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Board reviews multiple policy updates including FMLA clarifications and new seclusion/restraint reporting requirements
Summary
Superintendent and HR staff presented a package of policy updates required by recent legislation and LSBA guidance, including clearer FMLA language, background-check adjustments tied to the DCFS registry, and new reporting requirements when students are restrained or secluded.
The Natchitoches Parish School Board heard a comprehensive set of policy updates covering employee leave, background checks, visitors/photography, procurement, and special-education safeguards.
Miss Winder, personnel director, said the FMLA section was expanded from a terse district paragraph to language that mirrors federal requirements and clarifies how leave runs and how the district measures the 12‑month period (measured forward from the first day of leave). She said the revisions were intended to bridge the gap between an earlier, abbreviated policy and the longer former district policy.
Superintendent Dr. Eloy reviewed legislative-driven items: required annual employee trainings (ethics, child-abuse reporting and harassment prevention), a legal requirement to include DCFS central-registry checks in background screening for hires after Aug. 1, 2018, and new procedures for reporting incidents when students are restrained or placed in seclusion. He summarized required report elements: student identifying data, time and location, duration, antecedents and any marks or injuries. Staff said the district provides CPI (Crisis Prevention Institute) and Handle With Care training, and that only employees certified in those programs should restrain students; bus drivers are not normally trained to restrain while driving and staff said in-bus restraint would normally trigger dispatch or emergency-services responses.
Board members asked how policy changes apply to inclusive classrooms and to bus operations. Staff said special-education staff and those who regularly work with students who have behavioral needs receive CPI training; principals should ensure staff who interact regularly with such students are trained. No policy vote was taken; the updates were presented for review and will return for formal consideration.
