In accordance with policy changes in New York State law and the Board of Regents, Greater Amsterdam School District Superintendent Thomas Perillo presented 11 proposed revisions to district policies, as well as the creation of one new policy, at Wednesday’s regular meeting of the Board of Education.
The changes are proposed by the Board Policies Committee which met on June 4, and focus mainly on changing the language of policies to make them more consistent and putting expectations for faculty members into writing.
Revisions to policies such as Non-discrimination and Anti-Harassment In The School District, Sexual Harassment of District Personnel, and Sexual Harassment of Students, are intended to utilize more consistent language and to provide more specific descriptions of inappropriate conduct.
The revision to the policy Child Abuse and Maltreatment expands the policy to apply to coaches. The creation of the policy Hazing of Students puts into writing a policy banning hazing.
The policy Maintenance of Fund Balance puts into writing, for the first time, the district’s efforts to maintain the unassigned fund balance between 2 and 4 percent of the district’s total budget, as recommended by the State Comptroller’s Office. The Information Security Breach and Notification Policy would be changed to reflect changes to the state technology law.
Alteration of the Submission of Questions and Propositions At The Annual Meeting and Election and Special District Meetings policy would increase the lead time for submission of voter propositions from 30 days to 60 days. Changes to the Alcohol, Tobacco, Drugs and Other Substances policy would give the district authority to remove individuals under the influence from any district properties, not just school grounds as was the case previously.
As this was the first reading of the proposed policy changes, the board did not vote on the proposals.
