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Legislative session over? Time for policy updates

Kentucky School Advocate
May 2018

Amanda Hale
KSBA Policy Consultant

Spring is an exciting time in Kentucky. Flowers are blooming, foals are taking their first steps, and the school year is beginning to wind down. Spring is also the busiest time of year for KSBA’s policy department as we ramp up our efforts to assemble this year’s policy and procedure update.

That process intensifies during Kentucky’s legislative session, when those of us on the KSBA policy staff are monitoring every bill that is introduced each day to determine whether it impacts our district subscribers’ policy and procedure manuals. That legislative monitoring work is not done in isolation at KSBA, but in concert with our governmental relations and legal services units. Throughout the year, policy staff also review all changes to federal and state regulations for policy and procedure implications. These federal and state laws and regulations are the foundation upon which we build each district’s policy and procedure manual, while taking into account best practices and local needs.

While we work on the annual update, we still receive requests from individual districts for policy and procedure changes. For that process to be as efficient as possible, there are a couple of things districts can do to assist us. First, we strongly recommend that districts contact their policy consultant before making any changes to policies or procedures. That way, the consultant can send sample language that may meet district needs and then work with district leaders to build a draft based on their preferences. Second, once those drafts are approved by the board (generally two readings for policy and one review for procedures), districts should promptly send their consultant the date of approval and board order numbers, so that we can process those changes, update their online manual, and send the hard copies for the manual of record. If desired by the district, we can also hold drafts and send them to be approved as part of the annual update.

Once the annual update is ready, we will send each district’s copies to them via email. Superintendents and district policy contacts should be on the lookout for that sometime in late May. Then, districts will take their update to the board for approval. We suggest placing the update on the agenda for the next two board meetings, so that it can be approved as soon as possible and by August 15 as required by statute. Once the update has been approved, districts will need to send the completed update checklists, along with any changes or additions, to their policy consultant. We will then update their online manual and send the hard copies of the updated policies and procedures.

During this time, if a district subscribes to our handbook service, we also integrate any policies and procedures changes made over the last year into employee, substitute, or coaches handbooks. Once we’ve made those changes, we will send drafts of those handbooks and collaborate with the district’s handbook contact to make any updates that occurred at the district level, such as staff contact listings. The sooner districts can review handbook changes and reply to us with any feedback or additional changes, the sooner we can send them the final copy of their handbook for distribution to staff.

As we go through the update process, district administrators and school board members should not hesitate to contact their policy consultant with any questions. We know this time of year can bring its own set of uncertainties for districts, but with your help and prompt responses to our update and handbook emails, we will work to make the process as smooth as possible.