Mt Vernon board adopts 2025–26 handbooks; attendance, AI and virtual rules revised

The Mt Vernon Community School Corp board voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt handbook changes for the 2025–26 school year that affect attendance notices, food-and-treat guidance, artificial-intelligence guidelines, virtual‑program rules and athletic eligibility.

Administrators presented coordinated revisions for elementary, intermediate, middle and high school handbooks and explained the intent was consistency across buildings and alignment with recent attendance-law changes.

At the elementary level, a speaker identified as an elementary assistant principal said the handbook removes a prearranged-absence section and reflects that “all students… get 10 parent verified absences.” The elementary updates also simplify food-and-treat wording to defer to the county board of health and the district’s approved snack list, remove outdated textbook-rental-fee language, and add guidance on artificial intelligence and head coverings (with approval required for religious reasons).

Middle- and intermediate-school administrators described parallel changes. The middle-school presenter said the school updated its positive-behavior incentives (introducing a Golden Marauder party and a raffle system) and revised the behavior-management table to clarify responses and interventions. Field-trip descriptions were generalized to avoid locking in specific destinations, and bus-safety language was tightened after staff reported large backpacks blocking aisles.

High-school presenters described amendments to the technology acceptable‑use policy, including clarifying the opt-out process and parental responsibility for device repairs if they decline the protection plan. The high-school course handbook was updated to add a virtual program and to add dual-credit English courses; a new 2029 course handbook was updated to include “preparing for college and careers,” a state-required course.

Administrators explained changes to virtual-program transfer rules: students may switch between virtual and in-person enrollment at the start of a semester. Changes outside of that window will be considered only for verifiable extenuating circumstances such as documented medical needs or case-conference recommendations. A board member sought clarification about virtual students and extracurricular participation; staff said the virtual handbook includes the regular student handbook because virtual students remain Mount Vernon students, but that the virtual program has its own eligibility limits for athletics and extracurriculars.

The athletic-eligibility language was amended so that an online class cannot be added after the fifth day of a grading period without approval; 50% of the online course must be completed by the end of the grading period, and the entire course must be finished by the certification window (10 days after the grading period) to prevent last-minute additions for athletic eligibility. The meeting also confirmed that students on a Form 16 are not eligible to try out or participate in extracurricular activities, and coaches may exclude students who violated drug-and-alcohol policies for the school year.

Board members approved the handbook revisions and related course-handbook amendments by 5-0 votes. Staff said the district will publish the revised handbooks and follow normal enrollment and scheduling procedures to implement the changes.