(Left to right) State Superintendent Eric Mackey, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, Tonya Chestnut, Yvette Richardson, Maria Manning and Allen Long clapping at the board’s meeting on June 12, 2025, in the Gordon Persons Building in Montgomery, Alabama. The board unanimously approved a temporary rule for paid parental leave at its June meeting. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector)
The Alabama State Board of Education (ALSBOE) unanimously approved an emergency rule for paid parental leave for educators last week.
The rule, as outlined by SB 199, sponsored by Sen. Vivian Figures, D-Mobile, allows public education employees to take eight weeks of paid leave after giving birth, having a stillbirth or experiencing a miscarriage after 12 weeks. It also allows a father to take two weeks of paid leave under those circumstances. If a couple adopts a child under 3, either parent may have eight weeks of leave if they are both eligible employees…