LINCOLN COUNTY, N.C. —  A charter school in Lincoln County is doing its best to retain teachers and cater to current staff. One of the most notable ways they're doing this is the inclusion of lactation pods for mothers needing a private space to use their breast pump. 

What You Need To Know

  • A Lincoln County charter school recently bought and installed lactation pods for breastfeeding staff 

  • "The Pump for Nursing Mother's Act", passed in December 2022, provides the right to break time and space to pump breast milk at work to millions more workers including teacher and nurses

  • According to the company Mamava, this is the first and only K-12 school district in North Carolina that provides pods for staff

  • Administrators for Lincoln Charter School say the pods are one way to attempt teacher retention in a nationwide shortage

Teacher Emily Crisp has been teaching high school math for the past seven years. 

“I know some people are like, ‘you teach high school math?’ But high schoolers are independent, they know what they want. If you ask them something, they’re going to do it,” Crisp said. 

Crisp is not only an educator, she’s also a mother.

“Roland is the older one, and the youngest is Connell,” Crisp said.

She recently returned from maternity leave, and she’s breastfeeding. She pumps at school just as she did with her first child. 

Crisp says she would turn in her classroom and face the wall during breaks to pump — away from the cameras installed in every room. She added some people would still knock on her door, completely ignoring the sign clearly displayed.

Under the Fair Labor and Standards Act, employers are required to provide a private space for pumping mothers that is not a bathroom, but it only applied to hourly workers.

Teachers were exempt. 

“A lot of teachers are women who are having kids. One of the first places we should have a solution for is schools,” Crisp said. 

To better accommodate needs like that of Krisp, Lincoln Charter School recently purchased and installed two lactation pods. It offers a private space with all the amenities needed for someone who uses a pump. 

“It’s hard enough transitioning as a new parent. And then you have this extra support at school saying, ‘I understand, I know you need this. We got you. This is here,’” Crisp said. 

And more good news for millions of return-to-work moms, the “Pump Act,” recently signed into law, now includes salaried workers, like teachers. Crisp now also has the right to a break time and proper space to pump at work.

According to the company Mamava, this is the first K-12 North Carolina school to have something like this.