Seven board policies and administrative regulations that include items like firearms on school grounds and board member electronic communications are expected to be reviewed by the Castaic Union School District Governing Board Thursday.
“The update on Board Policies volume is higher this month because the agenda does not have a lot of items and we try and update policies and regulations on a consistent basis,” Board President Laura Pearson said.
These updated policies and regulations reflect changes to California law, as well as impacts from recent court cases.
In its current draft, an updated policy related to board members’ electronic communications states that personal accounts and devices could be subject to the Public Records Act if they include communications about public business.
A similar change is reflect in a board policy about district records that states all information related to district business is subject to the Public Records Act. Schools are also required to disclose any breach of security of records that contain personal information through written or online notifications.
The updated policies reflects a California Supreme Court decision in City of San Jose v. Superior Court.
An updated policy regarding firearms on school grounds includes information based in a new law that restricts anyone from having a concealed weapons permit approval to have a gun on school grounds.
Facilities inspections in the district now have to follow new regulations, as well. These updates require school districts participating in the School Facility Program or Deferred Maintenance Program to have an inspection system in place to ensure all facilities are kept in good repair.
It also requires schools built before Jan. 1, 2010, to test their water for led before Jan. 1, 2019 and requires high-poverty middle schools and high schools to offer its students free feminine hygiene products.
However, the provision relating to feminine hygiene products is not expected to impact the Castaic district, where currently only 27 percent of students are considered high-poverty.
“Administration Regulation 3517 will not affect our schools,” Pearson said. “The threshold is for the high-poverty schools at 40 percent poverty.”
Another updated policy is expected to impact playground aid positions, or yard duty positions, that are now considered classified personnel.
“Because of a recent agreement with the California CSEA the yard duty positions have become part of the CSEA Union and are now entitled to holiday and vacation pay. The Union has fought for this for as long as I can remember,” Pearson said. “The majority of these employees do not work the required amount of hours for other benefits, such as insurance.”
The change is expected to cost the district an additional $25,000 per year for holiday and vacation pay based on hours worked, according to Pearson.
The board is also expected to review a policy that prohibits parent or guardian volunteer hours to be used as a condition of a student’s participation in educational activities. It also allows districts to charge a fee for certain programs or in-state field strings, as long as the fee is waived or reduced for low-income families.
Finally, the district is expected to delete an exhibit about a “Hold Harmless Agreement” because the language is included in its new application for Use of Facilities.
Additional Agenda Items:
- Have a workshop with Vavrinek, Trine, Day & Co., LLP about the district audit
- Hear a principal report from Live Oak Elementary School Principal Cynthia Seamands
- Discuss the district’s marketing plan
- Approve of a Catastrophic Leave Request for Live Oak Elementary School Teacher Rene Gimenez
- Approve of purchase of district-wide firewall replacement from SHI totaling $87,998.33
- Approve of annual Microsoft license agreement from SHI totaling $10,470.80
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