Ouachita Parish policy committee tables land-sales rule, approves several statute-driven policy updates

The Ouachita Parish Policy Review Committee on Aug. 13 tabled development of a proposed policy for handling proceeds from district property sales and recommended board approval of a package of updates that align district policy with recent state laws.

Committee members paused the draft land-sales policy after members described complex ownership histories for several school properties and asked for a legal opinion before the board acts. Committee members discussed three broad options for allocating sale proceeds: keep funds in the school zone, allocate by taxing district, or place proceeds in the district general fund; they also discussed creating a special fund. The committee voted to table the draft pending counsel guidance.

The committee unanimously recommended adoption of six other policy changes that reflect changes in state law or administrative cleanup. Those included a requirement to provide parents online access to instructional materials at no charge under Act 103; removal of a classroom-instruction requirement on internet and cell-phone safety that the 2024 Legislature eliminated (Act 686); revisions to the district's absence-and-excuse policy to allow students, including suspended students, to submit missed work and to give students the number of days they missed to make up assignments; updates to the district's bullying/hazing training policy to reflect the removal of minimum annual training hours (Act 686); changes to expulsion rules to reflect a reduction in the mandatory expulsion floor from four semesters to two for certain weapon and drug offenses (Act 497); restoration of school resource officers as mandatory reporters for child abuse (Act 195); and a requirement to make behavioral-health assessments available for grades 3'12 at no charge to parents when requested, with parental consent and delivered by licensed in-state providers (Act 504).

Why it matters: The land-sales discussion touched on major sums and long-standing property-title questions that affect how the district can deploy one-time receipts for school projects. The other changes bring district policy into conformity with state law; most were noncontroversial in committee,…