Blackstone-Millville committee adopts handbook updates, tightens COVID close-contact language
May 13, 2021 | Blackstone-Millville, School Boards, Massachusetts
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The Blackstone-Millville Regional School District School Committee approved a package of handbook amendments on May 13 that standardize dress-code language, add Chromebook-care policies and incorporate updated COVID guidance.
Principals and assistant principals presented suggested changes for the elementary, middle and high school handbooks. Presenters said the middle school previously had more-specific language and administrators used the high-school template to align policies across all buildings. Changes include consistent dress-code language across schools, a districtwide Chromebook policy (device care and consequences for misuse) and the formal placement of an earlier bullying-prevention addendum into the handbooks.
“...we wanted to make sure that we had some new language in there to help ensure that our Chromebooks have been used correctly,” an elementary administrator said, explaining the Chromebook attachment in the packet.
The committee also approved updated COVID-19 handbook language aligning with Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and DPH guidance. The revisions include a narrower close-contact threshold in some cases (moving from six feet to three feet) and clarifications about monitoring and quarantine rules: contacts between three and six feet may be monitored and tested and only required to quarantine if they develop symptoms or a positive test by day five, while vaccinated individuals remain subject to previously approved quarantine language.
Motion to approve the handbook changes was moved and approved by voice vote. The superintendent said some vaccination-related quarantine language may be updated again pending state guidance.
Why it matters: The handbook governs daily expectations and discipline for students; standardizing dress code and device rules intends to reduce inconsistency for families with children in multiple buildings. The COVID language aims to reduce unnecessary quarantines while aligning with state public-health guidance.
What’s next: The administration will finalize handbook files, post updated handbooks and monitor state guidance for any further COVID-related revisions.
Principals and assistant principals presented suggested changes for the elementary, middle and high school handbooks. Presenters said the middle school previously had more-specific language and administrators used the high-school template to align policies across all buildings. Changes include consistent dress-code language across schools, a districtwide Chromebook policy (device care and consequences for misuse) and the formal placement of an earlier bullying-prevention addendum into the handbooks.
“...we wanted to make sure that we had some new language in there to help ensure that our Chromebooks have been used correctly,” an elementary administrator said, explaining the Chromebook attachment in the packet.
The committee also approved updated COVID-19 handbook language aligning with Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and DPH guidance. The revisions include a narrower close-contact threshold in some cases (moving from six feet to three feet) and clarifications about monitoring and quarantine rules: contacts between three and six feet may be monitored and tested and only required to quarantine if they develop symptoms or a positive test by day five, while vaccinated individuals remain subject to previously approved quarantine language.
Motion to approve the handbook changes was moved and approved by voice vote. The superintendent said some vaccination-related quarantine language may be updated again pending state guidance.
Why it matters: The handbook governs daily expectations and discipline for students; standardizing dress code and device rules intends to reduce inconsistency for families with children in multiple buildings. The COVID language aims to reduce unnecessary quarantines while aligning with state public-health guidance.
What’s next: The administration will finalize handbook files, post updated handbooks and monitor state guidance for any further COVID-related revisions.
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