Committee postpones proposed code‑of‑conduct rule to December amid statutory, scope concerns

Committee members debated proposed amendments to R277‑322, a board rule aimed at establishing a code of conduct for non‑licensed school personnel and other adults working with students. The committee substituted a motion to postpone the rule to the December meeting after multiple members raised legal and scope concerns.

Member Lear urged caution and argued the proposed language as drafted could conflict with existing statutory requirements, citing a history of work between risk management and prior board counsel to create a model code of conduct tied to training and governmental‑immunity questions. Lear said the statutory language uses defined terms and that the draft rule’s broader, more conversational phrasing — including phrases such as “physical harm or mistreatment” — could be legally vague. “To just strike [statutory] language without any reference to the statute… seems like not a good idea,” Lear said.

Chair Carey said he had sought extensive district and attorney feedback and believed the changes improved transparency and oversight for adults in schools who are not licensed educators. Other members worried that the draft overlapped and potentially conflicted with R277‑316, which already addresses similar issues and has associated training and model‑policy elements. After extended discussion about process and notice, Member Longacre moved to postpone the matter to the December Law & Licensing meeting; the motion to postpone passed unanimously.

The committee directed staff to continue outreach and to consider whether changes should instead be made to R277‑316 to avoid duplicative or inconsistent requirements. No substantive amendment to the draft rule was adopted during the meeting; the item was postponed to allow additional review and to seek broader LEA and legal input.