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, September 25, 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), Tim Maciel (TM), Anne Beekman (AB)
WSESD/U Staff and Administrators present: Superintendent Mark Speno (MS), Mo Hart (MH), Shannon Kelly (SK), Mike Kelliher (MK), Tate Erickson (TE), Seth O’Connor (SO), Jen Course (JC), Deb Coombs (DC)
Guests: Liz Adams (via zoom)
Call to Order
DS convened the meeting at 2:05 p.m. and read the hybrid statement.
I. Approval of Minutes and confirmation of next meeting date
The minutes of 9/11/24 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 meeting is scheduled for: October 9
No meeting October 23
II. Policies
F21 Policy on Restraint and Seclusion
Invited Attendees: Tate Erickson, Liz Adams, Seth O’Connor.
Matt Schibley (MSc) unable to attend.
The committee reviewed the edits proposed by MSc, alongside the current version of F21.
The committee decided to incorporate the following changes:
● Add to section 3: “The use of prone or supine restraint is strictly prohibited.”
o The definitions for prone and supine restraint were already in the policy, but there was no statement that their use was prohibited. The district does not use prone or supine restraint, and this edit will highlight that fact, stating it clearly in the policy.
● In the introductory paragraph, add “to prevent imminent and substantial physical harm” to the end of the first sentence, so that it reads: “…only using restraint and/or seclusion as a last resort to prevent imminent and substantial physical harm.”
o “Last resort” may be interpreted differently by different people, and this addition clarifies the statement.
Other suggested edits were reviewed, weighed, and not incorporated into the new draft of the policy:
● The committee decided not to include restraint/seclusion training for all staff in the policy. Section 4 Implementation will retain the wording “The superintendent shall ensure that appropriate staff are provided training…” rather than change to “…all staff….”
o SO explained that results are better with a core group of people who are trained — the ones who do it regularly.
● Section 3.4 will remain as is: “Procedures to ensure that only school personnel or contract service providers who are trained in the use of restraint and seclusion are authorized to impose restraint or seclusion unless, due to the unforeseeable nature of the danger of a particular circumstance, trained personnel are not immediately available.”
o Original wording retained here since not all staff will be trained in restraint/seclusion.
● The committee discussed MSc’s recommendation to include trauma-informed training for all staff, but decided against including it in the policy.
o In practice, the district is trying to provide trauma-informed training for all staff. It is something that is offered frequently—many opportunities for training and discussion. It’s something we’re doing without it being in the policy.
o Putting it in the policy is problematic, with the number/timing of new staff coming in. If there is a grievance, a staff member could point to the policy and say, “You haven’t trained me.”
● The recommendations to strengthen parental involvement and formalize post-incident debriefing were briefly discussed and considered to be things that were already being done and did not need to be formalized within the written policy.
● The recommendation about annual reporting to the Board, raised concerns and support.
o There was concerned that putting this in the policy would mean schools would be required to submit every Rule 4500 form to the Board. That could breech confidentiality, due to small size of schools.
o DS suggested that the Board may want an annual report on school incidents. TM suggested monthly.
o The discussion led to broader questions about what the monthly report should consists of. TM would like the full Board to discuss this and will remind DS about getting it on the agenda.
One final change:
● Change “parent” to “parent/guardian” throughout the policy.
o The committee has been broadening the word “parents” to “caregivers” in most policies, but this policy should refer to the person who has legal responsibility for the student.
F21 is ON HOLD until the next meeting to review with edits. SO, TE, and MSc are invited to the 10/9 meeting.
F29 English Learners / Multilingual Learners
Invited Attendees: Deb Coombs, Jen Course
The committee reviewed and discussed the three potential versions of this policy:
Red text box: VSBA version with the addition of #5 (ASL) from the committee.
Green text box: Simplified version written by the committee.
Black text box: Simplified version from federal guidelines.
The committee revisited the discussion of #5 in the red text box—this line would add hearing students whose first language is ASL to ML services.
● Historically, these students have at times been covered by ML services in Vermont, but in
recent years, they have fallen under a different umbrella, generally receiving services
from a speech pathologist.
● According to federal guidelines, the use of ASL would not be a basis for a student to be in the ML program.
● From this discussion, the committee decided to leave out #5.
The committee discussed the 3-21 age bracket for ML services, from federal guidelines.
● JC noted that in Vermont, there is no age limit preventing a student who does not have a diploma from enrolling in high school. If these students are acquiring English, ML provides services even if they are 22 or 23. (There is no official age out, but the oldest at BUHS has been 23.)
● The policy will keep the 3-21 age bracket of the federal guidelines, but a sentence will be added that states that individuals older than 21 years of age who are availing themselves of the right to obtain a diploma and enrolled at BUHS/WRCC may also qualify for ML services.
By the end of their discussion, the committee decided to strike the red and green text box versions and to keep the black text box wording, with the addition of the age sentence, above.
The current Lau Plan has been attached to the policy.
F28 is ON HOLD to review with edits on October 9.
III. Establish policy priorities moving forward
The remainder of the meeting was spent reviewing the status of policies on hold and discussing policy priorities for upcoming meetings.
Gender Freedom in Schools
● SK and AH will be meeting with community stakeholders on Friday.
● This one may be getting close – a couple more sessions, and then to legal. It will need heavily vetted by lawyers.
F37 Equity
● SK and MS are still collecting feedback.
F28 Students athletics, clubs, and activities
● MS has sent this out a few times for feedback but has not heard back.
● MS will run it by legal, specifically regarding clubs related to protected class.
G4 Library materials
● SK will share it with the librarians at the librarian meeting on Friday and gather feedback.
H6 Annual school reports
● TM recommended adding this one to the priority list, as it is time sensitive.
● H6 hasn’t been reviewed since the 2019 mass adoption.
These and other policies may need to be reviewed to verify that they are crisp and clean, to reduce potential for misunderstandings: G6, C8, C7. The eventual goal is to review all of the policies from the 2019 mass adoption.
SK suggested prioritizing polices that have the greatest impact on students, especially ones that relate to the CIP goal of fostering a sense of belonging: gender freedom, equity, student clubs.
Campaign materials in the classroom
● TM will look into whether other districts have a policy on this issue.
Note: MS will not be able to attend 10/9 Policy & Amendment meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 3:58 pm.
Notes taken by Anna Monders (recorder)
Submitted by Anne Beekman (vice chair)
