Brewer board mulls revisions to school policies

BREWER – The school committee is changing or fine-tuning 14 policies or rules that cover everything from keeping students back a grade to exemptions from instruction for religious or personal reasons.

The changes were presented to the board for a first reading Monday and will be reviewed and voted on at the December board meeting.

All of the policies and regulations are required by state or federal law and are taken basically verbatim from sample policies, Superintendent Betsy Webb said Tuesday.

“They outline procedures we already have in place,” she said. “It’s not changing anything at all. I would bet the students at the Brewer School District wouldn’t even notice the difference in the way they experience school.”

For example, one of the policies requires drug and alcohol testing for bus drivers and those who transport 16 or more passengers for the school department. The school district contracts with Cyr Bus Line for student transportation, and the bus company already has a drug policy, Webb said.

“This policy makes sure whoever we contract with has a drug and alcohol policy in place,” she said.

At Monday’s meeting, the board reviewed policies and regulations that deal with:

. Suspending students with disabilities and grievance procedures for people with disabilities.

. Complaint procedures for students who believe they have been discriminated against or harassed and privacy rules for student education records.

. Criteria to promote or retain students, including achievement, potential, attendance, health, maturity, physical size, age in relation to grade placement, attitude, parental concerns, out-of-school influences and program options.

. Exemptions from instruction for students who have religious, moral or philosophical beliefs. The policy sets exemption factors that will be used to determine if a student can be exempt and still meet requirements for Maine Learning Results.

. Reintegration of students from juvenile correctional facilities. The policy outlines a system to provide a smooth transition for students along with creation of a support group made up of teachers, administrators and family.

. Enforcement rules for the district’s tobacco ban for students and staff.

The board also held the first reading of policies concerning surveys, recruiting and hiring staff, standards for ethical and responsible behaviors, and the district’s goals and objectives.

All 14 of the policies and regulations will need to come before the board again for final review and a vote, which is scheduled to take place at the Dec. 6 meeting.

Copies of the preliminary policies are available at the superintendent’s office at Capri Street School and should be available by the end of the week on the district’s Web site, www.breweredu.org.The school committee also recognized fourth-grader Whitney Seymour, eighth-grader Sarah Risser and high school students Ryan Brooks and Michael Keane for exceeding the standard on the Maine Educational Assessment.