BATON ROUGE - The East Baton Rouge Parish School Board voted Thursday to overturn a contentious policy that withheld a bonus from teachers who took maternity leave and FMLA.

After the item was deferred at multiple meetings this month, school board finally voted unanimously Thursday night to change the rule.

Most of the school system's teachers are women, and the policy caught them off-guard.

Earlier this year, the board approved a $1,200 stipend for certified staff and a $600 stipend for all other district staff. It was direct-deposited into accounts at the end of April. One teacher, who did not want to be identified, told 2 On Your Side last week that she checked her bank account to find that deposit wasn't made.

"I found out that it was because I was on maternity leave that I did not receive that stipend," she said.

To qualify for the stipend, the board-approved eligibility requirements said that you must be an active, full-time employee that has not missed more than 20 workdays during the school year, COVID sick days are excluded. But maternity leave was not and neither was any leave that male or female teachers took under the Family Medical Leave Act.

Multiple teachers reached out to 2 On Your Side about this, upset over the original decision.