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Sun Prairie Area School District staff present recommended 2025-26 student and family handbooks for review
Summary
District staff outlined updates to elementary, middle, high school, athletics, virtual and 4K handbooks and said the handbooks are reviewed annually under District Policy JAA before publication.
Bridget Katarik, director of student policy and school operations for the Sun Prairie Area School District, presented the district’s recommended 2025-26 student, family, academic and co‑curricular handbooks for board review.
Katarik said the handbooks are developed and revised annually under District Policy JAA (Student Handbook Development and Review) to "promote a safe and positive learning environment and ultimately support high student achievement." She told the board the drafts will be returned for review before final publication to students and families.
At the elementary level, Katarik said the district updated language on expectations for school volunteers and visitors, added an electronic link to the district guidelines for the advanced learner program, and revised language on student attendance and absences.
At middle schools, the handbooks include the same link to the advanced learner guidelines, revised digital‑learning language focused on use of school‑issued devices, new language on student deliveries (including a note that some students are allergic to latex balloons), and updated attendance and absence rules.
High school changes include adding a grading‑scale code for "medically excused — no credit earned," updated details for issuing graduation honor cords, and the attendance revisions noted at other levels. Katarik said the athletics and co‑curricular handbooks follow guidance from the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) and that athletic code violation language was aligned with the general student handbook.
Katarik said there were no substantial changes at the district’s JEDI Virtual School or the Sun Prairie 4K program for the upcoming year.
The presentation was informational; no formal action or vote on the handbooks was recorded during the remarks. Katarik reiterated that the annual review process is collaborative, involving school principals, school staff and district office leaders, and that the board will review the drafts prior to publication.
