Policy subcommittee implements Shipman & Goodwin services and begins methodical review of 9000 series

The Brookfield School District Policy/Communications Subcommittee confirmed it has operational access to policy services from Shipman & Goodwin and laid out a plan to methodically review district policies, starting with the 9000 series.

As committee chair, Stephanie Sikora said the group would begin with the 9000 series because many items are legally required or recommended; she moved to amend the July 17, 2024 minutes and, after Erin Scalera seconded, the subcommittee voted unanimously to approve the amended minutes. Kasey Diotte explained that once Dr. Barile completed the district’s onboarding with Shipman & Goodwin, she compiled the S&G recommended policies, corresponding CABE policies, and Brookfield’s current policies into a linked spreadsheet matrix to support side-by-side comparisons.

The spreadsheet, Diotte said, is intended to let members “move quickly and be very methodical” by showing prior CABE updates, dates last adopted, and current Brookfield language while preserving legally required phrasing from S&G. Lisa Gramling will provide color-coded binders so members can annotate hard copies and share feedback.

The subcommittee divided responsibility for the 9000-series review: Erin Scalera will take the first seven items (including 9000, 9110, 9120, 9211), Joy Greenstein the next seven (including 9212, 9221, 9252 and 9300), and Stephanie Sikora the following eight (including 9321–9326 variants). The minutes state the 9000 series includes 22 legally required or recommended policies and a further 29 Brookfield-specific policies that will be reviewed later; the group agreed to prioritize legally required items and to consider reviewing five policies at a time if the workload proves heavy.

The subcommittee discussed waiving the first reading for these S&G-recommended bylaws to expedite adoption, noting that S&G drafts are shorter than CABE templates but should contain required elements; any decision to waive a first read will be decided as policies return to the group and then, if appropriate, forwarded to the full Board for formal action. The Policy/Communications Subcommittee scheduled a special meeting on Aug. 29, 2024 to review member feedback and decide which policies to bring to the full Board for vote.

Next steps: members will review their assigned policies using the spreadsheet matrix, annotate hard copies provided in binders, and bring recommended changes to the Aug. 29 meeting. The committee committed to reviewing and updating all Brookfield school policies and to prioritizing immediate issues as they arise.