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Policy committee allows staff to update legal references, discusses cellphone rule and calendar changes
Summary
Members of the school board's policy committee agreed to allow staff to make non‑substantive legal reference updates to existing policies to reflect recent state law changes, discussed expectations for a forthcoming cellphone policy and reviewed proposed calendar language tied to the district's collective bargaining agreement.
The policy committee agreed informally to let staff make non‑substantive updates to the legal reference sections of district policies to reflect recent state law changes, while reserving any body changes for policies that require substantive revision.
The committee’s discussion centered on several recently enacted bills — including a parental rights measure and a cellphone-related bill — and on technical renumbering of legal citations (referred to repeatedly in the meeting as “306” rule changes). Committee Member 1 said, “I would ask this committee to allow us to just make those end note changes,” and described the edits as housekeeping that “won’t touch the body of the policy.” Committee Member 2 indicated agreement that minor reference edits need not return to the full board for approval and noted that such edits could be documented in the meeting minutes.
Why it matters: several policies in the district package contain legal citations that no longer match current law or agency numbering, and committee members said correcting the citations is necessary so the policy language points to the correct statutes and administrative rules. Committee Member 1 cautioned that one change to a statutory citation can “ping off of all” existing references, meaning a single renumbering can require many updates across policies.
Most of the committee’s discussion focused on procedure rather than substance. Members described the desired approach: staff (with Paula or other administrators) will perform reference updates and flag any cases where the policy text itself must be revised. Committee Member 1 said that if a policy requires substantive changes, it would be brought back to the committee and then to the full board; otherwise the committee would allow staff to “start chopping away” at endnote/reference updates so the policies list the correct legal authorities.
The cellphone bill prompted discussion about timing and community input. Committee Member 1 said the committee will likely need a district policy once the state guidance or model language is available from the New Hampshire School Boards Association (NHSBA). “We’re gonna need something right out of the gate so that it can go into the handbooks,” the member said, and suggested soliciting parental input before a first reading. Committee Member 2 and others discussed outreach options including PTO/PTA channels and informal community venues; no firm outreach plan was adopted.
The committee also reviewed proposed edits to the school calendar policy that align policy language with the district’s recently negotiated collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The draft would set teachers’ contract days at 187 and clarify that the superintendent will develop the school calendar and present it to the board for approval (members referenced draft deadlines of a superintendent submission by Feb. 1 and board approval by March 1). Committee Member 1 said the change reflects “management rights” in the negotiated contract and moves calendar creation responsibility to the superintendent rather than the APT group named in prior drafts.
Next steps and scheduling: committee members spoke about timing for receiving NHSBA guidance (members hoped for guidance in July) and agreed to meet again in late July and in August to process the expected summer updates. Committee Member 1 asked staff to notify principals and to plan handbook timing so calendar and cellphone policy language can be included. No formal motions or votes were recorded; the committee indicated consensus to allow staff to proceed with non‑substantive reference updates and to return to the committee or board for any substantive changes.
The discussion included several technical references and internal policy codes (for example, IHAM was mentioned in relation to alcohol, drugs and vaping references) and a note that vendor or system maintainers (Follett was named) would also update reference lists in online policy/handbook systems.
No formal policy changes were adopted during the meeting. The committee directed staff to: (1) perform endnote/legal reference updates where only citations changed, documenting those edits in the minutes; (2) await NHSBA or legal guidance for drafting the cellphone policy; (3) bring substantive policy text revisions back to the committee and board for review; and (4) incorporate calendar language consistent with the CBA and the proposed Feb. 1/March 1 submission/approval timeline.
