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USD 453 board amends 2025–26 staff handbook to restrict badge content; personal lanyards allowed
Summary
The board approved a one-sentence edit to staff identification rules clarifying where badges must be worn and prohibiting items that promote tobacco, alcohol, violence or illegal substances; vote 6–1.
The USD 453 Board of Education on July 14 approved a one-sentence amendment to the 2025–26 staff handbooks clarifying staff identification badge expectations and acceptable lanyard content, voting 6–1.
Board member Karen Overby proposed the edit to require that staff badges "shall be worn ... and shall be displayed between the hip and shoulder on the outer garment or on a lanyard," and to allow personal lanyards while prohibiting "political slogans or statements, letters, pictures, or graphics which advertise or promote the use of tobacco, alcohol, violence, or illegal substances." Overby said the change was intended to align staff expectations with student appearance standards and to respond to complaints about lanyards from the previous year.
"I would like to add ... the badges shall be worn where the employee is at when the employee is on duty and shall be displayed between the hip and shoulder on the outer garment or on a lanyard," Overby said during the discussion. She moved to add the sentence; the motion carried 6—.
What happens next: the approved language will be added to both certified and classified staff handbooks (noted as page 14 for certified and page 39 for classified in the meeting documents). No further board action on the handbook text was recorded at the meeting.
