Pregnant or Parenting Students

Discrimination Based on Pregnancy and Related Conditions

Since 1975, Title IX Regulations have protected students and employees from discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, false pregnancy, termination of pregnancy, or recovery from any of these conditions. Title IX also prohibits schools from applying any rule related to a student’s parental, family, or marital status that treats students differently based on their sex.  

For Schools Operating Under the 2024 Regulations 

On Aug 1, 2024, the Final 2024 Title IX Regulations went into effect for most Colorado schools and apply to complaints of sex-based discrimination regarding alleged conduct on or after that date.  These regulations reiterate and expand the protections for pregnancy or related conditions, defined as:

• Pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, or lactation;
• Medical conditions related to pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, or lactation; or
• Recovery from pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, or related medical conditions.

Nondiscrimination

Schools and districts must not discriminate in their education program or activity against any student based on the student’s current, potential, or past pregnancy or related conditions.

A school or district must not:

• Adopt or implement any policy, practice, or procedure concerning the current, potential, or past parental, family, or marital status of a student or applicant that treats persons differently on the basis of sex;
• Discriminate against any person on the basis of current, potential, or past pregnancy or related conditions, or adopt or implement any policy, practice, or procedure that so discriminates; and
• Make a pre-admission inquiry as to the marital status of an applicant for admission, including whether such applicant is “Miss or Mrs.” A recipient may ask an applicant to self-identify their sex, but only if this question is asked of all applicants and if the response is not used as a basis for discrimination.

Medical and Other Benefits & Services

A school or district must treat pregnancy or related conditions in the same manner and under the same policies as any other temporary medical conditions. 

Employee Obligations

When an employee learns of a student’s pregnancy or related condition, the employee must promptly provide that person with the Title IX Coordinator’s contact information and inform them that the Title IX Coordinator can coordinate specific actions to prevent sex discrimination and ensure the student’s equal access to their education program or activity.

Prevent Discrimination & Ensure Equal Access

Once the student, or a person who has a legal right to act on behalf of the student, notifies the Title IX Coordinator of the student’s pregnancy or related conditions, the Title IX Coordinator must take specific actions to promptly and effectively prevent sex discrimination and ensure equal access to the education program or activity.

Reasonable Modifications

The Title IX Coordinator must provide the student with the notice of nondiscrimination and, through consultation with the student, make reasonable modifications to prevent sex discrimination and ensure equal access to the recipient’s education program or activity.  The student has discretion to accept or decline each reasonable modification offered. 

Reasonable modifications may include, but are not limited to:

• Breaks during class to express breast milk, breastfeed, or attend to health needs associated with pregnancy or related conditions, including eating, drinking, or using the restroom;
• Intermittent absences to attend medical appointments;
• Access to online or homebound education;
• Changes in schedule or course sequence;
• Extensions of time for coursework and rescheduling of tests and examinations;
• Allowing a student to sit or stand, or carry or keep water nearby;
• Counseling;
• Changes in physical space or supplies (for example, access to a larger desk or a footrest);
• Elevator access; or
• Other changes to policies, practices, or procedures.

A modification that would fundamentally alter the nature of the school’s or district’s education program or activity is not a reasonable modification.

Voluntary Access to Separate/Comparable Program/Activity

The school or district must allow the student to voluntarily access any separate and comparable portion of the education program or activity.

Voluntary Leaves of Absence

The school or district must allow the student to voluntarily take a leave of absence from the education program or activity to cover, at minimum, the period of time deemed medically necessary by the student’s licensed healthcare provider. To the extent that a student qualifies for leave under a leave policy that allows a greater period of time than the medically necessary period, the school or district must permit the student to take voluntary leave if the student so chooses. When the student returns to the education program or activity, the student must be reinstated to the academic status and, as practicable, to the extracurricular status that the student held when the voluntary leave began.

Lactation Space

The school or district must ensure that the student can access a lactation space, which must be a space other than a bathroom, that is clean, shielded from view, free from intrusion from others, and may be used by a student for expressing breast milk or breastfeeding as needed.

Limitation on Supporting Documents

Schools and districts must not require supporting documentation unless the documentation is necessary and reasonable to determine the reasonable modifications to make or whether to take additional specific actions. Examples of situations when requiring supporting documentation is not necessary and reasonable include, but are not limited to:

• When the student’s need for a specific action is obvious, such as when a student who is pregnant needs a bigger uniform;
• When the student has previously provided supporting documentation;
• When the reasonable modification because of pregnancy or related conditions at issue is allowing a student to carry or keep water nearby and drink, use a bigger desk, sit or stand, or take breaks to eat, drink, or use the restroom;
• When the student has lactation needs; or
• When the specific action is available to students for reasons other than pregnancy or related conditions without submitting supporting documentation.

Certification to Participate

A school or district must not require a student who is pregnant or has related conditions to provide certification from a healthcare provider or any other person that the student is physically able to participate in a class, program, or extracurricular activity unless:

• The certified level of physical ability or health is necessary for participation in the class, program, or extracurricular activity;
• The recipient requires such certification of all students participating in the class, program, or extracurricular activity; and
• The information obtained is not used as a basis for discrimination prohibited by this part.

The 2024 Title IX Regulations also provide provisions for employees and those seeking employment.  For more information, see the Final 2024 Title IX Regulations.

For Schools Operating Under the 2020 Regulations

The 2020 Title IX Regulations state that recipients of federal funds "shall not apply any rule concerning a student's actual or potential parental, family or marital status which treats students differently on the basis of sex... [and] shall not discriminate against any student, or exclude any student from its education programs or activity, including any class or extracurricular activity, on the basis of such student's pregnancy, childbirth, false pregnancy, termination of pregnancy or recovery therefrom, unless the student requests voluntarily to participate in a separate portion of the program or activity of the recipient."

Medical and Other Benefits and Services

Schools and districts operating under the 2020 Title IX Regulations must treat pregnancy, childbirth, false pregnancy, termination of pregnancy, and recovery therefrom the same as any other temporary disability with respect to any hospital or medical benefit, service, plan, or policy for students.

Medical Leave

If a school/district does not have a leave policy for its students, or if a student does not qualify for leave under the current policy, the school/district shall treat pregnancy, childbirth, false pregnancy, termination of pregnancy and recovery therefrom as a justification for a leave of absence for as long a period of time as is deemed medically necessary by the student's physician.  After the student returns, the student shall be reinstated to the status which she held when the leave began.

Adjustments

To ensure a pregnant student’s access to its educational program, when necessary, a school must make adjustments to the regular program that are reasonable and responsive to the student’s temporary pregnancy status. Schools/districts are required to provide the same special services to pregnant students provided to students with temporary medical conditions.  For example, a school might be required to provide a larger desk, allow frequent trips to the bathroom, or permit temporary access to elevators.

For more information from the U.S. Department of Education, see:

• October 2022 Discrimination Based on Pregnancy and Related Conditions, A Resource for Students and Schools
• Supporting the Academic Success of Pregnant and Parenting Students, Revised June 2013
• June 25, 2013 Dear Colleague Letter
• Know Your Rights:  Pregnant or Parenting?  Title IX Protects You From Discrimination at School

For more information on how to support pregnant or parenting students, also see:  Youth.gov, Expectant and Parenting Young Families

How to File a Complaint

Title IX complaints should be filed with the individual school or district. However, a complaint may also be filed with the U.S. Office for Civil Rights.

• U.S. Office for Civil Rights Webinar on How to File a Complaint with the Office for Civil Rights
• U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights Case Processing Manual, July 2022 

The Office for Civil Rights also offers mediation services.  Just select “mediation” on the Office for Civil Rights Complaint Form.

Anti-Retaliation Provision

It is unlawful to retaliate against individuals, including Title IX Coordinators, for:

• Filing a Title IX complaint
• Participating in a Title IX investigation, hearing or proceeding
• Advocating for others’ Title IX rights