If you are wanting to protest a book in your child’s school library, …
If you are wanting to know when your child asks to have his/her pronouns changed, …
If you want to know what schools are doing to keep your child healthy, …
You might be coming into contact with new public-school policies.
The School District 56 Board of Trustees has been tackling these new policies throughout September, October and November. Based on new or adjusted state laws, the State Department of Education mandates to local school districts the wording of policies. In some cases, entire local policies that have been in effect, sometimes for several years, are stricken and new wording is put in their place.
Social and cultural issues, like parents insisting on being more involved in policy making and efforts to restrict gender affirming care for underage, transgender people, fuel these changes. In other cases, it’s a renewed emphasis on reading and/or a re-evaluation of what standardized tests are supposed to be showing professional educators about students’ progress.
Lately, a major issue for the State Department of Education has been how to take cellphones out of the hands of students during the school day, so they will pay more attention to the lessons and to stop bullying.
In any event, these were the policies on the District 56 Board’s agenda for action at the Nov. 25 meeting:
Test Assessment;
Test Assessment Administration;
School Day;
Possession of electronic communications devices in schools; and
Healthy Schools.
These were the policies facing the board at the Oct. 28 meeting:
English/ Reading/ Writing/ Language Arts Education;
Instructional Resources and Materials;
Supplementary Materials Selection;
Library/ Media Center Materials Selection and Adoption;
Public Concerns and Complaints about Instructional Resources;
Summer School;
Graduation Requirements;
Threat Assessment;
Safety Plans and Drills;
Comprehensive Health Education Program;
Weapons in Schools;
Relations with Parent Organizations;
Public Gifts; and
Community Use of School Facilities.
In District 56’s case, these policies require 2 readings to become official. Presumably, the public can learn about the policy changes and plan for their comments about them between 1st and 2nd reading (although, in practice, that rarely happens).
The Board of Trustees has the option of waiving 1st reading and moving on to 2nd and final reading. It does so sometimes on policies that could be consider non-controversial – the district Health Plan is an example of a 1st reading waiver.
Also at its meetings, the District 56 board provides special recognitions. For its Oct. 28 meeting those were for the Clinton High Varsity and JV Volleyball Teams and the Vocational Rehabilitation Olympics participants. For its Nov. 25 meeting those were for the CHS Cross-country Teams along with runner William Reid, an All-State performer and one of 20 of the state’s best runners chosen to relay the game ball from Shriner’s Hospital to Spartanburg ahead of this year’s Shrine Bowl.
On Nov. 25, Clinton High School made a programs’ presentation, and oaths of office were administered to elected and re-elected board members.
The board waived first reading and approved on second reading a modification to the 2024-25 school calendar.
The board allowed the superintendent to extend a 5-year contract at a price not to exceed $350,000 for “a safety platform” to protect students, staff and visitors, if the district receives a grant to pay for it.
The board extended the contract of Superintendent Dr. David O’Shields for 1 year, through June 30, 2028, with a salary increase of 4.1% retroactive to July 1, 2024. This is based on a commendable performance evaluation for 2023-24.
Next: New policies, what do they mean, including Pre-K and K Readiness and communications devices. The next District 56 Board of Education meeting will be December 23, open to the public, at 7:30 p.m. in the District Conference Center, Clinton.
