SC governor signs bill that provides paid parental leave to educators

ROCK HILL, S.C. — South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster signed the Paid Parental Leave Bill in Rock Hill Wednesday morning.

The bill guarantees all full-time employees in South Carolina public schools, including teachers, receive up to six weeks of paid leave when they welcome a child.

State Superintendent Ellen Weaver, Rock Hill Schools Superintendent Dr. Tommy Schmolze, the Rock Hill Schools Board of Trustees, and state representatives attended the signing.

Representative Neal A. Collins made it clear that the goal of the bill is to recruit and retain teachers in South Carolina.

“I do think that the challenge of the 21st century is recruiting and retaining teachers in South Carolina and every other state in the nation at large. And it’s up to us. It’s a challenge that I accept and I know the people behind me accept of making sure that the best and brightest continue to enter the teaching profession,” Collins said.

The bill is aimed to ensure male or female teachers across the state bond with their children without having to worry about finances.

“We know that if we’re going to thrive our people will be happy, then we have to take care of them,” McMaster said. “We have to have the very best teachers that we can find to help encourage people to get into teaching.”

The Rock Hill School District already tried this as a pilot program last year.

There were 31 families who took advantage of the six automatic weeks of paid leave when they welcomed a new child, including Jobeth Faile, who now has an eight-month-old baby.

“She is a delight,” Faile said. “It was a delight to have that opportunity from my district and Gov. McMaster to have the six weeks of paid leave.”

However, McMaster said school districts must pick up the cost.

“There is no additional funding being appropriated for this,” he said.

McMaster emphasized there is the potential to save money by helping school districts recruit teachers and keep them.

“They estimate it costs about $21,000 to bring in a new teacher who is already certified -- just to get them into the system and the schools training and protocols and all that,” McMaster said.

A spokesperson for Rock Hill Schools said it cost about $139,000 to implement the program last year.

Faile said from an employee’s perspective it’s worth every penny.

“It’s hard being a working parent and then to add the stress of having docked pay when you have to be out for maternity leave,” she said.

Channel 9 reached out to some smaller districts about this.

The superintendent for Chester County said, in part, “The district believes that this will be a great benefit to our staff members, especially to those who are new to the profession and have not yet accrued sufficient paid leave time.”

The superintendent for York District 1 said, “The paid parental leave law certainly stands as a demonstration of support for the teachers in our state and district. While the bill will have to be locally funded as it stands currently, consideration for this to be funded at the state level could have a deeper impact on the recruitment and retention of educators statewide.”

Weaver said in addition to this bill, school leaders are also rethinking how they prepare new teachers.

“I think looking at new ways to support those teachers, whether it’s through mentorships or again through a more apprenticeship-based teacher preparation model is really important,” Weaver explained.

She also said improving literacy may help with disciplinary issues in the classroom and aid in creating a safe environment for teachers.

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