Board reviews proposed policy changes: cell‑phone rules, Narcan administration and investment‑policy updates

The Topeka Public Schools board reviewed four policy and regulation updates recommended by the policy committee and scheduled votes for a future meeting.

The first recommendation updates Policy 26‑50 (investment of district funds), modernizing language and procedures to reflect statutory changes since the 1980s and to permit the district to evaluate bids by maturity, security and liquidity.

The committee also proposed a new regulation to implement House Bill 2489, which authorizes school districts to obtain, store and administer opioid antagonists (for example, naloxone) and provides a good‑faith immunity for individuals who assist during an overdose emergency.

The most detailed discussion concerned edits to the district’s cell‑phone and electronic‑device regulation to comply with House Bill 2299. The changes would require personal electronic devices to be kept in an inaccessible location during the school day (the committee suggested assigning lockers as the storage location at high schools), narrow permitted exceptions (intervention of last resort; required for implementation of an IEP or Section 504 plan with documented approval; no reasonable alternative), and amend the discipline steps (confiscation and return at end of day, parent pick‑up on a second violation, and parent meeting on a third). The proposed regulation also restricts staff–student communications to approved platforms; staff cited ParentSquare, Google Classroom, SchoolMessenger and Seesaw as the district’s recommended tools and said staff training will accompany rollout.

Board members asked practical questions about locker usage, parent communications and platform adoption; staff said ParentSquare includes family‑messaging features that can route messages to students’ Chromebooks and that Title funds were used to subsidize some academic camps. The policy committee will bring the changes back for a vote at the next board meeting.

Next steps: the board will consider the recommended policy changes at its next scheduled meeting; staff will provide implementation details and training plans for approved communication platforms prior to adoption.