Note: These minutes should be considered preliminary until they are approved at the next Policy and Amendment Committee meeting.
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Windham Southeast School District (WSESD) Policy and Amendment Committee
Wednesday, June 26, 2024
Regular meeting 2:00 pm
Hybrid meeting: WSESU Central Office, 53 Green St., Brattleboro, VT and
Remotely via Zoom
DRAFT MINUTES
Policy and Amendment Committee members present: Deborah Stanford (DS, Chair), Anne Beekman (AB)
WSESD/U Staff and Administrators present: Mo Hart (MH), Cassie Damkoehler (CD),
Mike Kelliher (MK), Aidy Holding (AH), Shannon Kelly (SK)
Guests: Liz Adams (LA, via zoom)
Call to Order
DS convened the meeting at 2:00 p.m. and read the hybrid statement .
I. Approval of Minutes and confirmation of next meeting date
The minutes of 6/12/24 meeting approved by assent.
The Policy and Amendment Committee meets on second and fourth Wednesdays, from 2-4 pm at the WSESU Central Office and on Zoom. The next meetings are
scheduled for:
No meetings in July
August 14
August 28
DS noted that the agenda for 8/14 will include:
● F21 (Policy on the Use of Restraint and Seclusion)
● F41 (Policy on Section 504 and ADA Grievance Protocol for Students and Staff)
II. Policies
F1 Student Conduct and Discipline – Review with BUHS Admin Cassie Damkoehler, assistant principal at BUHS, reviewed F1 with the committee. The following changes were made:
● In the Due Process section on page 4:
o The intro and bullet 1: stay the same.
o Bullet 2 becomes: “students’ right to a fair hearing before being suspended for up to ten days.”
o Bullet 3 (“and students’ right to appeal suspensions of ten days or more, expulsions, and referrals to alternative schools.”): deleted.
o Sentence following the bullets becomes: “Upon a suspension of more than ten days, or consideration of an expulsion or referral to an alternative school, a hearing must be scheduled with the Board, student, and caregiver.”
o Add a concluding statement: “At any point in the process of suspension, the student and caregiver may appeal the decision to the Superintendent. Subsequent concerns may be submitted to the School Board for further review.”
● The following policies were added to the cross-references: F23 (HHB) and F38 (Title IX).
● F1 is on hold until 8/14 to revisit with edits in place and review with MS before sending for first reading.
Gender Freedom in Schools
Discussion focused on the final section of the proposed policy: school activities.
● SK reached out to the athletic directors at BAMS and BUHS and shared the proposed paragraph on school activities and athletics. They suggested directly referencing the VPA athletics policy.
● The committee decided that it would be good to reference the VPA policy but to also restate the key points.
● At the beginning of the policy, a fifth bullet point will be added to the District Values on page 1. Proposed sentence: “Our values include all elements of the educational process, with a specific emphasis on athletics and extracurricular activities.”
● SK is waiting to hear back from HS counseling regarding permanent pupil records and how privacy is maintained. SK will reach out to J ill Kelley.
● Gender Freedom is on hold until 8/14.
LSP9 Parental Notification
● On hold — cannot be repealed until F1 is adopted.
F28 Student Activities
● Deleted duplication in lines 5 and 6.
● F28 is school related — committee may want to get feedback from athletic departments and administrators.
● CD suggested referencing the VPA and running F28 by legal, as there have been recent court cases about clubs within protected classes.
● On hold until A ug 14. F28 will be reviewed with MS present before reaching out to athletics or admin.
F29 English Learners
● Committee read through F29 aloud and discussed the expanded definition of English Learner, from VSBA.
● Line 2: of � or
● CD noted that many schools have gotten away from ELL (English language learners) and moved to multilingual learners (ML) for terminology.
o Terminology has not yet changed in the model policy but it has for teacher endorsements.
o Committee agreed to switch to “multilingual learners” wherever the term “English Learners” appears in the policy.
● The red text – the expanded definition of English Learners – from the VSBA lays out that a student doesn’t have to be an immigrant to be a multilingual learner. It broadens concept of who should be considered for services. Some found it to be unnecessarily complicated.
o Question was raised of whether students whose parents communicate only via ASL should be included.
● Multilingual Language Learner teacher (Jennifer Course) will be asked to provide input on F29.
● The use of “and” and “or” in the definition is important and possibly easy to overlook – MH will bold these words for the next review.
● F29 is on hold.
G4 Selection of Library Materials
G5 Selection of Instructional Materials
H4 Distribution of Non -School Sponsored Literature in the Schools
● Committee will reach out to school librarians for input on G4 and to curriculum office for input on G5.
● G6 (Complaints About Instructional Materials) will be reviewed alongside G4 and G5.
● G4, G5, and H4 on hold until 8/14
Meeting adjourned at 3:56 pm. Happy Summer to all.
Agenda for 8/14 meeting will include:
● F21 Policy on the Use of Restraint and Seclusion
● F41 Policy on Section 504 and ADA Grievance Protocol for Students and Staff
● F1 Student Conduct and Discipline
● Gender Freedom in Schools
● F28 Student Activities
● F29 English Learners
● G4 Selection of Library Materials
● G5 Selection of Instructional Materials
● G6 Complaints About Instructional Materials
● H4 Distribution of Non -School Sponsored Literature in the Schools
