HR director outlines changes as Council Rock SD policy committee advances 300-series personnel and student-welfare policies

The Council Rock School District School Board Policy Committee advanced a package of second-read changes to the district's 300-series policies on March 2, focusing on weapon-notification rules, employee attendance and conduct, and updates to staff training requirements.

HR Director Ron Spring presented solicitor-drafted language expanding the district's prohibition on weapons to bar discharging a firearm ‘‘from any location such that the projectile reaches any district building or property’’ and confirmed the district will notify parents and employees within 24 hours when a weapon is found on school premises. Spring told the committee that the language was supplied after consultation with the solicitor and was intended to close a gap about projectiles that land on school property.

The additions to Policy 304 formally define a personal care assistant as a paraprofessional role providing one-on-one behavioral or medical support, aimed at broadening the hiring pool for special-education support staff. Policy 318, a new attendance policy, was described as a recommended codification of existing expectations and collective-bargaining practices rather than a newly imposed discipline regime.

Committee members pressed administration on several points. Board member Michael Roosevelt questioned whether the policy's 72-hour reporting timeline for certain arrests and convictions was too long compared with other notification windows; Spring said the provision mirrors state code and offered to confirm and follow up. Members also debated whether language in Policy 340 should say "teachers and designated staff" or "all employees" when describing responsibility for student welfare; administration said the intent is that all employees must report and supervise as appropriate while clarifying assigned duties may vary by role.

The committee also reviewed changes to conduct and disciplinary procedures (including required background checks and 168 inquiries of prior employers), updates to sick-leave documentation (expanding acceptable evidence to include nurses and physician assistants), and edits to employee free-speech rules (Policy 320) that emphasize consultation with the school solicitor when first-amendment issues arise. Policy 333 was updated to incorporate Act 55 requirements for trauma-informed professional education, specifying a minimum one-hour training obligation.

After discussion and minor wording requests, the committee had no objections to placing the revised second-read policies on the board consent agenda for the upcoming March board meeting; administration said final edits would be circulated within days. There were no public comments recorded during the meeting.