Board reviews recommended updates to policies on searches, materials, promotion and bullying

Superintendent Hillman told the board the policy committee had completed a routine review of several policies and planned to bring recommended language for individual action at the Nov. 24 meeting. The package includes updates to Policy 502 (search of student lockers, desks and personal possessions), Policy 505 (distribution of non–school-sponsored materials, expanded to digital distribution), the 513 series (promotion, retention and early entrance/acceleration) and Policy 514 (bullying prohibition).

Hillman said the updates primarily modernize language, refresh cross references and align purpose statements with the district strategic plan. For 502, he said the committee updated purpose language and some definitions; for 505 the committee expanded distribution guidance to include digital materials and clarified links to the student citizenship handbook. For the 513 series, the committee revised academic-acceleration language and clarified legal-age determinations and early-entrance procedures.

Board members raised detailed questions. One member asked what "search of personal possessions" means in practice (for example, whether administrators are permitted to put their hands in a student’s jacket pockets) and when caregivers would be notified. Hillman said case law differentiates school-owned property from student-owned items and that notification practices can be situational; he offered to return to the policy committee with recommended language and quantitative context about how often searches occur. Another board member noted language-consistency work already underway to standardize "caregiver" versus "guardian" across policies, acknowledging some places require the legally specific term "guardian."

Hillman recommended no immediate action tonight; the updated policies will be brought back for individual board action on Nov. 24.