Legal, Contracts & Board Policy Committee meeting
Akron Board of Education
Education
Monday, Oct. 28, 2024
5:30 p.m. — 6:30 p.m. EDT
10 N Main St, Akron Akron, OH 44308 (Directions)
Sylvester Small Administration Building, 102, Board Room
The Akron Board of Education has four committees that meet on Mondays when there isn’t a regular meeting. The committees are: The Instructional Policy and Student Achievement Committee; The Equity Committee; The Finance & Capital Management Committee; The Legal, Contracts & Board Policy Committee.
Reporting
Edited and summarized by the Akron - OH Documenters Team
Note-taking by
Jackie Jantzi
Board members question new visitor policy set to start in January
Live reporting by
Wittman Sullivan
Board member asks for more dress code discussions and a review of district policies around school discipline following an Akron NAACP statement
Wittman Sullivan
@WittmanSullivan
Hey everybody, I will be documenting this evening's Akron Public School (APS) Board Legal Contracts and Board Policy Committee meeting at the Administration Building (10. N Main) with @SignalAkron and #AKRDocumenters
06:00 AM Oct 30, 2024 CDT
Check out the meeting agenda at this link go.boarddocs.com/oh/akron/Board…
go.boarddocs.com/oh/akron/Board…
Rene Molenaur (board member) started the meeting at 5:34 with Barbara Sykes (board member) present The previous meeting minutes passed unanimously
An APS staffer said Senate Bill 29 restricts how student data can be used and collected by districts and school contractors. She said this will effect existing policies around school devices Molenaur asked that parents are notified about policy changes . nbc4i.com/news/local-new…
nbc4i.com/news/local-new…
House Bill 214 is a law that "has to do with religious exceptions" according to an APS staffer. She said there will be revisions to existing attendance policies Molenaur said HB 214 will be discussed next meeting legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/13…
legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/13…
Angela Carter (APS chief of staff) said no vendor policy changes are needed because of SB 29 Molenaur said Harvard and Bowling Green have policy models around school vendors and student data The item will be discussed next meeting
Molenaur said the recess policy should be amended to discourage taking it away as punishment and to add statements about the mental and physical benefits of recess She said it will be discussed at the next meeting . cdc.gov/healthyschools…
cdc.gov/healthyschools…
Carter said the district informed families about the new Raptor Tech school visitor management system She said the digital system will roll out in January replacing the paper and sticker system raptortech.com/protect-your-s…
raptortech.com/protect-your-s…
Sykes said that she wants the community to feel welcomed to schools and she is worried the program (that requires state ID) will create a barrier for families to be in schools
Carter said the system will flag sex offenders Molenaur said parents who get flagged would be shut out of school activities and programs Sykes asked if this was recommended or used in other schools Carter said it is installed in schools already and training beings this month
Sykes asked how long the contract (approved in February according to Sykes) is for 36 months that Carter does not know when that starts according to Carter
Molenaur said this might create a barrier for families to receive services through APS Sykes asked how people will be asked to leave the school if they are flagged
Molenaur said she is concerned that information is already being released to families even though the district is still figuring out the rules around the system
An APS staffer said there are 3 policy updates from NEOLA including guidelines around title II, policies effected by senate bill 29, and new consolidated policies. She suggested holding smaller meetings to compare the policy proposals before bringing them to committee
Another APS staffer said the policy proposals will be evaluated based on whether they are mandatory and how they fit with district goals He said mandatory policies like those around school attendance will need to happen before January when SB 29 goes into effect
Molenaur said there are 48 individual policy proposals but no recommendations from APS legal staff She asked if the proposals should be placed in unfinished business Sykes asked if the proposals are able to be reviewed before January
An APS legal staffer said they cannot commit to that and asked if there are any more committee meeting before January
Molenaur said the committee should meet after the budget and finance committee meeting on December 19th 2024 at 5:30 pm
Sykes asked if Molenaur can inform the board of the Raptor program and asked for more information about the program at the December meeting
Molenaur asked that there are roundtable discussions about dress code policies as was discussed earlier this year and a review of policies around school discipline due to a release from the Akron NAACP signalakron.org/akron-fireston…
signalakron.org/akron-fireston…
The meeting ended at 6:30 pm. the next Akron Public Schools Board Legal Contracts and Board Policy Committee Meeting will be on December 19th at 5:30 pm at the Administration Building For more coverage check out Akron.Documenters.org
Akron.Documenters.org
Have a question? Think we got something wrong? Send any questions about this meeting or these tweets to documenters@signalakron.org
Agency Information
Akron Board of Education
The Akron Public Schools Board of Education is the official body representing the citizens of Akron on all matters of public education. The board is non-partisan and non-sectarian. Its members are elected at-large for four-year terms.