Newton Municipal School District trustees are launching a new initiative to update their existing policies and identify new policy needs by reviewing several policies at each of their monthly meetings.
In a Board of Trustees meeting Thursday Superintendent Glenda Nickson told the board she had six policies ready for review and planned to bring more to future meetings.
“Each board meeting, I will try to have four or five policies for you for revision,” she said.
The first of the six policies, Nickson said, outlines the duties of the board president. The last time it was updated was 2013, she said.
The second policy, again last updated in 2013, concerned the compensation and expenses of Board of Trustee members. Nickson said the policy needed to be updated by removing some language already stated in the board president duties policy.
Two other policies, one concerning the duties of the board attorney and one outlining the district’s data breach prevention strategy, needed to be updated to meet the current guidelines from Mississippi School Board Association.
The final two policies, Nickson said, were new to the district. The first dealt with vaping and e-cigarette use on district grounds. She recommended the board adopt the MSBA vaping policy, which bans vaping and e-cigarette use on school grounds.
“I recommend us adopting their version, which includes personnel, students, staff, visitors, whomever steps on our campus,” she said.
The last of the six policies outlined acceptable use of internet and school technology, Nickson said. Another new policy, she said MSBA wanted districts to have a policy stating what students, staff and personnel could and could not use school equipment and computers to see.
The board unanimously approved all six recommendations and agreed reviewing several policies each month would help bring the district’s policy book up to date with current guidelines.
In other business the Board of Trustees:
●Received an updated from Mark Krider, who manages the district’s 16th section land, concerning the location, make up and activities on the land;
●Set a school board walk-through tour of the district’s three schools for 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 22. The board will begin at Pilot Middle School;
●Approved sending janitorial and maintenance staff to handy-man training courses in Meridian; and
●Discussed the district’s Pink Walk in support of Breast Cancer Awareness.
