New handbook takes effect next year

march 22, 2005

JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - The Mat-Su Borough School District's policy regarding student attendance, dress code and discipline are just a few areas that will change, beginning next school year.

On Wednesday, after taking public testimony and listening to concerned students and parents over the last few months, the school board approved an updated version of the Student Rights & Responsibility Handbook.

Attendance and dress codes policies were both subjects discussed at the latest Student Advisory Board meeting, which took place two weeks before the school board's decision. At the student meeting, roughly 30 kids from schools across the Valley discussed concerns over the proposed stricter dress codes and attendance policy.

Some students expressed concerns that they would be prohibited from wearing stylish skirts and pants. Others worried the new attendance policy wouldn't allow for excused absences.

District Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Assessment George Troxel said the student handbook hadn't been substantially updated since 1995. The updated version, he said, gives better guidance to principals and administrators in implementing policies.

Confusion over what qualifies as an excused absence was part of the reason for eliminating them entirely, Troxel said.

"Parents have different opinions and that's their right," he said, "but we have to develop consequences on an even playing field."

Troxel said the new attendance policy is directed toward encouraging attendance, not coming up with ways to excuse it. To that end, parents will receive notification when their students miss a certain amount of days.

"The point is that they are missing school and for learning to take place, students need to be there," he said. "Our goal is to support student attendance."

Some students, however, are active in multiple sports and student clubs which often hold events that require them to miss school days. Troxel said the new attendance policy is flexible enough to take those concerns into consideration.

"This policy will not change the way students take advantage of trips," he said. "But there will be a time to have a conversation with parents, teachers and principals to talk about whether it is in the student's best interest."

In general, Troxel said the district's attendance numbers are good and have remained steady over the years.

Unlike the current handbook, which may allow excused student absences for, among other things, health reasons, family emergencies, religious instruction and religious holidays, the new handbook removes all references to excused absences, while simply stating that parents will receive a telephone call after their child is absent for three days in a single school year.

A written notice will be mailed to parents after five absences. After nine absences, the student's absences will be considered habitual and another written notice will go out to parents. In cases of habitually truant students, the new handbook states that referrals may be made to the Office of Children's Services.

The dress code section was also updated to include detailed criteria of acceptable school attire. Unlike attendance, the dress code section actually expanded to include more specific wording. The old policy merely requires students to dress in a manner that is clean, not hazardous and not distracting from the educational environment.

"We've picked up several thousand students in 10 years. Clothing styles change, community expectations change," Troxel said. "The [current] policy didn't give a whole lot of support or direction for what principals were doing at their schools."

At town hall meetings held earlier in the school year, a number of parents voiced concern about lax dress codes and students wearing short skirts and low cut pants. Next year's dress code specifically prohibits transparent, skin-tight and extremely low-cut clothing along with clothing that reveals undergarments, or the midriff. In addition, shorts, dresses and skirts higher than three inches above the knee are also off limits.

Appealing suspensions and expulsions was another area where the school district adopted a series of changes including: granting principals greater freedoms to deny co-curricular participants the opportunity to participate or practice until the appeal of a suspension is resolved. The proposals include a more detailed account of the procedural guidelines governing appeals to the School Board.

As the district continues to grow and incorporate increasingly more students and families from varying backgrounds, school officials have indicated that it was time to go back over the student handbook and make revisions that reflected the changing community and school environments.

Contact Joel Davidson at joel.davidson@frontiersman.com