Rockport committee completes first read of policy updates, drops district allergy policy

The Rockport School Committee on April 16 completed a first read of revised policy materials that the district plans to publish on July 1. Superintendent Mark Branca told the committee that one local policy, JLCDD ("managing life‑threatening allergies in schools"), will be removed from the committee's policy book because its provisions duplicate Massachusetts law and the district's health care action plans.

"JLCDD is called managing life‑threatening allergies in schools," Branca said during the presentation, adding that after review with the school nurse the language proved redundant with MGL and existing protocols. The committee also reviewed school choice language, student discipline aligned with counsel, and language about potassium iodide (KI) tablets that Branca said will remain with town emergency protocols rather than in the school policy book.

Committee members emphasized that technology rules and some day‑to‑day practices belong in handbooks or administrative procedures rather than in the district policy document. Vice Chair Nicole Alteri and member Amy Oakes described a plan to crosswalk Rockport language with Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) model policies and to correct inconsistent terminology (for example, replacing occasional uses of "child" with "student").

The committee voted to accept the clean versions of the presented policies as a first read. Branca outlined next steps: a second read and final adoption are planned for the May 7 meeting, after which the committee expects to host the approved policy book with MASC and make it live July 1.