Dickinson ISD board adopts multiple policy updates, establishes school library advisory council

The Dickinson Independent School District Board of Trustees unanimously approved a resolution to establish a local school library advisory council and several policy updates tied to recent state legislation.

Mr. Cobb, who presented the library item, said the resolution is intended to ensure that local community values are reflected in school library catalogs and that board approval was required to begin the local advisory process. After the resolution passed, the board approved a related local policy update to implement the advisory council process.

The board also approved Policy FD (local) to align with Senate Bill 401; presenters said the new state law requires a policy — not just a yearly resolution — and the district’s policy now disallows homeschool and private-school student participation in University Interscholastic League (UIL) activities. Mr. Koch explained the change and the related FM (local) update addressing how attendance for those situations is counted.

Board members approved FNCE (local), the policy implementing House Bill 1481, which restricts students’ personal communication-device use during the school day. Presenters described the state requirement as applying from the first bell to the last bell and said the district policy will meet the statute’s requirements.

Board members also approved TASB policy update 01/25 (legal and local policy adjustments) and a set of related local policy edits; all policy motions passed unanimously.

Those present described the decisions as compliance actions with recent legislation; the board’s votes authorized district staff to implement the new policy language and proceed with establishing the library advisory council.