Poudre School District begins comprehensive four-year policy review; proposed bullying-policy redlines draw vocal public concern
Summary
General counsel presented a new four-year policy-review cycle and first readings of seven student policies, including proposed changes to the district bullying policy (JICDE). Public commenters and some board members urged retaining language that ensures IEP/504 team consideration after bullying reports involving students with disabilities; general counsel said she will return refined language at the Jan. 27 second reading.
The Poudre School District legal department on Jan. 13 outlined a new four-year cycle to review all district policies and presented first readings of seven student-facing policies — drawing focused public comment about proposed changes to the district’s bullying policy.
Autumn Aspen, the district’s general counsel, said the legal team and a newly formed policy review committee will rotate policy reviews so no district policy goes more than four years without review. Aspen walked the board through highlights for seven policies scheduled for first reading: JICA (student dress), JICDD (behavioral threat assessments), JICDE (bullying prevention and education), JICF (secret societies and gang activity), JICI (student conduct involving weapons), JLIE (student parking and driving), and JLT (youth suicide prevention). She noted the red-lined drafts and a public survey are posted on the district website and open for comment through Jan. 19.
A central point of contention raised in public comment concerned proposed edits to the bullying policy, JICDE. Public commenter Danny Lawrence said the red-line removes explicit language that a student's IEP team must meet after a reported bullying incident to determine whether the student’s free appropriate public education (FAPE) was affected. Lawrence said his family has active civil-rights complaints and described ongoing bullying directed at students with disabilities; he called the change “shameful” and urged the board not to diminish protections for disabled students.
Autumn Aspen acknowledged the feedback, explained that some initial red lines removed duplicative language that appears elsewhere in federal and district policies, and told the board she intends to return language that makes clear how staff should involve IEP/504 teams. "For the second reading, I propose to bring the policy back to the board with changes to make sure that that language stays in there," Aspen said.
Board members asked for additional clarity during the interim. One member requested documentation of the community feedback received online, and the legal team agreed to share survey responses and the policy-review-committee notes. Aspen also described other changes: updating dress-code language to remove enforcement bias and to add a graduation-attire provision required by recent Colorado law; clarifying definitions in the bullying policy to align with the Colorado Department of Education model; adding a surrender process for accidentally brought nonfirearm weapons; and elevating suicide-prevention resources in the youth suicide prevention policy.
Autumn Aspen said policies presented that night will return for a second reading on Jan. 27; board members urged the legal team to ensure the revisions specify enforcement responsibilities and avoid inconsistent site-level interpretations. The board did not take final votes on these policies at the Jan. 13 meeting.
