Policy Committee Minutes 10.18.2021

COLCHESTER BOARD OF EDUCATION
                               Colchester, CT



                           POLICY COMMITTEE - MINUTES

                            Monday, October 18, 2021 at 5:30 PM
                           Virtual Meeting via BoardDocs and Zoom

MEMBERS PRESENT: Christopher McGlynn, Amy Domeika, Suesen Hickey
ADMINISTRATION PRESENT: Superintendent Jeffrey Burt
OTHERS PRESENT: Chair Mary Tomasi

   1. CALL TO ORDER
      Chair C. McGlynn called the meeting to order at 5:32PM.

   2. ADDITIONS TO AGENDA
      None.

   3. PUBLIC COMMENT
      None.

   4. *APPROVAL OF MINUTES
      4.1 *Approval of September 20, 2021 Policy Committee minutes
          Motion by: A. Domeika
          To approve the minutes of the September 20, 2021 Policy Committee meeting
          Second by: S. Hickey
          Vote: Unanimous
          Roll Call: A. Domeika, S. Hickey, C. McGlynn

   5. *PRIORITY DISCUSSION/POSSIBLE ACTION ITEMS: POLICIES/REGULATIONS
       FOR A FIRST READING
      5.1 Mass Mailings and Communications to the Board
          Superintendent discussed BOE communications and procedures around sharing
          communications received. Chair Tomasi pointed to the policy 9325 Meeting Conduct that
          expressly states communicators in meetings must identify themselves. Anonymous
          communications do not allow for BOE response. Committee Chair McGlynn suggested
          creation of policy language stating that individual or organization identification and
          contact information should be included in BOE communications. Policy 1120 Board of
          Education Meetings will be revised to clarify communications to the BOE.

     5.2 Legislative Summary and Timeline for Policy Action
     Superintendent Burt shared a legislative summary and a timeline for policy action based
     on recent statutory requirements.

  5.3 5141.3P Health Assessments, Screenings, and Immunizations
      This policy is currently under review by District medical advisor, but Superintendent Burt
      shared the update to language about vaccine exemptions from legal counsel Shipman and
      Goodwin. Chair McGlynn asked about younger siblings being included in an older
      sibling’s exemption if the younger sibling wasn’t enrolled in school prior to the effective
      exemption date.

  5.4 0050P Code of Ethics / 9271B Code of Ethics Bylaw
      This policy and Bylaw both relate to the BOE code of ethics, but contain many
      redundancies. Superintendent suggested the Bylaw be more in line with a BOE member
      “code of conduct” to distinguish the Bylaw from the policy. Discussion ensued on
      whether to retain two separate policies, or incorporate both BOE code of ethics and BOE
      code of conduct into one policy or Bylaw. The Committee agreed to remove language “I
      will…” from each point in the policy and replace with “The Board will…”

  5.5 9325B Meeting Conduct
      Shipman and Goodwin have provided language addressing BOE participation protocol
      for virtual meetings and hybrid meetings, which will be required after the April 30, 2022
      virtual meeting requirement ends. Discussion ensued about technology required to be
      able to hold hybrid meetings. This policy will be addressed after April 30, 2022 to
      remove obsolete language.

  5.6 6172.2P Parent-Teacher Communication
      This new, proposed policy includes language about offering virtual parent-teacher
      conferences in addition to in-person conferences.

  5.7 3542.43P and 3542.43R Food Service Charging Policy
      Superintendent Burt shared updates to the food service charging policy including
      delinquent payments and treatment of “bad debt.”

     Motion by: A. Domeika
     To forward policies 5.5 9325B Meeting Conduct, 5.6 6172.2P Parent-Teacher
     Communication, and 5.7 3542.43P and 3542.43R Food Service Charging Policy to the
     full BOE for a first reading.
     Second by: S. Hickey
     Vote: Unanimous
     Roll Call: A. Domeika, S. Hickey, C. McGlynn

6. OTHER POLICIES REQUIRING IMMEDIATE ATTENTION
   None.
7. *CONTINUED DISCUSSION/ACTION ITEMS
   7.1 *Temporary Policies Review
      All temporary policies will be reviewed monthly and updated as needed to align with
      any new legislation.
8. *NON-SUBSTANTIVE POLICIES
   None.

9. *POLICIES/REGULATIONS RECOMMENDED FOR REMOVAL
   None.

10. PUBLIC COMMENT ON NEW ISSUES RAISED OR SUBJECTS DEVELOPED
   None.

11. ESTABLISH November 15, 2021 AGENDA PRIORITIES
   11.1 Recent statutory requirements are under review and are priority items. Priorities also
        include updates of Series 6000 policies.

12. ADJOURN
    The meeting was adjourned at 6:34 PM.