The Clarendon School District 1 Board of Trustees spent the majority of its regular meeting Monday night discussing the district’s new policies, many of which were altered to hewn closer to state laws or abide with new ones.
“Really, some of these policies just need to be updated for our own purposes,” said Clarendon 1 Superintendent Rose Wilder.
The board passed first reading of the new policies, with board member James Jones absent. The policies amended included:
- The district can now opt to name a charter school as an alternative educational campus. In other words, the district may choose a charter school and then deem it an alternative school.
- Since the exit exam is no longer required by law, the policy regarding it has been altered not to address the exam.
- The board has the authority to regular salary with working retirees, in accordance with state law.
- The policy regarding health education is now more specific, noting what the district is allowed to teach and allowing parents to opt out. Wilder said the new policy more closely follows the state standards for health education.
- The biggest change came in the food policies. Effective July 1, 2016, schools will no longer be able to serve junk foods within their cafeterias. Indeed, students won’t even be able to bring junk foods from home into the cafeterias. Wilder said District 1 is “ahead of the game,” as it has been phasing out such foods for several years.
Other business conducted at Monday’s meeting included:
- Wilder told board members that newer security measures are in use at the district’s four schools, including metal detectors. She said all metal detectors should be functional at district schools today. St. Paul Elementary School Principal Rosa Dingle and Scott’s Branch Middle-High School Principal Gwendolyn Harris said the metal detectors were already being used at their schools as of Monday.
- Wilder told the board that music students at the high school had been tested on a college level-based test and tested better than most college students for their various instruments and studies.
