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, February 12, 2025
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, via zoom), Anne Beekman (AB)
WSESD/U Staff and Administrators present: Superintendent Mark Speno (MS), Mo Hart (MH), Shannon Kelly (SK), Brin Tucker (BT), Bethany Bechard (BB), Michael Kelliher (MK), Rebecca Olmstead (via, zoom), Michaela Simms (MSimms, via zoom)
Guests: Liz Adams (via zoom), Robin Morgan (via zoom), Elizabeth Arnold (via zoom)
Call to Order
DS convened the meeting at 2:10 p.m. and read the hybrid statement.
I. Approval of Minutes and confirmation of next meeting date
The minutes of 1/8/25 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:
February 26
March 12
March 26
II. Policies
F16 Head Lice
Invited Attendee: Rebecca Olmstead, Nurse Leader
The committee reviewed the draft of F16 and made a few small edits for grammar, punctuation, and clarity.
F16 will go for a first reading on 2/25/25.
F8 Student Medication
Invited Attendee: Rebecca Olmstead, Nurse Leader
The committee discussed F8. A number of questions arose regarding the section on natural treatments. Should natural treatments have a separate section in the policy, or can prescription, over-the-counter, and natural treatments be lumped together as medications? Should “natural treatments” be specifically defined?
RO noted that it is standard practice to separate procedures for prescription and other treatments so that details don’t get missed. She clarified procedural questions from the committee and noted that there are procedures in place that spell out what to do for treatments that are not FDA approved, including requiring original packaging with instructions.
As no real clarity was found regarding the natural treatments section, the committee agreed that it would be good to have Elizabeth Richards, the consulting physician, weigh in on the policy. RO will send edits prior to the next meeting. F8 may need to go to Pietro, but that will wait.
Small edits were made to the wording of the parental authorization form.
On hold until 2/26, awaiting feedback from Liz Richards and edits from RO.
D1 Personnel Recruitment, Selection, Appointment and Background Checks
The committee made updates to Appendix A of D1, adding the position of Director of School Nutrition to the final line of the table.
D1 will go for a first reading on 2/25/25.
Proposed Policy in Support of Immigrant students
The committee discussed the question of whether a policy in support of immigrant students should be developed, a topic that was also under discussion at the board meeting on 2/11/25. MS cautioned that Pietro has advised to stay away from a new policy, and instead to focus on law and procedure. A vision statement would be fine and would be a way to send a message to the community.
A letter of solidarity from the Superintendent’s office will go out this week and will be posted on the website. The committee agreed that a separate statement from the board would be appropriate, in line with the board’s commitment to justice, and highlighting the school system’s support of our students.
SK and MSimms volunteered to work on a draft of the statement before the 2/26/25 committee meeting. The statement will need to be reviewed by Pietro and then brought to the full board.
SK and MSimms will bring a draft of the statement on 2/26/25.
Gender Freedom in Schools
Update: The response from Pietro’s review of the proposed policy will be forwarded to DS.
Gender Freedom is on hold.
F28 Student Athletics, Clubs, and Activities
The committee agreed to move F28 forward.
MH noted that F33 may need to be rescinded after adopting the new F28.
F28 will go for a first reading on 2/25/26
F37 District Equity Policy
TM had intended to revise F37 with appropriate references to EQS, but alas, he forgot.
F37 is hold until 2/26/25, awaiting revisions.
H6 Annual School Reports
The committee made a couple of small edits and discussed how/when to move forward with H6.
BT noted that it would be good to cross reference H6 with the new EQS that goes into effect July 1, 2025. The language in EQS is a little more specific with regards to reporting requirements. Sections 2124.1 (Minimum Reporting Requirements) and 2124.2 (Requirements for Disaggregating Student-level Data) of EQS could be useful for clarifying and expanding H6.
Before moving ahead with H6, TM would like to see this year’s annual report, which, MH noted, is now available on the website. Any changes to the policy won’t affect anything until next year’s report, so there is no urgency to readopt H6.
The committee agreed to wait until after the annual meeting on 3/18 to move forward.
Meanwhile, BT will take a stab at comparing the language in the current policy with the new EQS.
H6 is on hold until March 26.
Meeting adjourned at 3:57 pm.
Notes taken by Anna Monders (recorder)
Submitted by Anne Beekman (vice chair)
