Board considers policy revisions on wellness, grading, conflict‑of‑interest and general‑counsel settlement authority

District legal and policy staff presented several proposed policy revisions to the Shelby County Board of Education and requested suspending the usual two‑reading rule to act on two items promptly.

The packet asked the board to suspend rules to advance policy 0028 (data dashboard) and policy 2001 (annual operating budget) on an accelerated timeline (requested suspension window: Oct. 28–Jan. 27, 2026). Staff also presented substantive revisions for other policies:

- Policy 3007 (Student Wellness): updates to align with state law requiring minimum daily unstructured physical activity for elementary students — the policy language raises the minimum to 40 minutes per school day of outside, unstructured activity (distinct from PE or screen time).

- Policy 4003 (Employee Conflict of Interest): broadens the scope to apply to all MSCS employees (not only key employees/senior management), requires senior staff to file an annual disclosure, and requires other employees to disclose potential conflicts when they arise.

- Policies 5014/5015 (Grading PreK–5 and 6–12): add language required by state statute to include results from universal reading/dyslexia screeners on preK–8 report cards and allow the superintendent to delegate responsibilities in the policy.

- Policy 6051 (Interscholastic Athletics): revised to align with state law allowing virtual school students to participate in district interscholastic athletics and to permit delegation by the superintendent.

- Policy 6022 (Student Conduct): revisions to reflect a state law change requiring notification to parents of the entire school community if a credible threat is reported to law enforcement; added due‑process language for exclusionary discipline and reporting protocols for multi‑day suspensions.

- Policy 1015 (Board / District General Counsel): revised after committee to grant the district general counsel authority to enter certain professional service contracts and to sign settlement agreements up to $100,000; the general counsel must notify the board when legal fees on an individual matter reach $100,000 and the executive committee must approve settlements above $100,000. Staff also added reporting requirements: semiannual listing of settlements approved by the executive committee and an annual aggregate total for legal settlements.

Why it matters: The changes implement state statutory requirements (physical activity and grading/reporting of literacy screeners), expand disclosure rules for conflicts of interest and clarify administrative delegation. The revision to Policy 1015 alters how the district manages legal contracts and settlements and adds new reporting obligations to increase transparency.

Ending: Staff urged trustees to submit questions to the policy office ahead of the requested suspension and vote and said materials would be available for board review before next week’s meeting.