McKenzie School Board Hears Policy Amendments

The McKenzie Special School District (MSSD) Board of Education heard 11 policy updates during its May 5 meeting at the MSSD Board Room. If approved, the amendments will affect policies relating to alcohol and drugs in the workplace, revenues, personnel records, separation practices for teachers and non-certified employees, personnel health examinations/communicable diseases, political activities, tutoring for pay and the Director of Schools.

The amendments follow policies provided by the Tennessee School Board Association.

The board heard the following proposed policy amendments:

Policy 1.804 – Drug Free Workplace: Proposed revisions rename the policy to “Alcohol & Drugs in the Workplace” and define “workplace,” “illegal drugs,” “unauthorized drugs” and “alcohol.” The updated policy also gives the Director of Schools the authority to require a breath or urine sample of an employee suspected of violating the policy. Violators may be subject to suspension, dismissal or referral for prosecution.

Policy 2.400 – Revenues: Proposed revisions allow approved district staff to collect funds through electronic payment methods, but the Director of Schools or designee must determine when this type of transaction may be used. At the individual school level, the principal will oversee the collection of funds. Another revision establishes rounding procedures for cash transactions due to the discontinuance of the penny. Cash transactions will be rounded to the nearest $0.05.

Policy 5.114 – Personnel Records: A single-line update mandates that the public may not obtain the results of individual teacher evaluations. This revision follows Tennessee law.

Policy 5.200 – Separation Practices for Tenured Teachers, Policy 5.201 – Separation Practices for Non-Tenured Teachers,

Policy 5.202 – Separation Practices for Non-Certified Employees: Dr. Barden added optional language to three policies, establishing a procedure in the event that a teacher or employee receives allegations requiring temporary removal from duty. If an employee’s conduct goes under investigation, the Director of Schools may reassign the employee to alternate duties, place the employee on administrative leave with pay or temporarily remove the employee from the school setting. Such actions will not be considered disciplinary in nature but rather a precautionary measure until the investigation concludes.

Policy 5.200 – Separation Practices for Tenured Teachers: Proposed amendments remove clauses that allow temporary employment for retirees. One removed clause allowed employees retired under the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS) to substitute teach for up to 120 days per year without losing retirement benefits. Another removed clause allowed retired teachers to work full-time as K-12 teachers on a year-to-year basis if there were no other qualified individuals to fill the positions.

Policy 5.400 – Personnel Health Examinations/Communicable Diseases: If an employee is suspected of having a communicable disease that could endanger the health of children, a proposed amendment allows the Director of Schools to reassign the employee to alternate duties, place the employee on administrative leave with pay or temporarily remove the employee from the school setting. Current policy allows the Director of Schools to suspend any employee suspected of having a communicable disease.

Policy 5.403 – Drug & Alcohol Testing for Employees: Proposed amendments adjust the process school supervisors and the Director of Schools go through should they need to investigate reasonable suspicion for drug testing. Reasonable suspicion procedures may be invoked in chronic or acute cases. An employee who tests positive on a reasonable suspicion test will be subject to termination.

Policy 5.606 – Political Activities: Originally named “Staff-Community Relations,” this policy clarifies that, while employees can campaign for or against any candidate or referendum on their own time, they cannot use the schools, classroom or system position for a political forum or engage in any political promotion or solicitation during school hours. Amendments clarify the extent of district-owned property, forbid district-owned property from being used as a location for filming or recording content intended for political promotion or solicitation, and forbid employees from using audio or video messages to engage in any political promotion or solicitation during school hours.

Director of Schools Dr. Justin Barden noted that this policy had been brought to his attention recently, as a sheriff candidate placed one of his candidate signs in front of McKenzie High School. While his sign placement was not on district-owned property, Dr. Barden thought it was important to reiterate that school property cannot be used for the endorsement of political activities.

Policy 5.608 – Tutoring for Pay: Amendments clarify that any teacher who enters into a private tutoring agreement with a parent or guardian does so as an independent actor and not as an agent of the school district and that no private teaching or tutoring should happen during regular school day hours.

Policy 5.800 – Director of Schools: Proposed amendments read that the Director of Schools is the only employee directly employed by the Board of Education and that all other district employees are employed, supervised and managed under the authority of the Director of Schools. The Director of Schools has the responsibility to oversee and manage all personnel matters within the district.

The proposed policies will go to a vote in a later meeting.

The MSSD Board of Education’s next meeting is a Budget Workshop on Tuesday, June 30.