Parental Leave FAQ

The policy is effective on July 1, 2026. Requests will not be accepted before this date, and the policy does not apply to births, foster care placements, or pregnancy losses that occur prior to July 1, 2026.

For eligible employees, there are four new types of paid leave available under the new policy: 

• Parental Leave 
• Extended Parental Leave 
• Foster Care Leave
• Bereavement Leave for Pregnancy Loss
   

• Parental Leave or Foster Care Leave - Employees who are eligible for federal and/or state Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) protection. See MMSD Leave of Absence webpage for more information on FMLA.
• Extended Parental Leave - Employees who take Parental Leave for birth or adoption of a child under this policy and the child has an NICU hospital stay of more than five days. 
• Bereavement for Pregnancy Loss - Any regular employee (as defined in the Handbook) is eligible for Bereavement Leave for Pregnancy Loss.

Parental Leave provides pay for a leave of absence for birth or adoption.  

• For a single child, eligible employees can receive 12 weeks of paid leave.  
• For twins or multiples, eligible employees can receive an additional 12 weeks (24 weeks total) of paid leave.

Parental Leave must be completed within one year of the birth or adoption. It may be taken consecutively or intermittently and must be taken in whole-day increments.  

Extended Parental Leave provides an additional 12 weeks of paid leave for each infant hospitalized in a NICU for more than five days. 

Extended Parental Leave must be completed within one year of the birth. It may be taken consecutively or intermittently and must be taken in whole-day increments.  

Foster Care Leave provides eligible employees with two weeks of paid leave for a foster care placement. 

Foster Care Leave must be completed within the first six months of the foster care placement or for the duration of the placement, whichever is shorter. It must be taken consecutively and in whole-day increments. Foster Care Leave cannot be taken intermittently. 

MMSD employees who experience a pregnancy loss are eligible for seven work days of paid time off to be taken during the six months following the loss.  It must be taken in whole-day increments.  Like all bereavement leave, non-consecutive bereavement time for pregnancy loss is allowed for cultural or religious practices, family preferences, and for grieving.

No. Paid leave under this policy does not require the use of personal illness time or the Teacher Sick Bank. While on leave, you will retain your accumulated paid personal and family illness leave, though you will not accrue additional leave during the period you are on leave. 

• Parental Leave must be completed within one year of the birth or adoption.
• Extended Parental Leave must be completed within one year of the birth.
• Foster Care Leave and Bereavement Leave must be completed within six months of the placement or loss.

Parental Leave and Extended Parental Leave can be taken consecutively or intermittently. Foster Care Leave may only be taken consecutively.  Like all bereavement leave, non-consecutive bereavement time for pregnancy loss is allowed for cultural or religious practices, family preferences, and for grieving.

All leave under this policy must be taken in increments of one full workday. 

• Job Protection: You retain the right to return to the position you formerly held at the time the leave was requested.
• Benefits: You may continue participating in insurance programs under the same terms and conditions as if you were working your regular schedule.

Any leave under this policy runs concurrently with any leave provided under the Wisconsin and Federal Family and Medical Leave Acts (FMLA). However, it does not run concurrently with Unpaid Child-Rearing Leave available under Section 14.1 of the Handbook.

MMSD’s EAP program provides up to 3 confidential therapy sessions for a variety of life’s challenges, including depression, grief, loss and emotional well-being.  The Life Services Toolkit also provides many resources to help.  Visit the MMSD EAP Webpage or call 888-293-6948 to access EAP services.

For Parental Leave, Extended Parental Leave, and Foster Care Leave, you must submit a leave request at least 30 days prior to the start of your leave.

Exception: If requesting a leave at least 30 days prior to the start of your leave is not feasible for medical reasons or the unpredictable nature of adoption/foster placements, you must submit your request as soon as feasible.

For Parental Leave, Extended Parental Leave, and Foster Care Leave, employees should submit a leave request using this form found on the Leaves of Absence webpage. In filling out the form: 

• Under Leave Reason, select Birth, Adoption, or Foster Care Placement. 
• Under Pay Type, select Use all available accrued time and eligible pay options.
• Under Additional Information (last page of the request form) indicate you want to use Paid Parental Leave, Extended Parental Leave, or Foster Care Leave. 

For Pregnancy Loss:

• Notify your supervisor and/or your payroll processor that you need bereavement leave.  

No. Leaves will automatically apply paid parental leave benefits to your already approved leave. However, if you want to amend your request, reach out to Leaves@madison.k12.wi.us.

For Parental Leave and Foster Care Leave, a legal document, such as a birth certificate, adoption record, or foster care placement record, must be sent to Leaves@madison.k12.wi.us to support the leave approval.  

For Extended Parental Leave, an employee must provide official documentation from an appropriate medical provider or hospital verifying that the child was in the NICU for more than five days. This documentation should be sent to Leaves@madison.k12.wi.us.

Before Parental Leave and Extended Parental Leave can be approved, employees will be required to submit a plan identifying the specific days they intend to take as Parental or Extended Parental Leave. A form for submitting this plan will be available in the coming weeks.  

Generally, the District does not require documentation for Bereavement Leave but reserves the right to do so.  

No.  If you are out for five days or less before your delivery date, you are not required to report these days as a leave of absence.  You may use your personal illness or vacation time for those days as allowable, and those absences should be reported to your payroll processor like any other day out of the office.  

If you are out for more than five days before your delivery date, you should submit a request for leave of absence due to your own medical condition.  As with all medical leaves of absence, you can use other benefits such as your personal illness time, vacation, the Teacher Sick Bank, or short-term disability insurance, as allowable, to maintain your income. 
 

• For Parental Leave, Extended Parental Leave, or Foster Care Leave, after submitting your request, the HR Leaves team will notify you and your supervisor once we determine if you are eligible for the leave you requested.
• Any requests for bereavement leave submitted to HR will be redirected to an employee’s supervisor.