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At Buckeye Central, my small high school in rural Ohio, we have several female teachers with small children. And for those who are breastfeeding, they need a place to pump milk. We didn’t have a lot of meetings or discussions to come up with a pumping policy. It was just something we created to meet the needs of some of our teachers, so we made it happen.

The logical time for our teachers to pump is during their prep period. But it’s not that simple because teachers often need to use that time for other activities, including meetings. I respect their need to pump, so the key is to be creative with how we rearrange schedules. We have a lot of meetings, and I like to work one-on-one with my teachers when possible. Just to take one example, when we’re working on teacher evaluations, we usually meet before and after an observation, which would often fall during a prep period. For teachers who need to pump, we flip our schedules around, and I’ll get coverage for that teacher, to make things work.

We’re a small school with a small staff, and we’re very tight. We’re all used to helping each other out. To give a sense of how connected we all are here, I’m a graduate of the school, and I’m in my 10th year as principal.

Teachers obviously need to know they can have privacy while they are pumping. We use a sign, developed by a pumping mother, that the teachers can put up on their door so their students know they can’t enter at that time. We let the students know that if they have a study hall that period and have questions, they can come see me or our school counselor instead.

Respecting Working Mothers

I have a pretty simple philosophy that guides my leadership. I believe the most important resource we have in every classroom is the teacher. If I have good teachers, I want to keep them here, and I want them to be happy. To that end, we have worked hard to create a climate where our staff feels valued and appreciated. One way we do that is by respecting women who are raising children and trying to balance that with being a working professional.

Michael Martin. PHOTO COURTESY OF NASSP

I’ve never had a young teacher on my staff who was upset with how they were treated at our school and felt like they had to make a choice between being a mother and being a teacher. I take pride in that fact and think it provides a model for our students, too.

I want good parents, good families, and good kids in this community. And the better the kids are, the better my school is. Let’s be honest: Eventually the children of our teachers are going to be my students.

Another big plus at my school, and it meshes well with making new mothers feel more comfortable, is that we have a great preschool in the building called Bitty Bucks. I consider it one of the best preschools in the state. It’s open not only to our staff but to staff at our elementary and middle school and to community members. It’s a real asset in rural community like ours.

I remember being a young father with kids in preschool. The school would invite the parents to an event during the day, but I couldn’t go because it was 25 or 30 minutes away. When that happens here, it’s a five-minute walk down the hall for the parent, and it’s not hard to find coverage for a shorter time. This preschool doesn’t just support our parents who are mothers. We have two fathers now with young kids in the preschool.

Accommodating the needs of breastfeeding parents not only helps families but the entire teaching profession. If we want to recruit and retain educators, a pumping policy like ours is really just common sense.

The PUMP Act

Not all workplaces are as accommodating to nursing mothers, which is why Congress passed and President Biden signed the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP Act) in 2022. It gives teachers and employees who are nursing the right to pump breast milk at work, including reasonable break time and a private space. That space must be shielded from view and free from intrusion, and it can’t be a bathroom. Learn more at dol.gov/agencies/whd/pump-at-work.

Michael Martin is the principal of Buckeye Central High School in New Washington, OH, and the 2024 Ohio Principal of the Year.