During a board study session held on June 16, 2026, officials discussed significant updates to district policies regarding student conduct, employee leave, and academic grading systems. The session addressed upcoming state law requirements and proposed shifts in how secondary schools track student performance.
Superintendent Hughes presented an updated electronic device policy for students, which was designed to align with state law set to take effect on July 1. The proposed policy implements a district-wide restriction on device use during instructional time, lunch, and passing periods. While the policy includes a loophole for high school students participating in school-sponsored extracurricular activities under adult supervision, it sparked debate regarding safety. President Hanks and Board Member Holman expressed concerns that ringing phones could reveal student locations during emergency lockdowns or cause panic through misinformation. Additionally, Board Member Mills raised concerns regarding enforcement consistency and the workload placed on teachers. To address these issues, the board noted that exceptions would remain for medical needs, IEPs, 504s, and crisis monitoring. Dr. Hughes suggested enforcement mechanisms such as sending confiscated phones to the office.
The board also reviewed updates to the employee leave policy presented by Dr. Hughes. The revisions aim to clarify that the district's sick bank is reserved exclusively for qualifying FMLA events, such as stroke recovery or cancer treatments, rather than standard doctor appointments. New regulations would require leave to be requested in full or half-day increments and would restrict stacking leave days around holidays without principal approval. Furthermore, a new section would require employees terminating contracts mid-year to pro-rate any used leave days, with the value of unearned days deducted from final paychecks. The board also discussed the possibility of revising the $100 per day buy-out incentive for unused leave due to inflation.
Regarding academic standards, a proposal was discussed to move secondary schools from a Standards-Based Grading platform back to a traditional percentage-based GPA model. The rationale for this shift is to reduce confusion among parents and address inconsistencies in grading across different departments. Under this plan, departments would maintain autonomy to establish their own standardized metrics for summative and formative assessments. Additionally, Superintendent Hughes announced a pilot program for a 7-12 Language Arts curriculum. This pilot aims to establish a structured instructional baseline and rigorous writing benchmarks, as a full formal adoption process is not feasible before the upcoming school year begins.
The policy regarding student electronic devices was scheduled for a second reading and vote during the regular session following the study session. Implementation plans for the new device policy were to be developed with high school administrators during an upcoming meeting.
