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Policy committee forwards Section 7 to full board, preserves volunteer background‑check protections
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Summary
Portland School District 1J’s policy committee agreed to send Section 7 (community policies) to the full board for first reading with a contingent note preserving volunteer background‑check language until related personnel policy changes in Section 5 are finalized.
The Portland School District 1J policy committee voted to forward Section 7 (community policies) to the full board for first reading while explicitly preserving volunteer background‑check protections until cross‑referenced personnel rules are updated.
Michelle DePass, chair, opened the discussion and said the committee had added a wording change requested by a director and was prepared to move the tranche to the full board. A committee member objected to sending policies “piecemeal,” arguing it could create an unintended gap: “I am uncomfortable with sending this to the full board piecemeal and would much prefer to move things to the full board…so the board has all of them in front of us,” the committee member said.
Staff clarified that volunteer fingerprinting and criminal‑history procedures remain required in practice and are addressed in an administrative directive on visitors and volunteers. Sharon Tonkridge, the district’s chief legal officer, recommended a compromise: forward Section 7 but include an explicit board note that language tied to volunteer background checks would remain in effect until the corresponding Section 5 vote is taken. Tonkridge said the board “can simply say the board votes to remove it effective upon the time you do this other vote,” so the deletion never produces a lapse in protection.
Committee members accepted the contingent approach. A staff member confirmed the packet change and said the Section 7 tranche will appear on the May 12 agenda for first reading. The committee recorded its agreement by motion and assent (no formal roll‑call vote was recorded in the transcript).
What happens next: staff will insert the contingent language the committee requested and return the redlined policy for the full board’s first reading on the scheduled date.
