Board reviews technical and statutory policy updates including nicotine language, federal-grant disclosures and investment vendor rules

At the April 17 Richardson ISD Board meeting staff presented recommended revisions to several local policies for initial review. The changes were presented as information items and will be returned for formal action at a future meeting.

The main policy updates presented included: - CAA (Fiscal management goals and objectives): administrative edits to align local policy with federal requirements on Federal Awards Disclosure (updated Code of Federal Regulations references). - CDA (Other revenues and investments): clarified registration and membership requirements for investment distributors and sellers; added commercial paper as an allowable investment in policy text (to align with prior Board-directed practice). The revised text specifies representatives of investment distributors must be registered with the Texas State Securities Board, be members of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation and be in good standing with FINRA; distributors of investment pools must be registered with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board. - Capitalization/inventories: updated the capitalization threshold wording to treat items with expected useful life of one year or more as capitalized when applicable (aligning local practice with federal guidance). - DH (Employee standards of conduct) and GKA (Community conduct on school premises): broadened the policy language that prohibits tobacco and e-cigarette products to include nicotine products and new vaporizing devices to ensure the policy covers emerging product types. The staff presentation also clarified that certain district positions are authorized exceptions for on-campus weapon possession consistent with local practice and state law. - FFG (Student welfare, child abuse and neglect): updated the reporting section to reflect changes in the Texas Administrative Code and Family Code, including an added subsection on recorded oral reports and a clarification that reporting individuals must provide name and contact information (while maintaining confidentiality of reporters as required by law). - EHB (Curriculum design, special programs): clarifying references to the State Dyslexia Handbook and related administrative rules for dyslexia screening and services.

Trustees asked clarifying questions about HB 6 and how its student-discipline provisions interact with employee-facing language (staff noted HB 6's student-discipline language differs from employee standards changes being proposed). No votes were taken; staff will present clean draft policy language for Board action at a subsequent meeting.