When middle-school teacher Dr. Cathryn Hughes-Barnett arrived at work on August 28, she didn’t know that her day would include meeting and posing for pictures with a state government administrator, receiving a carload of donated school supplies, and discussing one of the biggest enhancements coming to state employees October 1 – expanded paid parental leave.
“I was making copies during my planning period when a few of my students, who were giving a tour to OSHR Director Staci Meyer, came in and introduced us,” said Hughes-Barnett, a 7th grade English and Language Arts teacher at Madison Middle School in Marshall, N.C.
“When Director Meyer told me who she was and her involvement with the new paid parental leave, I just had to get my photo made with her. I am currently pregnant with my first child, and it was totally unexpected that I would qualify for the new leave.”
Photo: OSHR Director Staci Meyer (l) and Dr. Cathryn Hughes-Barnett meet at Madison Middle School in Marshall, N.C.
Meyer was in town that day to drop off school supplies collected by her OSHR colleagues for the Governor’s School Supply Drive, which collected more than 110,000 unique items and donated them – everything from pencils to backpacks – to schools across the state.
“I wasn’t even aware of the donations until I met Director Meyer,” Hughes-Barnett said. “But the impacts of the donations are huge because we live in a very rural area where a lot of our students and their families struggle financially. I am extremely grateful for the supplies that were donated because I told Director Meyer that I had already spent $100 that week on school supplies.”
A recent study showed that North Carolina teachers have the dubious honor of ranking second in the nation in money spent from their own pockets on classroom supplies. On average, N.C. educators spend more than $1,600 of their own money each year.
Photo: Director Meyer delivering school supplies to Madison Middle School Staff.
As they talked, Meyer mentioned the upcoming expansion of paid parental leave. Starting October 1, the day the new Public Workforce Modernization Act becomes effective, state employee parents who give birth to, adopt or foster a child will be eligible for up to 12 weeks of paid leave. The current law stipulates eight weeks of paid leave for birth mothers and four weeks of paid leave for spouses.
Although expanded paid parental leave for both parents is just one of the new enhanced benefits for state employees, Hughes-Barnett says it is the one that will have the greatest impact on her family.
“This will be the very first time that mothers like myself will not have to use their own personal sick leave and/or personal days to have a baby,” she said. “I know so many women out there that I work with who have had to use up all of their leave in order to have their children when men do not have this trouble. As a result, most women have to work longer in order to retire to get their full 30 years in. I will still be able to stay on track to retire as planned prior to the pregnancy.”
A national board-certified teacher who is in her 16th year teaching in N.C. public schools, Hughes-Barnett earned her doctorate in educational leadership and policy analysis. She also serves as an adjunct instructor for Murray State College in Oklahoma, teaching classes on American federal government.
“Cathryn is the first mom-to-be I’ve met who will benefit from the law change,” Meyer said. “It was a joyful moment; it was teary. It’s why we do this work.”
Hughes-Barnett’s due date for baby Carmyn Rae Barnett is December 29.
“I would like to personally thank all of those who were involved in the passing of this new legislation and express my deepest gratitude,” Hughes-Barnett added. “It means so much to my family along with countless others.
“It was long overdue.”