Board reviews four policy updates on first reading including athletics opt‑in criteria and new therapy‑dog policy

Mr. Venoy presented four policies on first reading and clarified the board would consider formal adoption in a later meeting. The policies and key changes are:

Policy 123 (Intercollegiate Athletics): Language was updated to shift some mandatory opt‑out/opt‑in wording to administrative recommendations, allowing the administration to consider multiple factors—such as student safety and competitiveness—when deciding whether to opt teams into postseason play.

Policy 624 (Non‑sufficient funds): The policy was corrected to reference the Crawford County District Attorney's Office rather than an out‑of‑jurisdiction office previously misnamed in older language.

Policy 218.2 (Rules for student conduct): The elementary and middle school consequence chart was updated to include bullying offenses at the same level reflected for the high school chart for consistency.

Policy 17.1 (Therapy dogs): The board reviewed a proposed new policy to govern therapy dogs in schools, drafted from peer district models and tailored for local needs. The administration said it will bring the policies forward for final action on the voting agenda per the board's usual process.

No formal votes were taken on the policies at the work session; the items are on the first‑reading list for later action.