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Subcommittee refers updated district handbook and flags student-search language for change
Summary
The policy subcommittee voted to send the revised district handbook to the full committee as a first read after attorney review; members asked for cleanup of formatting and suggested changing a clause to prohibit strip searches of students outright rather than permit them with prior superintendent authorization.
The Fall River City Policy Subcommittee on Jan. 30 voted to refer the district handbook to the full school committee as a first read after a review by outside counsel and an internal line-by-line pass.
Administration said the handbook had not been fully updated on the public website and that a cross‑reference cleanup was needed; staff noted that many policies must be made ADA‑compliant and that materials will be migrated into Diligent to create individual ADA‑compliant links for each policy.
During discussion, a committee member pointed to several non‑substantive errors (inconsistent capitalization and outdated terms such as “headmaster”) and urged cleanup. One substantive edit proposed was to change a line on student searches to make a strip search categorically prohibited: “shall never conduct a strip search of a student.” The group agreed that line should be revised accordingly and included in the first‑read referral.
A member also raised an item about AI use in the handbook and recommended adding a separate AI policy if the handbook references restrictions on student AI use.
The subcommittee voted to refer the handbook as a first read with requested cleanups and cross‑references; staff said they will finalize non‑substantive formatting before the full‑committee packet is circulated.
