District advisory group recommends board seek three exemptions under ‘district of innovation’ plan

The District Education Advisory Council recommended unanimously that the school board amend the district istrict of Innovation plan to ask the state for three exemptions from recent state requirements: the new mandatory eight-hour mental-health training for all staff, changes to grievance timelines included in Senate Bill 12, and a new statewide method for adding extra weight to AP and dual-credit courses.

The council dvisory Council pproved the recommendation after a staff presentation explaining the district istrict-level impact of each law and outlining practical and financial concerns. "We have to have 677 people trained in this 8 hour training," the presenter said, describing staffing, scheduling and cost constraints tied to the training requirement.

The request matters because the three items would require districtwide operational changes if applied as written. The presenter said the eight-hour training would apply to essentially every employee who interacts with students, require multiple…