TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

School Board Plans Major Policy Revision

ADVERTISEMENT

By RONNIE BLAIR, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 4, 2007

LAND O' LAKES - It's homework time as the Pasco County School Board begins the first wholesale revision of its policy handbook in at least three decades.

In a process that will stretch out over eight or nine months - and possibly longer - board members will review and, in some cases, rewrite policies and procedures that cover such topics as transportation, food service, public relations, technology, buildings and grounds, and health and safety.

'It is an ambitious schedule,' said Dick Clapp, chief executive officer of Neola, an Ohio-based consulting company the school board hired to help with the job. 'We believe it is a doable one,' Clapp said.

By the end of this week, board members will embark on the process when they receive handbooks filled with current policies along with templates of possible policy changes provided by Neola.

The board will reconvene Nov. 7 for a policy workshop.

Tom Young, a former assistant superintendent from Charlotte County who now works for Neola, likened the preparation the board will do between now and Nov. 7 to homework.

'Homework is really going to be important here,' Young told the board at a workshop Wednesday. 'Homework will determine how long the process takes.'

The goal is to have revised policies and procedures in place by July 1, the beginning of the 2008-09 fiscal year, but Young said there is no 'drop-dead deadline.'

Young said he hasn't seen Pasco's policy handbook but can guess that it contains outdated policies, conflicting policies and policies that aren't in compliance with current law.

He said that's what Neola typically finds in school districts where there has been no recent policy review and policies were revised in piecemeal fashion over a number of years or decades, with different school boards and different superintendents.

'It's not surprising they've grown like Topsy,' Young said.

Superintendent Heather Fiorentino said she was not sure whether the Pasco school district has ever had a major revision of policies, although changes to individual policies have happened over the years.

Board chairwoman Marge Whaley, who used to work in the school district's student services department, said any previous wholesale revision would date back more than 30 years.

'I came to work here in 1976 and we haven't had a major policy update since then,' she said.

To put that in perspective: Board member Allen Altman said that's the year he graduated from high school.

Reporter Ronnie Blair can be reached at (813) 948-4218 or rblair@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT