BGB
LEVERETT SCHOOL COMMITTEE
POLICY ADOPTION
The adoption of new policies or the amendment of existing policies is solely the responsibility of the School Committee. Policies will be adopted and/or amended only by the affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the Committee, and only when such action has been scheduled on agendas of regular or special meetings.
To permit time for study of all policies or amendments to policies and to provide an opportunity for interested parties to react, proposed policies or amendments will be presented to the Committee for two readings as an agenda item followed by a final vote:
First reading
· Information item – distribution with agenda
Second reading
· Proponent(s) of the proposed policy will explain its purpose. The Superintendent may be called upon to offer a preliminary response to the proposed policy. Members of the Committee shall pose questions and make suggestions for any redrafting as necessary.
Final Vote
· The Committee will discuss the proposed policy, ask for and consider the Superintendent's recommendation regarding adoption of the policy, and then either adopt or reject the policy. Amendments to the policy at this action stage will not require repetition of the sequence, unless a majority of the Committee so directs.
The Committee may dispense with the above sequence only: 1. to respond to an "emergency condition," as defined by the Superintendent. 2. if policies are found to contain minor grammatical errors, formatting errors, spelling errors, or are in need of updating specific legal references or cross-references to other policies, not however if such edits would substantially change the policy (for example replacing "and" with "and/or" etc.). 3. if there is agreement between the Chair of the School Committee, the Chair of the Policy Subcommittee, and the Superintendent that the policy requires only a single reading before adoption. In such cases, the second-reading procedure outlined above shall be followed, and policy adoption shall still require an affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the Committee. Policies will be effective upon the date of their adoption unless otherwise noted by the Committee. On the recommendation of the Superintendent, the Committee will consider deferring the effective date of a given policy if, in the opinion of the Superintendent, persons affected by the policy need an opportunity to become familiar with its contents prior to its implementation.
Final Vote by Leverett School Committee: 10/02/17