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School committee approves 2025–26 unified student handbook, agrees to review pronoun language through policy process
Summary
The committee approved the district’s 2025–26 unified student handbook but members requested a separate policy-led review of gender-pronoun language and other wording changes before the school year begins.
The Concord School Committee voted to approve the district’s 2025–26 Unified Student Handbook at its June 10 meeting after discussing several housekeeping updates and policy alignments.
Superintendent Dr. Hunter told the committee the handbook changes are primarily editorial — updating dates, titles and building addresses — and to align student-facing language with policies the committee previously approved. She flagged a specific update: replacing the K–8 cell phone policy text with the committee’s newly adopted cell-phone policy for Concord Public Schools.
Committee members raised one substantive editorial concern that will require a formal policy process: pronoun usage (instances of “he/she” in older policy text). Several members requested the district staff bring a policy-level recommendation so the committee can consider a consistent approach across policies and the handbook. Dr. Hunter and committee members agreed the proper procedural route is to change policies first, and then update the handbook so both documents remain aligned.
Dr. Hunter described the unified handbook as a management and messaging tool that has been “tested” during the year. Staff reported no major community objections since the unified handbook was first implemented the prior year; updates proposed for 2025–26 were described as “housekeeping and alignment.”
The committee approved the handbook by voice vote. Members asked that staff produce any proposed policy-level pronoun edits in time for a follow-up discussion in August so the handbook can be finalized and distributed before school starts.
The committee also discussed process items connected to the handbook approval: how policy revisions are scheduled, whether some wording changes might be handled administratively, and the implications of cross-district policies that apply to both Concord and Concord‑Carlisle schools.
No changes to student discipline or academic policy were adopted as part of the handbook vote; the approval was limited to the updated unified handbook document as presented.
