The Policy Committee voted on Aug. 19 to forward six revised policies to the full board for first review at the September meeting. The committee’s action was a voice vote; members said “aye” and the motion carried.

The revisions are proposed to align district policies with recent statutory changes, staff said. Miss Morris, a staff member who led the policy review, said staff “would ask that these go to the board for first review at the September meeting.”

The committee grouped several policies under common statutory themes. Policy 1-23 (public records) and Policy 3-09 (personnel file) were revised to reflect a statutory change that redefines salary and addresses compensation elements such as supplements and travel reimbursements, staff said. The committee discussed formatting issues in the draft documents that staff will correct before finalization.

Policy 3-03 (recruitment and selection of personnel) was updated to reflect new rules on preemployment criminal background checks. Miss Morris said staff clarified “that the board is responsible for the cost of those, that we won't pass that on to the candidate,” and that a criminal and offender-registry check for contractors was added pursuant to a new statute.

Policy 4-19 (domicile and residence requirements) was revised to respond to statutory changes affecting the enrollment of military-impacted students. Staff described the change as expanding and clarifying documentation procedures and requiring the district to expedite enrollment when families cannot access usual documents.

Policy 5-16 (school trips) and Policy 6-08 (parental involvement) were revised to incorporate a statutory prohibition on students of the opposite biological sex rooming together on overnight trips unless they are immediate family members or unless written permission is provided by the parents of all students who will be in the same room, staff said. The parental-involvement policy adds permission requirements where sleeping arrangements involve opposite biological sexes and are not immediate family.

The committee did not adopt the policy revisions; the vote advanced the drafts to the full board for first review. An unidentified board member thanked Miss Morris at the close of the meeting, saying, “Thank you, Miss Morris, for the hard work that you do to make sure that we have up to date policies and that we are abreast of what's going on.”

The committee also approved the meeting agenda and prior open-session minutes by voice vote at the start of the session. The committee adjourned after completing the policy-item discussion.