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Policy committee reviews a slate of updates including school resource officers, Read Act alignment and transportation safety

DULUTH PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT Policy Committee · March 11, 2026

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Summary

At the March meeting the Duluth Public Schools policy committee reviewed multiple policy updates — including school resource officers (507.5), student promotion (513), interviews by outside agencies (519), curriculum goals (601), accountability (616), Read Act alignment (611) and transportation safety (709) — and noted resource or language updates; no final adoptions were recorded.

After the discussion of intra‑district transfers, the committee worked through a set of policies submitted for review and clerical updates.

Policy 507.5 (School Resource Officers): The packet reflected resource updates, capitalization and typographical edits; members said there were no substantial changes to SRO contractual duties or training requirements in this update.

Policy 513 (Student promotion, retention and program design): Members were reminded this policy, adopted in September 2024, provides staff guidance on promotion and retention; recent edits focus on updated statute references.

Policy 519 (Interviews of students by outside agencies): The committee reviewed procedures for authorized individuals to access students during the school day. A committee member asked whether new language stemmed from the Minnesota School Boards Association; the chair confirmed the district regularly receives sample language and statutory updates from MSBA throughout the year.

Policy 601 (Curriculum and instruction goals): The committee noted a wording change, replacing the term "world's best workforce" with "comprehensive achievement and civic readiness" to align with the district's stated goals.

Policy 616 (District system accountability): Discussion emphasized the policy's requirement for a district advisory committee. The Assistant Superintendent said the advisory committee is functioning, will report back at a future meeting, and invited community members to contact the assistant superintendent's office to sign up.

Policy 611 (Literacy and Read Act alignment): The committee reiterated the district's commitment to evidence‑based reading instruction and noted small statutory changes in staff development and identification, reporting and intervention sections.

Policy 709 (Student transportation safety): Committee members observed language changes and cross‑references including a January 2026 adoption date and added references to the Minnesota model school bus driver training program and drug, alcohol and cannabis testing provisions.

Chair Loeffler Kemp closed the packet review by thanking Patty for her policy stewardship and encouraging members to review other districts' policies and MSBA resources; several items in the 1000 series remain under committee review and will return when staff and working committees finalize drafts.