August 9, 2023 at 4:30 PM - Policy Committee Meeting

Discussion:  Hamby asked for a motion to approve minutes. Stout made the motion and Stull with the second. 

Discussion:  Hamby told everyone that she put this item on the agenda because both she and Ms. McCartney had spoken with TSBA legal dept and she felt the district needed to let TSBA do what they are paid to do which is review our policies and make sure they are in line with all state laws and legislation. Stout asked if the policy that we have that says our policies will be reviewed annually needs to be re-worded. Hamby said they could pull that policy and look at it later. McCartney told the committee that TSBA recommended that the district adopt their model policies and that ensures that all updated laws and legislation are up to date. 
Hamby then made a motion to stop the review only policies and Stull with the second. 

Discussion:  Policies 6.203 and 6.204. Hamby told everyone that Ms. Polson, Nursing Supervisor, has brought about the request to add the current changes. 
Stull asked if lines 20-26 from policy 6.402 could be added to policy 6.203. Patton said he doesn't see any problems with this change. He said to also use policy 6.402 as a cross reference to 6.203. Patton said it needs to be made clear that those exceptions are for state required immunizations. 
Stull made a motion to add lines 20-26 from policy 6.402 to policy 6.203 under number 3, page 1, line 9 and also cross reference policy 6.402. Hamby with the second. 

Discussion:  Policies 5.116, 6.5001, 4.403, 6.201 were presented for recommendations from TSBA. 
5.116-TSBA said there was some outdated language in the recall section and they recommended aligning with state law. Hamby made a motion that the district adopt TSBA's model policy for this one. Stull made a second. 

6.5001-TSBA deferred this one to our attorney. After much discussion on this one, Patton said federal guidance gives questions that you can and cannot ask pertaining to service animals.  He said that TSBA's model policy is sufficient given the current state of the law. Stout asked if the animals needed to follow city and county vaccination laws. Patton said several counties do not have those requirements and no laws were referenced. Hamby made a motion to delete 6.5001 and keep 3.218 and have it align with TSBA's model policy. Stout with the second. 

4.403-TSBA recommends revising the policy so the board is the final step in the complaint process. In discussing this, it was decided that at the end of the Tier Two section paragraph, that the sentence "The DOS shall make a determination and notify the complainant" should be added. On page 2 remove lines 10-18. On page 2, line 8 remove "and the board". Hamby made the motion for the changes and Stout with the second. 

6201-TSBA had concerns that our policy doesn't include the complete list of when students are excluded from compulsory attendance. Hamby made a suggestion to adopt TSBA's model policy. Patton said he felt that was best. Patton also said that the TCA reference was not accurate on their model policy, so he suggested making the #7 TCA reference to read 20 USCA 1401 a (1) (B). Hamby made a motion to adopt the model policy and change the TCA reference. Stout with the second. 

Discussion:  Policies 3.205, 6.200, 6.312, 3.3001 were presented as policies for the district or attorney to revisit. 
3.205-Patton asked the committee to table this again as he is currently in the middle of reviewing the new state-mandated MOU that we have to use for our SRO's. Hamby made the motion to table and Stout with the second. 

3.3001-Hamby said she didn't mean to put this one the agenda, nothing further needs to be done. 
5.613-Hamby said this policy needs to be pulled and deleted as other policies cover this. 
6.200-Hamby said she put this on here because she wanted discussion. She said a student last year was exempt from finals, but at the end of the year during finals time, he had a death in the family and had to miss and he ended up having to take finals. Hamby wanted some kind of clause to be added so that students weren't punished for an incident like this. Smith, SMHS principal, said she does not agree, and this needs to remain black and white. She doesn't feel that it hurts for students to take finals. Stull agreed. Boston said this was an isolated event and she does not recommend changing policies for isolated events. No changes recommended. 
6.312-Hamby said she has questions since this policy doesn't align with TSBA's model policy. Stepp said that he tells admins do not get in the students' phones. Only if it looks like they are using a phone to cheat. Otherwise, legally, leave it to the SRO's. And procedures are also in place for this policy. Stout asked if the words "could be subject to search" could be added to procedures? Patton said he doesn't hate that idea and Boston said Stepp could change that because it's in procedure. After looking at other counties' policies, it was decided to table this policy until further review. 

Discussion:  Hamby presented this portion and told everyone these would be passed on to the consent agenda and then this would be the last time we would have review only policies. 

Discussion:  Stout made the motion to adjourn and Stull with the second. The meeting was adjourned at approximately 5:48 p.m.