District human-resources and payroll staff proposed an amendment to the employee time-clock policy at the Jan. 14 meeting to reduce clocking requirements for exempt employees while retaining clock-in/clock-out and lunch requirements for nonexempt staff.

Pamela Watkins presented the recommended change and explained the district moved to an electronic timekeeping system in June and has adjusted procedures since implementation. The proposed amendment would require all employees to clock in at the beginning of their workday; nonexempt employees would still be required to take a daily lunch break and clock out at the end of the day to ensure overtime compliance. By contrast, "all exempt employees, teachers and administrators, are only required to clock in at the beginning of their workday to document attendance," the amendment text said, and select exempt employees would be automatically clocked out at the end of the day.

Watkins said other large districts use similar practices and that the change is intended to streamline payroll processes while preserving the documentation needed to pay staff correctly. She cautioned that classified (nonexempt) employees must continue to clock in and out to ensure accurate overtime calculations and compliance with federal labor law.

Why it matters: The proposal affects how teachers and administrators record attendance and could change daily practice for exempt employees; it also aims to reduce payroll processing issues that have arisen since the electronic system launch.

What's next: The amendment was presented for the board's consideration; no final action was recorded during the meeting.