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Board reviews OSBA‑recommended policy reversions; medication, leave and harassment language flagged for clarification
Summary
Staff presented OSBA-recommended policy updates and reversion language; board members raised detailed concerns about medication self‑administration, OFLA leave language, harassment/complaint thresholds and graduation regalia exceptions. Staff will research OAR/ORS citations and return with clarified text.
At the March 3 work session, staff reviewed a broad set of Oregon School Boards Association (OSBA) policy recommendations and reversion language for several district policies. The updates under consideration included nondiscrimination (AC), student/employee medication administration (JHCD/JHCDAR), family and medical leave language (OFLA/FMLA references and related administrative rules), paid family and medical leave implementation (GBV/related pages) and student/employee harassment and complaint investigations (GBN/JBA cross‑references).
Board members and staff discussed multiple technical concerns. One board member asked whether the policy language that permits the district to revoke a student’s permission to self‑administer medication should specify the district’s licensed health‑care professional or designated personnel as the decisionmaker rather than the broader term “district personnel.” That board member said the current phrasing could allow non‑medical staff to make revocation decisions and recommended clarifying the authority.
Another member questioned a provision that appears to expand OFLA eligibility during a declared public‑health emergency, asking whether that exception effectively swallows the standard eligibility rules and whether the citations to OAR/ORS were complete. Staff agreed to pull the relevant OAR/ORS language and return with citations and recommended edits.
In other discussion, members asked about how the graduation regalia policy should treat items of cultural significance that might also be classified as weapons; staff proposed an explicit cross‑reference to weapon and dress‑code policies so that cultural items are allowed without violating safety rules.
Several board members asked staff to check OSBA’s recommendations line‑by‑line and to provide final draft language and legal citations for the board’s next regular meeting. No policy was adopted at the work session.
Quote: “I think it should be made by the school's licensed health care professional or the designated personnel,” one board member said about revoking student permission to self‑administer medication.
What’s next: Staff will research ORS/OAR references, revise the draft policy text where needed and bring clarified language back to the board for possible adoption.
