DR. Varley’s RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS ON 09/22/2022 BOE MEETING/POLICY CHANGES

From Dr. Varley to BHCW in response to FOLLOW UP TO DISTRICT POLICY CHANGES – BOE MEETING 09/22/2022 :

“ll answer in summary form as opposed to line by line questioning.

The majority of policies are mandated by New Jersey Code (i.e., law). The codes change often, thus needing updating on a regular basis. This is something that no Board of Education or Superintendent has the time to keep track of, so most districts hire a company to help them. To my knowledge in the state of New Jersey, there are two companies who send updates: Strauss Esmay and New Jersey School Boards Association. Here is an example of an update from Strauss Esmay:

Alert 228

SEA revised the following policies and/or regulations based on change in Statute, Code or law.

• 0143.2 – High School Student Representative to the Board of Education – Bylaw (M)
• 0163 – Quorum – Bylaw
• 1511 – Board of Education Website Accessibility – Policy (M)
• 2415 – Every Student Succeeds Act – Policy (M)
• 2432 – School Sponsored Publications – Policy & Regulation (M) (ABOLISHED)
• 3216 – Dress and Grooming – Policy
• 3270 – Professional Responsibilities – Policy
• 3270 – Lesson Plans and Plan Books – Regulation
• 4216 – Dress and Grooming (NEW)
• 5513 – Care of School Property – Policy & Regulation (M)
• 5517 – School District Issued Student Identification Cards – Policy (M)
• 5722 – Student Journalism – Policy (M) (NEW)

They also send us exactly what should be changed. See here and here.

NJQSAC  monitors school districts and Boards of Education. The main job a Board of Education has is to approve and keep their policies updated. We know that hasn’t been done here in years. There is actually a policy that hasn’t been updated since I was in high school and that was some time ago. Under QSAC, Boards are monitored under the heading “Governance”. Therefore, if this Board of Education doesn’t get the policies up to date, they will be held accountable. That is the reason for the influx of policies.

The Board of Education has the policies at least a week before the meeting for the First reading. The second reading policies they have had for well over a month. The policy committee gets the policies ahead of the remaining Board members and we meet to discuss the updates. 

The Board doesn’t have any leeway to change wording in a Mandatory policy. If you see an M at the top, that means it is dictated by code (law). If it is a recommended policy, Board members can change wording. 

Due to the fact that the policies are many years out of compliance, I seriously doubt there will be any “forgiveness”. We are almost up to date and moving forward, it will be just routine updates. 

I hope that helps.

Sincerely,

Melissa Varley”

ATTACHMENTS IN RESPONSE (also available in links above):
NJ Policy Alert from Straus Esmay
Policy Packet Reccs

Related Articles:
FOLLOW UP TO DISTRICT POLICY CHANGES – BOE MEETING 09/22/2022 

HOT TOPICS AND NOTEWORTHY BOARD AGENDA ITEMS FOR 9/22/22