When we were discussing the ins and outs of the human body in health class, the teacher expected us to handle the subject with maturity.
We had a few minutes to get our giggles about the fact that we’d be discussing breasts and genitalia out of our system, but once that was over, the lesson was pretty-matter-of-fact.
After all, these parts of our bodies have important jobs and worrying about how they’re commonly perceived can only stunt a student’s understanding of how those functions work.
With that in mind, one might think that school administrators would approach something as important to development as breastfeeding with the same mature approach. To one mother’s surprise, however, life wasn’t quite that simple.
Back in March, Jeffersontown Elementary school in Kentucky was having its picture day.
Growing up, it was hard to think about much else besides how our hair and skin looked while this was going on, but picture days often have volunteers assisting to ensure everything goes smoothly.
One of those volunteers was Myranda Juarez, who is also a member of the school’s Site Based Decision Making committee.
As KWTX reported , two of her four children go to the school, but she also brought along her infant daughter, Natalie. Around lunchtime, Natalie started fussing because she was getting hungry as well.
Since most students were eating by this point, Juarez found that she had some downtime.
As she said , “I thought it was a good opportunity since we wouldn’t be very busy and there were students leaving to just go ahead and take that time to just sit where we were.”
By that, she meant this moment seemed like a good opportunity to breastfeed Natalie (not pictured).
Although Juarez said she tried to cover as much of her skin as possible, it was clear to school counselor Heather McGovern what she was doing.
At first, McGovern simply offered to let Juarez use her office.
However, when Juarez declined, she discovered that this offer wasn’t just a conscientious attempt to respect her privacy.
McGovern, who Juarez later learned was following instructions from school principal Brooke Schilling, said in no uncertain terms that if Juarez was going to breastfeed at school, then it had to be in that office.
The stated reason was that her breastfeeding could make students uncomfortable.
Whether it could or not, nothing about the situation suggested that Juarez’s breastfeeding was having this effect.
As Juarez told KWTX, “I didn’t feel like I was making a disruption. I didn’t have anybody coming up to me and saying anything further and the volunteers and teachers I spoke with said they didn’t know I was doing anything more than holding her and on a phone call.”
She also said that she had only intended to calm Natalie and put her to sleep.
Juarez said the incident has put her volunteer duties on hold and caused her to miss out on her children’s school events.
This school’s policy also seems to contradict Kentucky’s laws regarding public breastfeeding, which the Northern Kentucky Health Department said , “Guarantees that cities, counties and public places don’t ban public breastfeeding. The law prevents breastfeeding in public from being considered an act of public indecency. It also forbids any city or person from restricting a mother from breastfeeding in a location where she is otherwise allowed to be.”
Given Juarez’s volunteer role and membership on the decision making committee, it would certainly be difficult to argue that she wasn’t authorized to be on school grounds.
And so, Juarez is now suing the Jefferson County Public Schools administration.
Her suit was filed by her lawyer, Ted Gordon and she is seeking undisclosed damages, as well as sensitivity training for all employees of the school district.
Andrew Mize, another attorney involved, said, “It’s really another example of JCPS not enforcing the laws in something that is really clear.”
h/t: KWTX
