Board told to advance Policy 7.18 while drafting separate animal-on-campus protections

At the Oley Valley School District committee meeting Aug. 11, the policy and legislative committee recommended moving forward with policy 7.18 and creating a separate policy to address protections and standardized rules for animals on campus.

Mr. Klein, speaking for the policy committee, told the board "based on the legal advice we received, we were advised to proceed with this policy and to create a separate policy to address the concerns that were raised by the board." He said the elements in policy 7.18 reflected legal obligations and that additional protections discussed by the board would be set out in a new 700-series policy to govern animals on campus "regardless of what their status is as a service animal, as someone's pet."

Board members raised timing concerns: one member asked whether approval should wait until the additional policy language is ready so the two actions would "go hand in hand." Mr. Klein responded that legal counsel's advice was to advance the legally required pieces now because the school year is starting and compliance deadlines apply. He said the policy committee expects to discuss proposed language later this month and present recommended language in the September meeting series.

The board did not take a recorded vote on Aug. 11; members requested staff and the policy committee return with proposed language for the complementary policy and with any clarifications from legal counsel.

Next step: policy committee to draft suggested 700-series animal-on-campus policy language and present it in September for consideration; no final adoption recorded at this meeting.