Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Policy Updates topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Policy committee authorizes posting of updated nondiscrimination, leave and conduct policies
Summary
The East Stroudsburg Area SD policy committee voted to post a package of revised policies including nondiscrimination changes, parental/pregnancy protections, educator misconduct language and several employee-leave provisions; bullying and some other items were held for further revision.
The East Stroudsburg Area School District policy committee on March 17, 2025 authorized the administration to post a set of revised policies for public review, including updated nondiscrimination and harassment rules, new language on pregnant and parenting students, changes to educator-misconduct and employee-leave policies, and several procedural updates.
Committee members said the revisions align district language with state and federal references and clarify several administrative roles and reporting procedures. The committee voted to direct administration to post the following policies for public comment: Policy 103 (Discrimination, harassment affecting students); Policy 103.1 (Nondiscrimination — qualified students with disabilities); Policy 104 (Discrimination, harassment affecting staff); Policy 234 (Pregnant, parenting and married students); Policy 247 (Hazing); Policy 317.1 (Educator misconduct); Policy 336 (Personal necessity leave); Policy 339 (Uncompensated leave); Policy 807 (Opening exercises, moment of silence, flag displays); and Policy 708 (Lending of equipment and books). The committee tabled Policy 249 (Bullying) and indicated other items would be held for further revision.
Key text-level changes described during the review include: adding “religious creed” to the list of protected characteristics; replacing the term “police” with “law enforcement” in multiple reporting and referral sections; incorporating state-code definitions for pregnancy and related conditions; specifying the district’s Title IX and Section 504 coordinators and updating titles for the district compliance officer and Title IX coordinator; and directing that training materials be posted on the district website. Members noted that many of the definition changes mirror state code wording and that the district is replacing gendered pronouns with gender-neutral language in various sections.
The committee also approved clarified reporting procedures in staff and student policies, including requiring employees who suspect policy violations to report promptly to designated district staff and requiring documentation of any delay in reporting. Several cross-references to federal law (Section 504) and FERPA were retained where noted in the policies.
The motion to authorize posting was moved and seconded and approved by the committee; the transcript records the vote as unanimously in favor. Committee members said staff will return revised drafts where necessary and that some items (notably bullying) will be reworked before posting. The committee set its next meeting for April 28, 2025, at 4:30 p.m.
The revisions will be posted to BoardDocs and to the district’s policy page for the statutorily required public-comment period, after which the committee may bring final versions forward for adoption.
