Instructional Committee advances orientation, mandated-reporting and FERPA policy updates to full board
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Summary
The Instructional Committee approved forwarding a revised orientation bylaw and three updated policies (personnel mandated-reporting language, student reporting 5141.4, and FERPA/confidentiality 5125) — all recommended by counsel — to the full Wallingford Board of Education for placement on the consent agenda.
The Wallingford Public Schools Instructional Committee on Feb. 18 voted by consensus to forward four policy revisions to the full Board of Education for acceptance on the consent agenda.
Missus Latour said Shipman & Goodwin recommended edits to a bylaw on new-board-member orientation (presented in the meeting as "by law 9 2 3 0"). The update implements changes required by Public Act 23-167 and would require first-time board members to complete CSDE-prescribed training no later than one year after assuming office.
Latour also described personnel-policy updates (policy 4,141.4 / 4,241.4) responding to Public Act 24-41, section 40. The revision clarifies that a board employee may conduct a preliminary inquiry to determine whether reasonable cause exists to make a report of suspected child abuse or neglect and specifies such inquiries must follow Department of Children and Families (DCF) training.
Student-policy changes include updates to policy 5141.4 (reporting child abuse and neglect) to refresh statewide and national resource contacts and to replace the older job title "safe school climate coordinator" with the current statutory term "school climate specialist." The committee also reviewed model edits to policy 5125 that clarify FERPA'related disclosures for students who become "eligible students" at age 18 and noted the model policy permits, but does not require, certain disclosures to parents who claim a student as a dependent under the Internal Revenue Code.
Counsel advised the committee that no board changes were made on second reading and therefore the items will move to the full board consent agenda at the end of the month. "They naturally go on to the consent agenda at the full board meeting," counsel said.
What happens next: The four items (the orientation bylaw and three policies) will be placed on the full board's consent agenda for acceptance; any further edits would require action by the full board.