West Carroll School Board Approves Updated Policies

ATWOOD (July 10) — West Carroll’s school board met Thursday evening with all members of the board present. The meeting opened with the board voting 6-0 to enter into negotiations regarding a new contract for Director of Schools, Preston Caldwell.

The board elected to have Board Chairman William Robinson work with Mr. Caldwell to determine the terms of the contract to be presented at the next board meeting. Board member Betty Wallace will also join the contact discussions due to her experience with contracts and policies.

The board voted to approve a number of new policies that are required by new state legislation. The policies include the approval of charter schools in Carroll County, student wellness, cell phone usage and employment of retirees by the school system.

The phone usage policy states that cell phones can be used for instructional use; however, they are not allowed to be used in the classroom outside of special circumstances.

The new student wellness policy will reflect the new state law requiring elementary students to have at least 40 minutes of physical activity per day, not including time spent in physical education.

There were also minor changes made to the discrimination policies as well as a decision for how the board wished to distribute the discrimination policy to students. The board elected to have the policy printed and sent home with students at the beginning of the year, in addition to the information being available in the student handbook as well as on the school website and app.

Website and App Update

Michelle Robinson shared updates regarding the updated school website and app for West Carroll Special School District.

“This was all driven by a focus group we had with parents and administrators, and we wanted to know their feedback about our website and our app,” Robinson shared. “They wanted to know the school announcements, upcoming events, contact information for staff and faculty, reduce the number of steps to find their information, and dining menus.”

The updated website includes restructured menus and areas where important information can be highlighted.

“We now have this whole section where we can highlight different programs,” Robinson said. 

This section highlights different clubs and opportunities happening at West Carroll High School, as well as a list of events happening at all three schools.

“We are able to highlight some of the good things going on. We have lots of good things happening, and this is an opportunity to show that,” Robinson explained.

The phone app for the school has also been updated with a much simpler format and cleaner look. The app will allow parents to access the same information as the website, as well as documents needed for students for easy access.