Policy will dovetail with state law
By Jennifer Eisenbart
Staff writer
All Burlington Area School District employees will soon be required to report any suspected physical or sexual abuse of students.
That requirement – which is now mandated by state law – is among several policy changes recommended by the school district’s Policy Committee Monday.
The group voted unanimously to accept changes to three different policies, though all three were essentially language changes either mandated by law or to simplify matters within the district.
By approving all three items, the three changes will go before the full board for approval next month.
The biggest item on the agenda was a change to the policy regarding the reporting of suspected abuse, neglect or sexual assault of children. State law has changed regarding training for mandatory reporting, meaning all district employees must now receive Department of Public Instruction-mandated training.
“It’s really no cost, because the DPI provided the training modules,” said BASD Superintendent David Moyer regarding the change. “It’s kind of an online thing.”
Assistant Superintendent Peter Smet said the major change was simply that all employees are considered mandatory reporters now.
“If you suspect abuse or neglect, you are mandated to report it,” Smet said. “The law has recently changed that all employees are required to report it.”
The second item up for consideration was simply to put in place a policy requiring the district to check for anyone either suspended or disbarred when grant funds are used to fund a project.
Smet said the district has never run into anyone on the federal list before, but the policy would formalize what is already being done.
The final change was to a policy regulating animals in schools. It is essentially a housekeeping measure to make the policy uniform across all applicable grades.
The policy deals not only with service animals, but miniature horses, pets brought in for show-and-tell and classroom animals such as reptiles or amphibians in grades 7-12.
Among the animals on the unacceptable list are wild or undomesticated animals, birds, wolf hybrids, stray animals and any dead or skeletal remains unless part of a structured class.
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