FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Alexandria Castellanos
Email: a.castellanos@lausd.net
Nation’s Second-Largest School District Approves A Historic “Parental Package To Support Employees Building and Raising Families”
LOS ANGELES, CA (MAY. 13, 2025) — L.A. Unified today unanimously approved Board Member Tanya Ortiz Franklin’s resolution, “Parental Package: LAUSD as an Equitable Employer of Choice for Thriving Families,” establishing the district as a national leader in public education in supporting employees who are planning, building, and raising families. This resolution will revolutionize employee support through enhancing family leave benefits, reproductive health access, lactation accommodations, child care assistance, and long-term planning for employee-parents.
Most LAUSD employees don’t qualify for California’s state-paid family leave. This means new parents often face confusion, financial strain, and an impossible choice: care for their family or protect their income. With limited coverage for fertility treatments and high costs of quality child care exceeding a median family income, LAUSD staff struggle to access health and child care services that support their growing families. This resolution directly addresses these burdens and reimagines LAUSD as a place where employees don’t have to choose between their careers and their families.
“As both a Board Member and a mother who has recently navigated two pregnancies and early parenthood while working, I’ve experienced firsthand the challenges our employee-parents face,” Board Member Ortiz Franklin said. “In a field overwhelmingly staffed by women and with a Board majority of moms ourselves, we’re not falling for the President’s performative policies of medals and prizes for parents. Instead, this resolution transforms LAUSD into a workplace that truly supports the whole employee – from reproductive care to family leave to child care – recognizing that when our staff can thrive at home and at work, they can better serve our future.”
The resolution, which was co-sponsored by Board Member Karla Griego and Board Member Kelly Gonez, calls on the district to create an implementation plan by February 2026 to address the urgent needs of LAUSD’s workforce of over 70,000 employees.
“I am proud to join my colleagues in working to make LAUSD an Equitable Employer of Choice,” Board President Scott Schmerelson said. “We are committed to doing much more than checking boxes; we want to create truly inclusive and supportive environments where every community member can have the resources they need to thrive.”
“This resolution makes it clear that LAUSD values its workforce not just as educators, but as human beings with families, responsibilities, and lives outside the classroom,” said Board Vice President Dr. Rocío Rivas.
“As a school district, we have a responsibility not just to educate children, but to support the people who care for them—both at home and in our schools,” Board Member Nick Melvoin said. “Strengthening parental leave policies is about respecting the dignity of working families, supporting mothers, and making LAUSD a place where employees don’t have to choose between doing their jobs and taking care of their families.”
“As someone who became a new mom while employed by the District, I did not feel like I had the necessary support from my employer, so I ended up having to take time off from teaching,” Board Member Karla Griego said. “Our employees deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and as a District, we need to lead the way in making a career in education, a sustainable choice for those looking to build a family. That is why I co-sponsored this resolution which will help create a data-driven plan to implement a more equitable support system for employee-parents across the district.”
“There is so much more our society can do to support prospective and new parents, and I’m proud our Board is becoming part of the solution,” Board Member Kelly Gonez said. “As the mother of three young children myself, I know firsthand the challenges of balancing parenting and work demands. I look forward to identifying ways we can deepen our support so that our employee-parents can build and care for their own families and support our LAUSD students.”
This Parental Package will gather quantitative and qualitative data to build a plan that explores and improves the entire suite of services for employee-parents: from reproductive health care to parental leave to early child care. Most immediately it will address training and implementation of lactation spaces, better help employees understand their health benefits and leave options, and connect staff to child care providers, including to LAUSD’s own infant and early education centers.
This initiative represents a significant step toward making LAUSD a model employer that recognizes the crucial connection between supporting employee-parents and delivering quality education to students.
Board Member Ortiz Franklin is a member of the Los Angeles Unified Board of Education representing Board District 7, where she was previously a student, teacher, teacher-educator and advocate. She is committed to ensuring all students graduate fully prepared to thrive in the college, career and life of their choice. Los Angeles Unified Board District 7 includes the diverse communities of South Los Angeles, Watts, Gardena, Carson, Lomita, Harbor City, Wilmington and San Pedro.
For more information about Board District 7, visit us at https://achieve.lausd.net/bd7 or follow us on social media: Instagram (@lausdbd7), Facebook (@lausdbd7).
