Published: June 30, 2009 10:35 pm      

Legislation causes changes to Duncan school policies

DUNCAN — Some changes in legislation caused Duncan Public Schools to make a few changes to the district’s Policy and Procedure Manual.

During Tuesday’s regular meeting of the Duncan Board of Education, the board approved various changes to the Manual. Superintendent Sherry Labyer highlighted many of the changes for the board members.

One of the biggest changes outlined during the meeting involved House Bill 1647. In this bill, the topic of nepotism was discussed.

In schools with an enrollment of less than 5,000 students, like Duncan Schools, relatives of school board members are now allowed to be substitute teachers. This is because the pool of substitutes for rural communities can be shallow.

Another change to the Manual involved Senate Bill 394. This bill extends the time period a school district has to let teachers know if they’ll be rehired.

Labyer said this is a good thing because it gives the district enough time to see if there will be enough funding to keep the teacher.

A Manual addition was an over-night trip policy, which deals with sleeping arrangements.

“This hasn’t been a problem,” Labyer said. “This is proactive, rather than reactive.”

The policy changes also fluffed up information on assault and battery on a school employee or volunteer. Additional information was included from House Bill 1598.

Duncan High School Assistant Principal Tom Brack also discussed changes to the drug policy.

After a student tests positive for drugs, they have to go through two counseling sessions. The change is that a time limit has been put in place. The student must go to the two sessions within 30 days.

In other action:

• The board approved purchasing nine video surveillance systems for school buses for a total of $3,465 and two DVD video systems for activity buses for a total of $7,000.

Labyer said the $10,465, which will be paid out of the general fund, will actually use money collected from selling the recently retired route buses. She said once the buses are sold, that money will go into the general fund.

• Several child nutrition bids were approved. These included Borden’s for milk, Earth Grain Sara Lee for bread, Duncan Termite and Pest Control for pest control and Dominos Pizza for pizza.

• Surplus items were declared and approved from DHS, Duncan Middle School, Mark Twain Elementary and child nutrition.