Committee moves to align personnel-file policy with state law, replacing 'working days' with 'school days'

The Caddo Parish School Board Policy Review Committee on Feb. 18 recommended that the full board consider a revision to policy GAK that replaces the policy's existing references to "working days" with the state statutory term "school days" for timelines related to rebuttal and response in personnel files.

"What we're doing on this policy is we are bringing it into compliance with the revised statute," said Emily Stanford, chief of human resources, explaining to the committee that the change alters the counting mechanism for rebuttal and response from "working days" to "school days." Stanford told committee members the change matches state law and that the policy's page 3 revision is intended to reflect that statutory language.

Board members questioned the operational consequences. Several members asked whether the change could delay rebuttals placed during summer months. "So it's the days that we are actually in school," Stanford said in response to a question about summer timing. Committee members noted that counting "school days" could, in practice, extend the calendar for rebuttal periods when schools are not in session.

Members also asked whether the statutory wording distinguishes between school-based employees and district (12-month) employees. Stanford said the personnel-files provision uses "school days" and does not break down between school-based and central-office employees; committee members interpreted that to mean district employees would be treated the same as school employees for the personnel-files rebuttal timeline.

Stanford said she reviewed the statute and that it appeared to originate from a state response to a local incident: "This statute was actually, from what I was told, was a result of Caddo Parish. Actually, someone looked inside of someone's personnel files and it was disclosed." That account was repeated in committee discussion as the committee considered why the statute uses the "school days" formulation.

Public comment echoed practical concerns. Jackie Lansdale, president of Red River United and a teacher, said teachers' contractual end dates affect when rebuttal periods run and urged careful application for classroom staff; she differentiated between teachers whose contractual obligations end in May and 12-month district employees who remain on duty.

Motion and next steps: The committee voted to recommend the GAK revision to the Caddo Parish School Board for consideration at its March meeting. The motion to recommend was made by Mr. Rochelle and seconded by Mr. Milford; the committee approved the recommendation by voice/show of hands. The transcript does not include an itemized roll-call tally.

The revision is procedural: it aligns local policy language with the state statutory definition and leaves other grievance or termination processes unchanged.