Riverside Local board approves package of policy revisions to align with House Bill 96

Riverside Local district staff presented a package of policy revisions intended to align district rules with House Bill 96, and the board approved approximately 140 pages of changes during a meeting, a staff presenter said.

The revisions update a wide set of policies, including nondiscrimination/anti-harassment provisions, the district cell-phone policy, attendance and excused-absence rules related to driver education, digital accessibility and information-security rules, audit procedures for the treasurer/CFO, and rules for participation by homeschooled students in extracurricular programs. Staff described the package as largely technical updates required by the budget bill and related statutes and said administrative guidelines will follow to implement the changes.

District staff (identified in the record as Speaker 1) said the nondiscrimination policy was revised and consolidated with related anti-harassment and Title IX materials to reduce duplication with existing Policy 2266. The presentation noted multiple policy numbers were edited or added; staff referenced Policy 2266 and a related set of handbook policies when describing the nondiscrimination revisions.

On the cell-phone policy (identified in the discussion as Policy 5136), staff said the district intends to keep its existing approach — devices must be authorized and are allowed only for specific purposes such as translation for English-language learners, medical needs, accommodations required by individualized education plans (IEPs) and limited uses like photography for art portfolios. The presenter said the district enforces the rule as “out of sight and off” while students are on campus, and noted remaining challenges in large-group settings such as lunch and study hall. Speaker 1 said the policy change reflects language in the budget bill while preserving the district’s more restrictive local choices.

The attendance-policy revisions reflect new statutory language allowing absences for driver-education classes. Staff described the district’s approach as permitting students to miss time for scheduled driving instruction but only outside core instructional periods. As presented, staff said the revised language permits students to miss up to two hours per session, with limits tied to weekly totals and the requirement that absences not occur during core curriculum classes; staff also emphasized expanded intervention-team notifications and greater court involvement under the new law.

School-safety and emergency-policy changes include a suicide-crisis line requirement included in the bill and an instruction that emergency-management plans (EMP) must have provisions for cell-phone use in an emergency, even where ordinary policy prohibits phones. The presenter said the district is tailoring its practices so that, in an emergency, staff can lift the cell-phone restriction to allow students to contact family.

Staff also described new or revised administrative controls over digital content, accessibility, and information security. The district will publish how users can file digital-accessibility complaints and identified a staff lead to manage that process. The information-security updates add classifications of personally identifiable information and set controls on who may access or store it; the presenter said technology staff are preparing vendor agreements and vetting third-party educational apps. The presenter named the district’s technology lead, Mr. Renwick, as responsible for technical provisions and for pursuing a NIST cybersecurity certification.

An audit-policy change requires that at the expiration of the treasurer/CFO’s term the treasurer produce cash, bonds and securities and that the board or a designated committee count those assets; staff said this replaces a prior practice of sending those items to the external auditor for counting.

On extracurricular participation, staff discussed keeping current eligibility rules for district teams and limiting participation to designated students; the package also includes language from House Bill 96 that would allow homeschooled students to participate in JROTC if the district ever offers the program (the district currently does not offer JROTC). Staff said the district already offers some extracurricular access to homeschooled students and would add the statutory language only to remain compliant.

Board members asked questions about appeals language in the nondiscrimination/discipline procedures. One board member (Speaker 3) said, “I think striking d makes sense,” referring to a proposed ground for appeal based on disagreement with disciplinary sanction; Speaker 3 said procedural irregularity, new evidence and conflicts of interest are appropriate grounds for appeal but that second-guessing professional judgment about sanction severity is not.

Staff described the next steps as drafting administrative guidelines to implement the new policies, training principals and working with union leadership, and notifying the district’s insurance carrier about cybersecurity provisions. The presenter said many of the changes are procedural and technical, and that staff would return with administrative rules and implementation timelines.

The presenter also stated, “we just approved a 140 some some pages,” describing the scale of the packet approved during the meeting. The transcript does not include a formal motion text, mover/second names, or a vote tally in the recorded excerpts.

The district named several internal leads and contacts in the discussion, including Dr. Thompson (consulted on the audit language) and Mr. Renwick (technology lead). Staff said they will follow up with administrators and union leadership to implement the changes.

Less-critical items included a credit-card payments policy (listed as Policy 6109 in the discussion) and technical edits to existing fines and payment procedures under Policy 6152. Staff said they consolidated multiple handbook sections (noted in the record as the 1000–4000 series) to reduce duplication.

The board directed staff to develop administrative guidelines and implementation steps; staff will present those rules at a future meeting and coordinate training and vendor agreements where required.

Ending

District staff said the policy package responds mainly to changes required by House Bill 96 and related statutory updates; administrative guidelines and staff training are the immediate next steps. The recorded discussion does not include a formal roll-call vote or vote tally in the available transcript excerpts.