Board approves updated handbooks with cellphone and trimester language; asks for wording fixes

The Anchor Bay School Board approved updates to the elementary and secondary handbooks at its Aug. 27 meeting to reflect the district’s transition to trimesters and a clarified cell-phone policy.

Administration said final exams will no longer carry a separate weight outside the trimester grade in secondary classrooms; instead, all assessments will be included within the trimester grade at a teacher-determined weight. The middle-school handbook now specifies that bus suspensions count toward demerits for reward trips; South Middle School’s handbook increased the penalty for major infractions from four demerits to six.

Board members raised wording and consistency issues. Trustee Miss Bergmeier noted some residual references to “quarters” that should be updated to “trimesters.” Several trustees urged matching the handbook language to the district’s formal code-of-conduct policy rather than creating slightly different definitions at the building level.

Board action: The board approved the handbooks as presented and asked the policy committee to review and return clean, consistent language (for example, phone-use rules and the citizenship rubric) at the next meeting.

Why it matters: Handbook language governs everyday student expectations, discipline and eligibility for extracurricular activities. Trustees said clarity will help staff consistently apply rules across buildings.

Selected quote - “That ‘attitude always positive’ language in the citizenship rubric needs to be reworded — people have bad days,” a board member said.

Ending: Administration agreed to correct references (quarters → trimesters), align building handbooks with the formal board code of conduct, and present revised wording at the next meeting.