there is no sub so I don't know what will happen when I go on leave. My predecessor was male so he didn't have this problem, lol!

I pay into a ST disability insurance so I am eligible for up to 22 weeks leave (same plan I had when I was PG with Selin and I was approved for all the time off but I was working in an office back then and not teaching). I would like to start TTC in April so that my earliest due date would be Jan 2013 but I'm worried about when I would have to return to work and if there is going to be a gap between the end of my leave and summer. Most teachers aim for spring babies so they get a nice long leave but I just have no idea how long of a leave my principal is going to approve since I'm not a traditional homeroom teacher.

Unfortunately, there are no other teachers I can ask at my school about this because all of the other female teachers are either way older than me and their kids are in HS/college, or they are unmarried and don't have any kids yet. There is one teacher there who has two kids in our school but this is her first year teaching there so she was in a different district when she was on maternity leave.

So my question is this:

Should I broach the subject with my principal (who is new to the school this year too, but has 5 kids of her own and I get along with her very well) and let her know we are trying to plan for our next baby and roughly how long of a leave would I be allowed to take?

Or should I just keep my mouth shut, start TTC in April and see what happens? (We got PG w/Selin our first cycle NPP so I'm hoping we'll have similar success second time around).

I feel like I'm totally rambling here but hopefully this all makes sense. Thanks for reading!

[erica812]

I don't have any real experience with maternity leave, but could you ask a Human Resources person from the district office rather than your school? It's less personal, and it seems totally legitimate to be checking on your rights as an employee. I realize that the principal does the approving, but there might be a standard. Even if the school doesn't get subs for "special," I feel certain that they would for a long-term leave. Just a guess...

[sandyc299]

I was going to give you the same answer. When I went to find out how much leave I would get (however this was after I was pregnant) I went to HR and asked them and they gave me a bunch of info. However, before I got pregnant I did research our leave because it's all online and available. I had to end up waiting a few months more than I wanted just because I had to be there a year for FMLA so that's why we started trying in December since I was there a year that following September.  however for my company we get up to 6 weeks at 75% of our pay  with short term disability unless we have a complicated delivery and there are some issues and I think then we have to have a release by a doctor and then it's 8 weeks. On top of that we get another 12 weeks of FMLA but that is unpaid. I took the 6 weeks of paid leave and only 2 weeks of unpaid just becuase we needed the money and I needed to go back to work.

I'm not sure if this helps you at all but as I said you should proabably contact your HR department and they can let you know what their policies are.

[maestra_suz]

So my question is this:

Should I broach the subject with my principal (who is new to the school this year too, but has 5 kids of her own and I get along with her very well) and let her know we are trying to plan for our next baby and roughly how long of a leave would I be allowed to take?

Or should I just keep my mouth shut, start TTC in April and see what happens? (We got PG w/Selin our first cycle NPP so I'm hoping we'll have similar success second time around).

IDK if you rememeber this, but I was actually in a similar position when I joined the WTT board.  I was working in a small, K-8 Catholic school as the (only) Spanish teacher.  I asked the finance person who served as the school's HR rep since she took care of insurance stuff.  She basically told me that they did not do maternity leave beyond what was required through FMLA.  I didn't have the STD insurance you have so that would have been a completely unpaid maternity leave.  This is what prompted me to say adios to the Catholic school and move onto the public school (plus I got an $11k raise!) 

With that said, I may be seeing this too pessimistically, but I can't imagine that your school would approve any longer than 12 weeks if they are like most private schools, struggling with money.  I mean, think about it from admin's perspective- you would be gone half of the school year!   My normally optimistic self, echos the previous poster's idea of speaking to whoever is the HR admin to see what the rules are and then if you feel comfortable, speak to your principal. 

For us, March worked out very well and I got to be home with Grey for 5 months before returning to work and didn't have to go outside FMLA.  But I also knew that if we had had the option (financially) I could have asked for a 1 year leave and still have had my job to return to since I was in a big district.  IDK if private would do that for you. 

I hope you find out something better than what my guess is, because I know you really want to get started TTC!  GL!

[teachertobe09]

Thanks ladies for your feedback. You've given me a lot to think about!

Suzie - Some questions for you...

Should I wait to talk to my HR rep until after I've signed a contract for the next year, so I don't put my chances of being hired back in jeopardy? They've already asked who is intending to come back and I said yes so we're just waiting for the official doc. Although I've heard that some years they didn't have a contract until right before or even after school started. Hoping that won't be the case this year since we've got a new principal and she seems to be on top of things.

When you were on leave, was summer counted as part of your leave?

Also, did they get a sub for you?

Thanks!!