Albany board approves routine consent items and adopts revised district cell-phone policy

At its Oct. 8 meeting the Albany City School District Board of Education approved the routine consent agenda after members set aside items 7 and 13 for separate discussion and then voted to adopt those two items.

Board members said item 7 — a document of contractual metrics and expected outcomes attached to recent vendor awards — was intended to help the board track whether contracts met promised deliverables (one line contained a typo: “38%” was meant to read “38 sessions” for a named program). Members stressed that staff should hold contractors accountable regardless of contract size because the funds are taxpayer dollars.

On item 13, the board discussed a contract described in the agenda as “community maternity service for Hackett.” A board member noted the top boxes on the form were not filled in and said it looked to be a renewal likely paid from the general fund; staff confirmed that interpretation during discussion.

In a separate action on policy, the board adopted revised policy 8332 (use of district-owned cell phones). The policy change moves reporting of lost or damaged phones from the business office to employees’ immediate supervisors and the technology department, and clarifies provisions for field-trip phones; the motion to adopt was made by Miss Mann and seconded by Dr. Titor and carried unanimously with one member absent (6–0).

Another policy under discussion, 52-25 (student personal expression), incorporated language aligned to NISBA sample policies and clarified that principals “will” give due consideration to constitutionally protected rights, including freedom of religion; that policy remained under review. The board did not take additional action on other policy discussion items that evening.

No roll-call tallies beyond the recorded unanimous outcomes were presented in the transcript.