Policy Adoption

Proposed new policies and proposed changes to existing policies shall be presented in writing for reading and discussion. Understanding that school districts are continually evolving and that policies must reflect the current state of the district, updating the header or footer, titles of staff, departments, or schools, and legal or cross references that have been changed since policy adoption; making format changes; and fixing grammatical, capitalization and punctuation errors of a current Board-approved policy do not require further Board approval. Further, non-substantive changes that do not affect the meaning, duties, intent, or character of the policy also do not require further Board approval.

Unless it is deemed by the Board that immediate action would be in the best interests of the district or that it is a policy that has potential major operational impacts and therefore more time is needed in between introduction and action for public comment, the final vote for adoption shall typically take place at the subsequent regular or special Board meeting.

In the event that immediate action on a proposed policy is necessary, the motion for its adoption shall provide that immediate adoption is in the best interest of the district.  

All new or amended policies shall become effective upon adoption, unless a specific effective date is provided in the motion for adoption.

Policies as adopted or amended are made a part of the minutes of the meeting at which action was taken and are included in the district’s policy manual.

Policy Manuals

The Superintendent shall develop and maintain a current online policy manual which contains the policies of the district.

The manual is intended both as a tool for district management as well as a source of information to patrons, staff and others about how the district operates. The policies will be on the district’s website so that each administrator has ready access to the manual. In addition, a paper manual is available in the School Board office and such other places as the Superintendent may determine for the use of staff, students and patrons.

All policy manuals distributed to anyone remain the property of the district and are subject to recall at any time.

Superintendent Procedures

The Superintendent shall develop administrative procedures (called “Superintendent Procedures”) to facilitate the implementation of Board policies.

Such procedures need not be approved by the Board, though it may revise them when it appears that they are not consistent with the Board’s intentions as expressed in its policies. Procedures need not be reviewed by the Board prior to their issuance; though procedures are to be provided for information to the Board and may be tested periodically by the Office of Internal Audit. On controversial topics, the Superintendent is encouraged to request Board input prior to issuance.

The Superintendent shall annually provide a report on any changes to Superintendent Procedures from the previous year.