Policy committee reviews school improvement plan policy, emphasizes confidentiality of safety components

The Union County Public Schools Policy Committee conducted a first review March 19 of policy 5-10, the district’s school improvement plan policy, and heard that the policy clarifies both statutory requirements and the confidential handling of safety-related plan components.

Staff attorney Morrissey told the committee that school improvement plans are required by law and serve as the mechanism to carry district strategic goals into school-level actions. He said the policy revision under review includes a clarification that safety components of school improvement plans should be handled in closed session in the same way other safety-sensitive information is treated under the open meetings law: “Those safety components … are closed session because as with your meetings, the school improvement team meetings are also open meetings and have to file the open meetings law,” Attorney Morrissey said.

Dr. Houlihan, identified in the meeting as a district official, told the committee the plans are effective only if actively used: “If it's put in a binder and put on the shelf and no one ever reviews it, then it's worthless,” Houlihan said, adding that principals and site-based teams are expected to continuously monitor and review the plans as part of the district’s improvement cycle.

Committee members moved and approved by voice vote to forward the policy for first review at the board’s April meeting. Staff characterized the change as a clarification to ensure staff know which portions of improvement-team discussions and records should remain confidential for safety reasons.

The committee also reviewed policy 1-10 (board meetings) for first review and voted to forward that item to the April meeting; discussion of policy 1-10 was brief and no substantive details were recorded.