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Policy committee brings three policy updates to board for first read: transcripts, volunteers, and child-abuse prevention
Summary
The board advanced three policies for first reading: changes to transcript rules (including an added weighted GPA), revisions to school volunteer policy, and an updated child abuse reporting and prevention policy reflecting state changes.
RSU 5's policy committee presented three policies for first reading: IKC (transcripts and academic achievement), IJOC (school volunteers) and JLF (child abuse reporting, prevention and education). The board voted to accept all three for first read.
The proposed IKC revision responds to guidance-counselor research and changes since 2017. The changes remove outdated language, clarify transcript content and add a cumulative weighted GPA in addition to the unweighted GPA. Guidance staff recommended weighting NV3 (honors/AP) courses at 1.05 for cumulative weighted GPA; the committee said that colleges often recalculate GPAs, so providing both weighted and unweighted GPAs helps admissions staff and recognizes rigorous course-taking without inflating rankings. The district reiterated it will not return to class rank or valedictorian/salutatorian calculation; graduation honor bands (cum laude, magna, summa) remain as existing recognitions calculated at senior year midterm.
The IJOC volunteer policy revision removes two final paragraphs to align policy with current practice and adds language clarifying that volunteers should notify building administration if they suspect a child has been abused or neglected. The committee discussed adding a sentence stating that the district conducts background checks (via state check) on volunteers during onboarding; staff said HR processes and offender-registry checks are performed and that a short clarifying sentence can be added to the policy text.
The JLF update reflects recent state-level changes and adds defined terms (including child trafficking) plus detailed staff training and prevention language. Committee members noted new statutory definitions and said the policy now specifies training timelines and reporting responsibilities; staff will verify precise statutory wording where the draft uses phrasing such as "when reasonably possible."
The board approved the three policies for first read and sent them back to the policy committee and administration for final legal review and any minor edits prior to second read.
