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School board reviews 42 policy updates including artificial intelligence, discipline notices and AED checks
Summary
At a rule-development workshop, the school board considered updates to 42 policies to align with recent Florida law changes and vendor guidance, discussed monthly AED checks, new parental-notification options for discipline, an artificial intelligence policy, and other technical edits; no formal votes were taken.
The school board held a rule-development and public workshop to review proposed revisions to 42 district policies, focusing on statutory updates, model-policy language from Neola and operational clarifications. The board discussed changes ranging from student-discipline notification procedures to a new artificial intelligence policy and technical updates to procurement and grant-management rules.
Board Attorney Shannon Nash led the policy review and said the changes were intended to “bring the language current with current law and just to provide some clarification.” The workshop covered policy numbers across instructional, personnel, safety and finance sections and included staff specialists for technical questions.
Why it matters: The revisions would change how the district communicates disciplinary notices to parents, how athletic name-image-and-likeness and CPR certification requirements are handled, and would add an AI policy and updates driven by federal grant requirements. Those changes could affect school procedures, vendor contracts and daily operations if the board later adopts them.
Most substantive discussion focused on student-safety and notice procedures. Melissa Blackman, student services, described the district’s automated external defibrillators, saying, “the units that we have have a 7 year expiration date on it. The units also have internal automatic where they give warnings if there’s something wrong with the battery or the pad or something like that,” and that staff conduct monthly physical checks. Tim Leesburg, director of safety and security, explained a statutory change about delivery of suspension and expulsion notices to parents: “So now if the parent agrees to it, we can send it by other means. We can hand deliver it to the parent. We can send it home with the student with whatever they agree upon.” Leesburg and Nash noted the district will add language to the parent signature form that indicates how the parent prefers to receive such notices.
Other notable items discussed included: a proposed new policy on the use of student name, image and likeness in athletics to reflect Florida High School Athletic Association bylaw changes; multiple policies adding CPR certification language for athletic coaches and part-time extracurricular personnel; a proposed retitling and text removal to eliminate “corporal punishment” language and instead address “use of reasonable force and restraint”; and a new artificial intelligence policy that staff and curriculum leaders reviewed. Nash said Neola provided language for some policies and district staff reviewed and tailored model language for local practice.
Administrative and finance updates were largely technical: procurement and construction contracting policies were adjusted to align with current statutory dollar thresholds (a typographical correction changed a figure to $75,000), cash-management and cost-principles language was updated for federal reporting requirements, and an instructional materials allocation policy was revised per a Florida law change. A wellness policy revision plugged a missing number into a timing requirement, specifying at least 18 minutes for breakfast and at least 20 minutes for lunch for students to be served and eat meals.
No motions or votes were recorded during the workshop and the board did not take formal action; Nash asked whether to open the floor to public comment and no members of the public requested to speak. Board members thanked staff for their review and work on the draft policies. The board indicated staff would incorporate statutory and procedural clarifications into the forms and draft language for formal consideration at a later meeting.
Details and next steps: The session was a rule-development workshop rather than a final-adoption hearing; several items cited changes in Florida statute or in Florida High School Athletic Association bylaws and referenced model language from Neola. Staff present from finance, student services and safety answered technical questions. The workshop’ purpose was to align district policy text with current law and district practice before bringing formal agenda items for adoption at future meetings.
