Board approves cleanup to student discipline policy, clarifies alternative placement but funding not available for coming year

The board voted 3‑0 to adopt language cleanups to policy JG, Student Discipline, including an explicit explanation of an alternative placement educational program that could serve students on long‑term suspension.

The update matters because it defines how a long‑term suspension (greater than 10 school days for students in grades 5 through 12) would be handled if the alternative placement program is available. A staff member presenting the item said the alternative placement would be located at Deer Creek Academy and would be used only if "funding and qualified staff exist." The staff member added that the district had operated the alternative placement for a short time during the prior year but that funding for the upcoming year is "not quite there."

The revisions are primarily language cleanups, the presenter said, intended to bring the policy up to date and to avoid needing another policy overhaul if the alternative placement is reestablished later. The board approved the motion to adopt the revised policy by a 3‑0 vote (K. Green, King and Gibbs voting "yes").

The board did not approve funding with this motion; the presenter explicitly tied use of the alternative placement to the availability of funds and qualified staff. The revised policy remains in place so that, if funding and staffing become available in a future year, the district could implement the Deer Creek Academy placement without returning to change policy language.

No amendments to the motion were recorded during the meeting.