The Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School Board of Trustees on March 25 voted to amend two campus policies: the Shop Rate Policy and the Technology Acceptable Use Policy. Trustees approved both measures by voice vote after administrative presentations and subcommittee review.

Why it matters: The shop policy changes aim to provide consistent practices across the school's 15 shops, allow limited sales of industry-standard items where appropriate, and set clear expectations for marking up parts and materials so shop instructional funds can continue to support student learning. The updated technology policy consolidates multiple prior documents into a single, clearer policy for students and staff and adds explicit language about emails, social media use and artificial intelligence.

What trustees approved: The shop-rate amendment clarifies a $50 shop fee (previously authorized), allows percentage markups to cover parts and supplies, and establishes an administrative review process for items the shops may sell to the public (the policy specifies industry-standard items as eligible and uses cosmetology and carpentry as examples). Administrators emphasized that shop revenues are returned to the instructional revolving account and are intended to cover material costs and training-related mistakes while students learn.

The Technology Acceptable Use Policy was revised to streamline prior board and website documents into a single policy, align language with MASC guidance, and highlight legal and records-retention risks (for example, that district emails and social-media use may be discoverable in legal proceedings). The draft also addressed student and staff AI usage and noted that the school is monitoring state and federal rules such as the Children's Internet Protection Act.

Discussion and implementation: Trustees and committee members thanked the staff who benchmarked practices at other vocational schools and consolidated documents. The trustees directed administration and IT staff to distribute the new acceptable use policy to students, employees and parents and to prepare guidance on student directory data and AI use for future review.

Outcome: Both policy amendments passed by voice vote; the transcript records unanimous "Aye" responses but no numerical roll-call tallies.