Governance committee reviews five policy updates; public‑records language to be clarified before final vote

The governance committee reviewed five proposed policy revisions that administrators said bring district policy into alignment with recent changes to school code and administrative practice.

Dr. Mike Godoy reviewed the proposed changes to: discipline of students with disabilities and behavior‑support language (updates include changes in terminology and placement of certain aversive techniques in policy language); public records (Right‑to‑Know) procedures (including new language allowing denial of anonymous requests and guidance on repeated identical requests and third‑party appeals); opening exercises and flag display rules (the policy now mandates a moment of silence for the September 11 anniversary and clarifies classroom flag display); and municipal government relations (minor legal-reference updates).

Board members asked detailed questions about the public‑records updates: Mister Klaus asked for clarity on the phrase allowing denial of repeated identical requests and the mechanics of third‑party appeal notifications. Dr. Godoy said the wording largely reflects PSBA (Pennsylvania School Boards Association) model language and agreed to review the paragraph Klaus flagged to provide clearer wording before the policies are presented for final adoption.

The committee agreed to place the policy revisions on the board agenda for formal action in two weeks, with Dr. Godoy reviewing the specific public‑records wording in the interim.