115C-375.5. Education for pregnant and parenting students.

(a) Pregnant and parenting students shall receive the same educational instruction or its equivalent as other students. A local school administrative unit may provide programs to meet the special scheduling and curriculum needs of pregnant and parenting students. However, student participation in these programs shall be voluntary, and the instruction and curriculum must be comparable to that provided other students.

(b) Local boards of education shall adopt a policy to ensure that pregnant and parenting students are not discriminated against or excluded from school or any program, class, or extracurricular activity because they are pregnant or parenting students and to provide assistance and support to encourage pregnant and parenting students to remain enrolled in school and graduate. The policy shall include, at a minimum, all of the following:

(1) Local school administrative units shall use, as needed, supplemental funds from the At-Risk Student Services allotment to support programs for pregnant and parenting students.

(2) Notwithstanding Part 1 of Article 26 of this Chapter, pregnant and parenting students shall be given excused absences from school for pregnancy and related conditions for the length of time the student's physician finds medically necessary. This includes absences due to the illness or medical appointment during school hours of a child of whom the student is the custodial parent.

(3) Homework and make-up work shall be made available to pregnant and parenting students to ensure that they have the opportunity to keep current with assignments and avoid losing course credit because of their absence from school and, to the extent necessary, a homebound teacher shall be assigned.