Policy committee approves suite of updates, tables sick-leave bank and refers gifts policy to legal review

The St. Mary Parish policy committee considered a slate of policy changes and approved a series of revisions recommended by legal counsel while referring two items to additional review.

Committee members approved updates including the notification of school board meetings (BCBB), news coverage and broadcasting (BCBJ), employment of the superintendent (CED), personnel records (GAK), use of pronouns and given names (GAMK), recruitment (GBC), sex education (IDBA), health education (IDB), students with exceptionalities (IDDF), and student health services (JGC). Several approvals cited counsel recommendations from Bob Hammonds and earlier legal reviews.

On IDBA (sex education), committee members clarified that parents have the option to opt out and that an online alternative may satisfy health-course requirements for students who opt out of in-person instruction. Regarding IDDF, members discussed moving transition planning earlier than the prior practice of notifying at age 17, noting committee support for beginning transition planning in the mid-teen years.

Two items were not approved: a proposed employee sick-leave bank (GBRIBB) remained preliminary and had not completed legal review, so the committee moved to table it and request additional counsel input; revisions to the gifts-and-donations policy (DFK) drew concern over a proposed requirement that principals keep a permanent public record of every donation, and members voted to send the DFK revision to legal with recommended language referencing Louisiana public-records requirements rather than imposing an open-ended retention burden on principals.

The committee handled each item procedurally by motion and voice vote; the transcript records motions and seconds for each policy but does not provide an individual roll-call tally for the voice votes.