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Sycamore board adopts NEOLA policy manual to replace OSBA policies
Summary
After months of committee work, the Sycamore Community City Board of Education voted unanimously to rescind its OSBA policy manual and adopt NEOLA templates and platform, citing legal alignment, easier updates and searchable public access effective July 1.
The Sycamore Community City Board of Education voted unanimously June 30 to rescind its Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA) policy manual and adopt the NEOLA policy manual, a move administrators said will streamline legal compliance and make district policies easier to search and maintain.
Mr. Lovell, introducing the superintendent's agenda, told the board the district's policy-transition team logged more than "70-plus hours" reviewing and customizing NEOLA templates to reflect local priorities. "We want to make sure that we're in line with current Ohio law and the updated legal guidance," he said, adding that NEOLA provides legally reviewed templates and a system that will better align board policy, administrative guidelines and handbooks.
The board heard a section-by-section overview of the NEOLA manual, including the bylaws (0-series) on governance, administrative policies (1000s), personnel (3000s/4000s), student policies (5000s) and finance and property sections (6000s/7000s). Mr. Lovell emphasized the difference between policies (adopted by the board) and administrative guidelines (developed and implemented by administration), saying the guidelines will be completed on a phased schedule with a target of December 2026.
Board members and administrators described the transition process as iterative. Several members thanked the administrators and volunteers who served on the transition committee; Mr. Lovell named core contributors including Ms. Spencer, Ms. Zelner, Ms. Chung, Mr. Burson, Mr. Cole and others who reviewed specific sections. He said the district will try to keep customized Sycamore policies "as close to our current policies as possible" and that NEOLA will surface legal citations (Ohio Revised Code, federal regulations) alongside policy text on the public site.
The board also heard that NEOLA's platform migration will cause a temporary public outage while the district moves its policy library; administrators asked for patience during a short transition window. A resolution to rescind OSBA policies and activate the NEOLA manual on July 1 was moved, seconded and approved by roll-call vote with all members voting aye.
The board approved the resolution in open session; administrators said they would follow up with the board and the public as administrative guidelines are drafted and implemented.
