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Munster board adopts student-handbook revisions that add unverified-excused category and modest program fees
Summary
The board approved updated student-handbooks that add an 'unverified excused absence' category, lower the excessive-absence threshold from seven to six per semester, align device rules with state law, and implement modest club/program fees and transportation flat rates for some extracurriculars.
The School Town of Munster Board of School Trustees on May 11 approved changes to student handbooks across grade levels that administration said align district policy with recent state codes and clarify attendance, device and program-fee rules.
Mr. Nolan, who led the handbook review, told the board the district is adding an "unverified excused absence" category and reducing the excessive-absence limit from seven to six days per semester to help the district move toward a 94% attendance rate the state tracks. "So we're gonna drop that down to 6 from 7 to get us a little bit closer in compliance with that 94% attendance rate as outlined by the state," he said.
Administration also proposed minor updates to building hours, emergency drills, IHSA physical alignment, plagiarism and academic-dishonesty language (including AI guidance), and clarified that staff cannot require students to use personal devices for instruction during the school day. The board reviewed changes for extracurriculars and athletics: a nominal program fee (about $5–$10) will be listed under each club or activity to help cover administrative and program costs, and certain clubs that use transportation regularly (speech and debate, band, color guard, academic competition, robotics) will pay a flat transportation fee estimated between $25 and $50 based on historical usage.
Elementary leaders said they tightened tardy policies, aligned safety drills to the district standard-response protocol and added allergen guidance for classroom parties. The board voted to approve the handbook revisions after discussion and confirmed the full documents and a summary are available on BoardDocs for public review.
Administrators said many changes are technical and intended to create consistency across elementary, middle and high school handbooks. The district will publish final handbooks and update PowerSchool coding to match the new absence categories.
