Pregnancy Related Services

When a student is first reported to be, or is first known to be pregnant by a teacher, counselor, or any school official, a referral is to be made immediately to the student’s school nurse. The nurse visits with the student concerning her pregnancy and determines if it has been verified by a doctor or other qualified medical professional. The nurse then initiates PRS services by completing a PRS intake form. That form is submitted to PEIMS officials, and copied to the PRS Master Family Advocate or EHS Mental Health Professional as well as the student’s campus At-Risk Coordinator. PRS services to the student as well as the Compensatory Education funding for those services begin as of the date the PRS form is completed. When a School District agrees to provide PRS services and accepts PRS funding, it must provide CEHI. CEHI is home instruction in which school assignments for the student are collected from the student’s regular classroom teachers and are taken to the student at home by a certified teacher. That teacher works with the student at home for at least four hours a week, and then returns the student’s work to her regular teacher for grading. Prenatal CEHI services are provided when the student’s doctor determines she cannot continue to come to school due to a serious medical complication to the pregnancy. Prenatal CEHI services continue until the doctor determines she can return to school or until the pregnancy ends. Postnatal CEHI services begin the day after delivery and can continue for a maximum of 10 weeks post-delivery if there are serious medical complications relative to the delivery that involves the student or her infant. Postnatal CEHI is generally provided for a period of two to three weeks if the student has a normal delivery, and up to six weeks if the delivery is by C-section. A student with no post-delivery complications returns to her campus within approximately two weeks. PRS services end when postnatal CEHI ends, when the pregnancy ends due to circumstances other than delivery or when the student ends their enrollment in AISD during her pregnancy. AISD often provides one or more other support services during the student’s pregnancy. Some examples are the Parenting Education classes at AHS, CHS and WCE; the student’s involvement in other family and child development classes, as well as involvement in CATE career paths and classes. PRS case management is provided by the PRS Master Family Advocate. Information concerning the PRS program is available, to students and parents of students by contacting Melinda Cheatham, PRS Master Family Advocate (Phone: 325-690-3770, Ext. 1657; Email: melinda.cheatham@abileneisd.org .