Osceola school officials preview wide-ranging code of conduct revisions; public review set before July 15 vote

District staff on Tuesday presented proposed revisions to Osceola County’s student code of conduct, previewing changes on discipline, athletics eligibility, electronic-device rules and procedures for students with Individualized Education Programs and Section 504 plans and saying the full red-line draft will be posted for public comment before a July 15 school board vote.

The presentation, led by Dr. Barrow, covered a PowerPoint of the major changes and a longer red-line document the district will post publicly. "Because the red line is over 80 pages, we're gonna focus on the PowerPoint," Barrow said, adding that the red-line file contains detailed language and that not all changes appear on the slide deck.

District staff said the revisions align code language with statute and school-board policy, and that the code will automatically be updated if state law or board policy changes after approval. "We presented the final red line and draft at the July 15 board meeting," Barrow said; if the board approves the revisions, the district said they would take effect July 16.

Why it matters: The changes affect discipline procedures that touch large student groups — including how schools handle alleged off-campus felonies, the use of reasonable force by staff, electronic-device enforcement, athletic eligibility for transfers, and procedural protections for students with disabilities.

Staff summarized community input gathered on the district’s ThoughtExchange platform: 565 participants submitted 84 thoughts and cast 6,930 ratings about ways…