Jana Wiersema | The Republic A group of protestors line the sidewalk with signs protesting alleged library book content.
Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. board voted Monday to approve updated policies on school safety and suspension and expulsion.
Prior to its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m., the board held a 5 p.m. public work session to discuss the policy updates. During that time, the board discussed changes to the two approved policies, while also agreeing to wait on approving pending updates to policies on wellness and reporting student progress.
For the suspension and expulsion policy, board members agreed that the school board will continue to hear all expulsion appeals. A previous draft of the update had stated that these would instead be filed with the Bartholomew County Circuit or Superior Court.
Families have the option to bring their challenge to court if they are unsatisfied with the board’s decision, said Superintendent Jim Roberts.
The approved version of the policy also strikes a section that states, “The board authorizes the superintendent to develop administrative guidelines to provide for a program whereby a student performs community service in lieu of a suspension or an expulsion (and/or) the referral of a student to the juvenile court.”
It also amends another section to state that school principals — rather than the superintendent, as is currently the case — will report all expulsions and second suspensions to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
For the safety policy, the updates mainly center on school resource officers (SRO).
“The new definition of SRO requires the SRO to be a law enforcement officer with required training timelines established by state statute,” BCSC officials wrote in a memo about the change, which is intended to comply with HEA 1093.
The previous version of the policy states that prior to being appointed as an SRO, an individual must have:
A. successfully completed the minimum training requirements established for law enforcement officers under I.C. 5-2-1-9; and
B. received at least forty (40) hours of school resource officer training through:
1. the Indiana law enforcement training board established by I.C. 5-2-1-3;
2. the National Association of School Resource Officers; or
3. another school resource officer training program approved by the Indiana law enforcement training board.
The updated version includes the same requirements but states that the 40 hours of SRO training must be completed within 180 days “from the date the individual is initially assigned the duties of a school resource officer.”
However, if the average daily membership of the corporation is less than 1,000 students, that deadline would be extended to 365 days.
Board members also decided to update the policy to state that the school corporation’s Safe School Committee will seek input on its plan from additional stakeholders.
The previous version only states the committee will seek input from the Indiana Department of Education and the BCSC school safety specialist. The update adds that they will also seek input from SROs, local law enforcement, local fire marshals or their designees, local emergency medical services, a member of the board, building administrators and the local emergency management service agency.
The school board also briefly discussed its policies on books at the end of its public work session.
Roberts said that NEOLA, an education consulting firm that helps BCSC update policies based on changes legislation and case law, has provided recommendations for revising policies on library materials and complaint processes based on Indiana’s new law, which largely takes effect on Jan. 1.
The Indiana General Assembly passed a law in the spring that requires public and charter school libraries to publicly post a list of books in their catalogs and establish a formal complaint process for parents, guardians and community members who object to materials in these libraries. BCSC already had a complaint process in place prior the law being passed.
Additionally, under the new legislation, schools and librarians are no longer able to argue as a legal defense against criminal prosecution that materials deemed to be “obscene” or “harmful to minors” in their libraries have “educational” value. The proposal, however, still allows them to argue that the materials have literary, artistic, political or scientific value.
The board briefly discussed its existing policies and guidelines during the public work session, as well as NEOLA’s suggested revisions to comply with the new law.
Board member Dale Nowlin added that he has recently spoken with school librarians about their process and guidelines for material selection and recommended that the rest of the board should also hear from them.
“I’ve heard it, but I think it would be worth us hearing as a board,” he said. “…We’re talking about policy that impacts them most directly.”
Roberts said that if the board does invite librarians to present, they should make sure to provide a safe environment for them to share.
“They have been attacked, in my opinion,” he said.
Several individuals discussed books during the time for public comment at the regular board meeting. Most pushed back against comments at previous meetings where individuals called on BCSC to remove inappropriate materials from school libraries.
On the other hand, there were also community members who stood outside the administration in protest Monday evening, with signs that said things like “Schools should protect kids not porn” and “BCSC has porn in their libraries.”
Board president Nicole Wheeldon said that, moving forward, the board plans to hold another public work session at 5 p.m. on Sept. 25 and will likely start by beginning with policies around books.
Another subject that came up during Monday’s session was payment methods at school-sponsored events, with board member Jason Major suggesting that the school corporation should implement a policy where schools are required to accept both cash and card.
