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Committee approves merged student handbooks as district reconfigures grade spans
Summary
The committee adopted redlined student handbooks reflecting the Blackstone–Millville reconfiguration (noville elementary as pre‑K–3), with changes to attendance rules, Chromebook take‑home for K–2 vs. grade 3, Saturday restorative sessions, dress‑code clarifications and added AI/cheating language.
The Blackstone–Millville Regional School Committee on June 13 approved updated student handbooks to reflect the district's ongoing reconfiguration and operational changes for the 2024–25 year.
Principals presented redlined handbooks explaining that noville elementary will operate as pre‑K–3 and that many handbook sections were revised to remove redundancies and to align grade‑span language across the complex. Key updates approved by the committee include:
- Attendance and restorative practices: clarified attendance definitions, tightened documentation for medical excuses and added a Saturday restorative option to make up unexcused absences (scheduled 8–11 a.m.). - Technology and Chromebooks: K–2 students will use classroom devices and will not take Chromebooks home; third graders will take Chromebooks home. Language was updated to use the district device name (Chromebook) consistently. - Discipline and academic integrity: the handbook adds a condensed discipline table and explicitly lists academic misconduct examples, including use of artificial intelligence in cheating. - Health and screening updates: vision, hearing and height/weight screening language updated for pre‑K–3 and placed after consultation with the health office. - Dress code and logistics: clarified hooded sweatshirt language (hoods not worn indoors), guidance on pajamas and purse use for privacy, and updated start/half‑day times to align with the new calendar.
Committee members questioned several specific wordings (e.g., head‑lice return criteria, pajamas language and Chromebook rules) and asked principals and health staff to refine conflicting bullets and typographical errors before final publication. Principals said they would circulate final wording and that any future curricular changes tied to new health standards would be brought to the committee for public discussion prior to implementation.
The committee moved and approved the handbooks as revised, with the committee noting that calendar and role listings will be updated in the final version.
