Board reviews proposed edits to elementary, middle and high school handbooks

District administrators presented recommended updates to the 2025–26 student handbooks at the elementary, middle and high school levels and discussed the changes with trustees.

At the elementary level, administrators said the largest change is integrating preschool into each building's handbook (a preschool addendum will be included rather than a separate preschool handbook). Presenters said they added latex to the life-threatening allergy section, clarified dress-code language and aligned a prohibition on hoods with middle-school policy. The elementary handbook also explicitly added "smartwatches" to the device rules used during standardized testing and school hours, and it raised the wind-chill threshold for outdoor restrictions to 10 degrees based on guidance the district said it had reviewed from state health officials.

"The biggest thing we've done is, we've kind of integrated the preschool into the handbook now," the elementary presenter said, noting a preschool addendum will appear at the end of the elementary handbook.

Middle-school presenters said their recommended changes are mostly clarifications and alignment with the high-school handbook. They said the handbook clarifies the district's disciplinary language, adds references to Indiana code where relevant and specifically lists racial slurs as part of the disruptive-language category. On discipline, presenters said they revised phrasing in several places to use "may" or "up to" so administrators have flexibility to consider the unique circumstances of individual events.

At the high school level, presenters described several updates to reflect new or expanded options for students who need alternatives to a traditional seven-period day. The high-school presentation added clearer language about alternative programming such as the ALP on-site program, Edmentum (remote but scheduled classes with live instruction), BYU and Indiana Online Academy (self-paced online options). Administrators said the counselors meet individually with each student at least once per year to review four-year plans and diploma pathways; the handbook language was adjusted to reflect multiple diploma tracks now in use during the cohort transition.

Administrators also discussed graduation-speech selection: the school now invites students to submit applications and sample speeches and selects speakers through a blind review and committee process; the third commencement address is given by the senior-class president. Board members discussed whether to restore formal valedictorian/salutatorian recognition; high-school staff said the district had moved previously to different recognition systems (summa/magna/ cum laude equivalents) and currently selects student speakers through application and committee review.

School leaders said many handbook changes are intended to provide administrators flexibility to handle individualized situations and to make building-level practices more consistent across the district. The handbooks will return for formal approval in a later meeting as required by board policy.