B-H BOARD: POLICIES, ATM, EVENT CENTER TALK

    The Britton-Hecla Board of Education held their regular meeting last Tuesday. Much of the discussion was again dominated by policy revisions. 
    Sandy Gresh spoke during open forum. Gresh commended the group for their work on revising the new policy book. She implored the group to work together as a team going forward rather than allowing two or three people to make decisions. She also brought up various new policies that contradict the school handbooks or current practice such as policies pertaining to closed campus and students driving cars. 
    The board went on to address several policies as they continue to go through and revise the new policy book adopted in August. Last month, the first reading of several policies were conducted. At this meeting, the board sought to hold the second readings of the group of policies and subsequently adopt them. Policies under review included those regarding Complaint Procedure, Operation of School Business Office, Law Enforcement Unit, Restrictions on Employees, Grievance Procedure, Locker Room Supervision, Early Graduation, and Activity Trips. 
    As the board went through each policy, additional small amendments were made to some such as noting the business office will be open 8 am – 4 pm every ‘school’ day. 
    The policy regarding transfers students was further amended to allow them to still receive senior honors. A discussion regarding the Locker Room policy was held with Audrey Schuller moving to table the policy to further discuss whether cell phones should be allowed in locker rooms. The motion died for lack of a second and the policy was subsequently adopted with the others. The open enrollment policy was tabled as the board is still seeking advice from counsel on class capacity. 
    A couple policies were rescinded, including the Opioid Overdose Prevention policy (rescinded because the district does not carry Narcan) and the Grievance Procedure policy which was taken out because the district’s negotiating agreement deals with this matter and the redundancy is not necessary. 
    Various policies from the 5000 series in the policy book were discussed as district administrators have been reviewing them. Superintendent Steve Benson went through the proposed changes and noted they were being changed not to do anything new but to match what is already in practice. These policies included Compulsory Attendance and Excessive Absenteeism, Compulsory Attendance for Distance Learning, Physical Examination of Students and Routine Directory Information. For the physical examination policy, Schuller suggested adding language about informing parents about exams, to which Benson noted they already do so though it is not stated in the policy. Her motion died for lack of a second. 
    In the directory information policy, the following change was made: “The school district ‘may’ (changing from ‘shall’) disclose the following as routine directory information pertaining to any past, present or future student who is, has been, or will be regularly enrolled in the district.” The policy includes information that can legally be given out without violating FERPA, including cell phone numbers and social media information. Benson noted that the district does not give out such information casually. Schuller was concerned about much of the information that by policy can be given out and suggested the board take action immediately to change it. She ultimately voted against the first reading of it. 
    She again voiced concern about the policy revision process and noted it needs to be done more systematically. “This all seems nitpicky but each word means something,” she said. “We have to look at every single one of these carefully. We can’t just do it randomly.” 
    In other business, the board revisited the idea of putting an ATM in the Arena lobby. Because the ATM has to have internet access and will not be allowed on the school’s, they will have to pay for a cell phone line. This will mean higher costs for the company and thus a smaller transaction fee for the school of 50 cents per transaction rather than a dollar. Benson noted that the school can keep the machine as long as they want since the company does not do contracts. The board approved the ATM with Schuller voting against it out of concern for a lack of a contract.
    In staffing matters, Katrina Knecht and Jenna Nordquist were approved as assistant track coaches. 
    During the open forum part of the meeting, Britton Mayor Clyde Fredrickson spoke to the board. He addressed the school’s use of the Event Center. In the past, the school has paid $12,000 per year for use of the center for school activities such as use of the locker rooms for football games, practice space and for team meals. Rather than signing a lease this year, the board had discussed paying for use of the Event Center based on hours used rather than a flat yearly rate. Fredrickson asked the board to reconsider not entering into the annual lease and brought up the history of the building. He also noted that the building has been used by the school for 48 hours since football started. Later in the meeting, Benson and the board talked about looking into the hours used more in-depth before changing their plans. No decisions on the matter were made. 
    In reports, Benson noted the board had received a GAVEL award  (Governance Academy of Visionary Education Leadership). He also discussed public access to the library catalog again. To give such access, a network upgrade or a cloud-based system is necessary which will cost around $2,500. The board discussed whether such a move should be made soon or be included in next year’s budget. No decision was made. In the business manager’s report, she noted that the mileage rate had been amended to 67 cents per mile as per the federal rate. It was also noted that the school again received the Clean Diesel grant for $28,000, as they have in the past for newer bus models.
    The  next meeting will be Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 6 p.m.