The issue that resulted in a larger-than-usual crowd for Blair Oaks School Board meeting Tuesday night remains unsettled.
The meeting agenda stated the board would discuss Policy 2115, a policy about transgender students that has been debated for months in the community. However, the board ended up taking no action on the policy, electing again to delay to allow all board members to be involved in the discussion.
At the start of the meeting, Vice President Nicki Russell, who was presiding in the absence of President Jason Paulsmeyer, read a statement explaining the board limits public comment to those signed up to speak on the agenda.
At the conclusion of that statement, resident Chris Forck stood and asked the board what was in its ethics policy. The board continued with the meeting without acknowledging him.
The discussion on Policy 2115 was initially delayed to August because several board members expected to be absent in July. Only Paulsmeyer was absent Tuesday.
When the time came to review the policy, Russell said the board had heard about related legal cases from the district's lawyer during closed session and had decided to delay discussion of the policy so all members could be present. Russell did not specify when the board might review the policy.
Board member Logan Gratz also read a statement that said Blair Oaks was not alone in its policy. Several area districts have similar or identical policies, which come from template language which allows the insurer to limit the district's potential liability in a lawsuit over the policies. Gratz said the policy was intended to protect district tax dollars and comply with the law.
Throughout his statement, members of the public interjected, including questions like, "What about the kids?"
The board then moved on with the meeting.
During the reports section of the meeting, building leaders recapped staff training and new and returning student registrations that happened this week. Blair Oaks Middle School Principal Melinda Aholt reported the middle school would be having a no-phones policy this year. Students can have them but cannot use them during the day. She said it is intended to limit distraction and she hasn't heard negative feedback so far.
Director of Building and Grounds Randy Prenger said the preschool playground's concrete and mulch is done, but the fence still needs to be added. The classrooms are being finished up. He is still seeking applicants for custodial positions.
The board also renewed its tax rate with no change and adopted the fiscal year 2023 budget.
The board updated its student drug testing policy to reflect what the district has been doing recently. The last time the policy that appears on the website was updated was in 1999, which does not reflect the current practices for drug testing. The policy allows the district to randomly drug test 10 percent of the students who participate in activities once a month.