Darien policy committee advances several updates on truancy, safety, curriculum access and social media

At its March 5 meeting the Darien School District policy committee reviewed and advanced a group of policy updates covering student attendance, child-safety procedures, parental access to instructional materials and staff social media use.

On attendance and truancy, staff recommended the policy be updated to allow students who are parents to request absences for adult-education activities (for example, GED programs) and to incorporate the state requirement that districts implement a truancy-prevention program or use the state Department of Education’s program when available. “That reflects Connecticut law,” a committee member observed; staff confirmed the change responds to state requirements.

The committee discussed mental-health or wellness days included in the attendance policy; staff said the provision is a state requirement but noted coding absences as wellness days can be difficult because districts do not always know the specific reason for an absence.

A child abuse and assault response policy was presented that aligns with personnel mandatory-reporting obligations and adds a role for the school climate specialist to review reports and look for patterns. The policy also includes a uniform complaint procedure and required forms; staff said it largely codifies existing procedures but formally assigns the climate specialist review function.

Staff explained the parental-access-to-instructional-materials policy codifies a state law requiring the district to post scope-and-sequence curriculum information on the district website beginning next school year; the curriculum team is preparing those materials. Changes to the social media policy were described as reflecting recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions, clarifying that official district accounts and district-managed pages are considered speech on behalf of the district and therefore subject to district rules.

The committee moved these items forward to the full board. There were no public comments at the meeting.