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Pleasant Valley board approves student handbook updates on screen time, PE and discipline
Summary
The board accepted updated student and parent handbooks for elementary, junior-high and high school levels, adding state-aligned limits on screen time, clarified physical-activity minutes, a three-level discipline system, and continuation of a cell-phone policy piloted April 1.
The Pleasant Valley Community School District board voted unanimously to accept updated student and parent handbooks for elementary, junior-high and high-school students after administrators summarized modest, mostly legislative-driven changes.
Lee McQueen, the district’s director of elementary education, told the board the elementary updates largely reflect state requirements: human-growth-and-development materials will include an annually shown video beginning in fifth grade, and the district will apply a screen-time limit that reaches "no more than 60 minutes per day" by fifth grade with lower caps for younger students. McQueen said the district will roll out teacher-facing guidance and an FAQ this summer.
Junior-high and high-school administrators presented parallel changes: clarified release/leave procedures (adding 'designee' language so nurses or counselors may sign students out when appropriate); adjusted food-service language to meet state guidelines on negative lunch balances; eliminated Edgenuity as the district’s online platform; and added clarity around dress, head apparel and safety hazards. Principals described moving from a four-level to a three-level discipline framework to align K–12 responses and improve consistency.
Administrators recommended continuing the mobile-device policy first implemented on April 1. Junior-high leaders said staff reported improved lunchtime interactions, reduced phone distractions and that students quickly adjusted to the rule; they also described a staff-led rotation that allows limited outdoor recess during lunch when volunteers supervise.
The board moved and approved the package of handbook updates after several clarifying questions about flexibility in physical-activity implementation and what constitutes an adequate parental medical note for excusal.
Provenance: Handbook presentations and board discussion occurred during the "new business" and handbook vote segments of the meeting.
