Tea Area School District approves activity handbook without "clean record" provision for substance offenses

The Tea Area School District 41-5 Board of Education voted to approve the districtactivity handbook for 202526#8211;26 without adding a "clean record" provision that would have allowed certain students to reset prior drug, alcohol and tobacco violations after a period of good behavior.

The decision came after a committee made up of administrators, coaches and four community members reviewed the handbook. The committee recommended keeping the districtexisting sanction structure after discussing evidence rules for investigations and the appropriate length of any potential reset window. The administrationrecommended no change to the current policy, and the board voted to adopt the administration's recommendation.

Board members and committee participants discussed how investigations would use photographic evidence, with the committee concluding photos should remain admissible but only as one component of a broader investigation. Committee members said concerns about manipulated or undated images led them to limit photos to corroborating evidence rather than the sole basis for sanctions.

The board debated whether to add a clean-record reset and, if so, what the reset period should be. The current policy in discussion referenced a 12-month reset; some community members and at least one board member urged an 18- or 24-month window while other board members opposed any clean-record provision, arguing the handbook should maintain a stronger deterrent. The handbook's tiered sanction schedule (for example, short suspensions for first-tier violations, longer suspensions for higher tiers) and how resets would interact with multiple offenses were discussed but not changed.

Administrators also noted standard procedural clarifications in the handbook, including use of updated language to cover Career and Technical Student Organizations and replacing named third-party services in the text with generic references to the district's notification service.

Board action: the motion to approve the activity handbook as presented, without the clean-record provision in the drugs, alcohol and tobacco section, passed on a voice vote with no recorded opposition.

The board indicated the handbook will continue to be reviewed annually and will be subject to school-year communications to students and parents, including the annual activity-handbook sign-off required of participants.