Souderton Area SD policy committee seeks board OK to contract PSBA for comprehensive policy review

The Souderston Area SD Policy Committee heard a proposal to contract with the Pennsylvania School Boards Association to perform a comprehensive, multi‑year review and update of the district's policy manual, administrators said.

Dr. Gallagher, presenting the item, said the district updated 14 policies last spring but still has "over 250 policies" that range back to the 1980s and that the work would take as long as 18 months. The administration asked the committee to authorize staff to finalize details of a contract with PSBA and proceed with the project; there was no formal committee vote tonight.

PSBA would review the manual section by section, beginning with local board procedures (section 000), provide recommended edits through a web portal, and return cross‑reference documents tying policy revisions to district materials such as the student handbook, Dr. Gallagher said. The administration would work with PSBA on local adaptations and then bring each revised section to the policy committee and the full board for approval.

Administrators said the contract is intended to accelerate a process that would take substantially longer if the district relied only on internal staff and the solicitor's office. Dr. Gallagher said PSBA's comprehensive policy book update service has been used by dozens of Pennsylvania districts and that PSBA issues monthly recommendations for updates based on changes in law and case law.

The administration told the committee it does not plan to accept all of PSBA's recommendations automatically; local policies that differ for local reasons would remain subject to district review. The solicitor's office would still be consulted on items that are specific to the district, administrators said.

Officials gave several further details: the district has more than 250 policies; the full review could take up to about 18 months if done section by section; PSBA issues roughly "three to four" recommended updates per month that districts typically act on; and other districts have paid less than $10,000 for the two‑year scale of the PSBA service, though a final quote had not been provided.

Committee members asked about cost and whether the district would accept all recommendations; administrators replied the fee is expected to be "very nominal" relative to the amount of staff time that would otherwise be needed and that local decisions would remain under district control.

The administration said more urgent policy updates (for example, those triggered by recent legislation or an omnibus school‑code change) would be handled concurrently with the comprehensive review. The administration expects to bring one of the initial revised sections to the committee around November and to hold regular monthly policy committee meetings while the work continues.

Next steps: the committee granted the administration permission to finalize contract details and proceed with the work; a formal contract and revised policy sections will be brought to the committee and board for approval in subsequent meetings.