Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. board trustees will have a board work session tonight as they talk through potential changes to a proposed policy governing communication between the board and BCSC staff.
Policy D175: “Board-Staff Communications,” is intended to replace NEOLA policy 4112. More information about the two policies and additional ones the board is considering can be found on BCSC’s BoardDocs page by clicking “Policies” on the top right and then, next to where it says “Book,” selecting “District Policy Review Drafts” on the drop down menu.
During the school board meeting on Jan. 13, a few members including Jason Major, District 1, Dale Nowlin, District 4 and Logan Schulz, District 6 had provided some varying feedback on the policy.
Schulz made a motion to hold the work session, which was seconded by Nowlin and ultimately unanimous. The public work session will be on Monday, Jan. 27 beginning at 5:15 p.m. in the boardroom upstairs in the BCSC administration building at 1318 Cottage Ave.
The policy states that school staff are to submit “official communications,” meaning expressions made within a staff member’s professional capacity to the school board through the superintendent. That would be done by staff members submitting what they want to communicate through their supervisor.
It adds that “this policy is not intended to deny any staff member the right to take appeals to the board through established procedures or infringe on a staff member’s constitutional rights.”
In turn, the superintendent is responsible for communicating “all official messages, policies and directives of the board to staff.”
Another section entitled “Social Interaction” says that discussions between staff and board trustees outside of a school board meeting that include confidential subjects like “personnel grievances and problems, student due process, contract negotiations and litigation” would be considered unethical conduct.
During the Jan. 13 meeting board members approved a packet of district policies on first reading that consolidates 17 previous policies into nine. The proposed policies must receive consent from board members on two readings to be fully approved.
The consolidation is part of a wider reorganization, meant to simplify and streamline BCSC’s policy structure and eliminate any redundancies, school district officials have said in earlier interviews.
Board members voted on July 15 to terminate an agreement with NEOLA, the education consulting firm that assisted with BCSC policies previously, and approve an agreement with Indianapolis-based firm Church Church Hittle and Antrim as a replacement.
The firm is managing BCSC’s board policy platform and will update policies based on changes in state and federal legislation, as well as changes in case law.
This is the third batch of policies to be consolidated after members voted to pair down 26 previous polices into 14 on Sept. 9 and more than 50 current policies into 13 on Nov. 11.
After the board work session wraps up, BCSC trustees will hold a closed to the public executive session “to discuss the assessment, design and implementation of school safety measures, plans and systems,” according to a copy of the agenda.
