Superintendent introduces policy book

By Dan King

Interim school superintendent Bill Scott has given the Whitehall Board of Education an eight-part policy book that he feels will help the district run much smoother, but it will take some time to implement any new or revised school policies.

The school board will review the proposed policies, a process that Scott estimated could take eight months.

“This is a first draft copy of policies that are essential in effectively running school districts,” Scott told the board. “These policies are for eight different responsibilities of the school board.”

The responsibilities pertain to such things as being responsible stewards of tax dollars and hiring the proper faculty and staff, among many other things.

He said that he hopes to put together a committee of three board members to review the policies, section by section, and the committee would then make a recommendation to the board about implementing the policies.

That, he said, will take some extra time on the part of the board members who choose to be a part of that committee.

“Ideally we’ll get through the eight sections in eight months,” he said.

Scott said many other districts have used the same policy book for their school board members and it has worked very well for those districts.

“It provides tremendous guidance,” Scott said of the policy book. “This is an exceptional service and virtually every district that uses it functions better.”

Moving forward, Scott said next year the district should look into a new policy for its administrators as well. But he said working on that policy needs to wait until the school board’s policies are implemented.

Earlier this summer, Scott had the board implement a new student discipline matrix, which allows teachers to better handle behavioral issues with students, by setting clear standards.

Those were Scott’s biggest concerns, he said, when he first took over at Whitehall.