Coatesville board approves 2025-26 student code of conduct; Education Law Center feedback to be reviewed

The Coatesville Area School District Board of School Directors voted to approve the 2025-26 student code of conduct as presented during the May 27 meeting, and agreed to review written comments submitted by the Education Law Center before final implementation.

Board Chair Liz Muirhead said the board would move forward with the code this evening but would “bring back the discussion at next committee” and consider either an addendum or “future file” the Education Law Center’s recommendations for incorporation later. Superintendent Roberto Rybarczyk told the board an addendum could be produced if substantive changes were required.

The timing followed public comment by Laurie Shannon Bailey, who said she had provided the board copies of the Education Law Center’s review and highlighted concerns about vague or potentially discriminatory language in the draft. Bailey said the center flagged, among other items, subjective phrasing about student dress and references to required law-enforcement referrals that the center said “is rarely the case.”

Muirhead and other board members discussed procedural options: approve the code now to meet the district’s timeline and then return with committee-level analysis of the Education Law Center’s suggestions; or prepare an addendum if the suggested changes are judged significant. The board agreed to place the Education Law Center feedback on the next committee agenda and to consider changes prior to the start of the school year.

The board’s action was presented as a final approval of the code for adoption this year, with the explicit commitment that the district would revisit specific outside recommendations promptly. The board also noted that many earlier Education Law Center recommendations had been incorporated in prior revisions.

The vote to approve the 2025-26 code of conduct passed during the meeting; board members recorded their votes in the public roll call.