Policy committee approves Manchester Adult High School handbook changes, forwards to full board

Assistant Superintendent Doherty presented proposed updates to the Manchester Adult High School handbook to the Policy Committee on Feb. 19 and invited Principal Kleinman to summarize the changes.

Principal Kleinman said the handbook contains a mix of minor clarifications meant to set clearer expectations for adult students and staff. "We do ask that all students participate for 7 hours a week," Kleinman said, and the draft updates define part-time students as those participating for more than 5 hours but less than 12 hours per week. Kleinman said the program asks that students participate for about 7 hours weekly but that the part-time threshold helps account for varied life situations.

The draft also adds a provision to discharge any student who does not complete at least one course within a year for lack of educational progress; Kleinman said he recently discharged a student who had been enrolled since Oct. 25, 2022, without completing a class and that staff attempted a handoff to the high-school-equivalency program. Kleinman said the program currently has a waiting list of six people and a capacity of 41 students.

Other changes include instructions about reissuing unclaimed gift cards (after six months) and aligning responsibilities with Ed 306, which the presenter said defines that high schools are responsible for implementing IEP and 504 plan services, food and nutrition services (Ed 306.1), health services (Ed 306.11) and counseling services. Kleinman said grading-scale language was updated by the district's Teaching and Learning team and will be synchronized in the handbook after approval by Teaching and Learning and the full board. The committee also discussed replacing the phrase "English language learners" with the district-standard term "multilingual learners."

Committee members suggested formatting cleanups, clearer cross-references, and adapting academic honesty language that had been borrowed from Miramar College so the handbook uses Manchester School District wording or a district cross-reference. Committee member Parr suggested adding a footnote or cross-reference for any borrowed language; Kleinman agreed to adapt Manchester policy language where available.

The committee voted to approve the proposed handbook changes "as amended" and to send the item to the full Board of School Committee for approval. Committee member Parham Potter moved to approve; the motion passed by voice vote. The committee did not record a roll-call tally in the transcript.

The committee noted remaining technical edits (formatting and page-number clarifications) and a pending alignment of grading scales contingent on Teaching and Learning and full-board approval. Staff were directed to finalize the handbook edits before presentation to the full board.