Huntsville City Schools 2020 21 Policy Updates Chris

Huntsville City Schools 2020 -21 Policy Updates Chris M. Pape LANIER FORD SHAVER &PAYNE, P. C. July 13, 2020 1

Public Health Precautions and Infections Disease Mitigation § This was previewed during last week’s Board meeting. As discussed in that meeting, the proposed Policy 4. 18 contains four parts. § Part 1: Authorization: • The Board authorizes the Superintendent to develop public health precautions and infectious disease mitigation procedures for all schools and other Board properties and all school sponsored activities. • These procedures will be based on current guidance from local and state government and health officials. • The authorization gives the Superintendent flexibility. 2

Public Health Precautions and Infections Disease Mitigation § Part 2: Compliance with Applicable Law • The procedures developed must comply with the requirements of any current local, state, and/or federal law. • The Superintendent has the ability to implement more restrictive procedures as may be necessary. 3

Public Health Precautions and Infections Disease Mitigation § Part 3: Mandatory Compliance with Procedures • Generally. All individuals must comply with the procedures developed pursuant to this policy. • Students. § In order to participate in on campus instruction or attendance at any school sponsored event, students must adhere to these procedures developed pursuant to this policy. § Failure to do so may result in removal from in person instruction. § If parents/guardians have questions, they should reach out to school principal. • Employees. § All employees must comply with these procedures. § Failure to do so will result in disciplinary consequences § If an employees have concerns about the procedures, they should ask their supervisor. 4

Public Health Precautions and Infections Disease Mitigation § Part 4: Posting of Procedures • These procedures will be made publicly available • Will be posted, at a minimum, on the Huntsville City Schools’ website. • These procedures may also be posted in other places such as the Student Parent Information Guide and any Behavioral Learning documents. 5

Title IX § The Department of Education released a new Final Rule this year that makes significant changes to Title IX. These changes include new procedures for handling sexual harassment/discrimination complaints. § All District policies, programs and activities subject to Title IX must be compliant by the rule’s implementation date – August 14, 2020. 6

District Policies Affected § In order to ensure compliance, the following policies need to be revised: • 4. 7 – Title IX and Section 504 Grievance Procedure • 5. 14 – Anti Harassment • 6. 13 – Title IX 7

Section 4. 7 § Title changed from “Title IX and Section 504 Grievance Procedure” to “Title IX and Section 504 Policies” • Reflects that the Title IX procedure is separate and distinct from the Section 504 procedure § Splits the policy into two subsections: • 4. 7 A – Section 504 • 4. 7 B – Title IX 8

Section 5. 14 § Minor revision that adds language referring readers back to Section 4. 7 B (the Title IX Policy) for harassment based on sex/gender. § No change made to current policy against harassment based on any other protected characteristic (i. e. race, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, etc. ). 9

Section 6. 13 § This policy was updated to refer readers back to the Title IX policy in Section 4. 7 B. § The student and employee subsections of the policy manual will now refer back to the overall Title IX Policy. § This is because the Title IX policies are equally applicable to students and employees. 10

Deadline for Implementation § The Title IX policy changes are mandatory to bring the District in compliance with the new Final Rule. § These policies must be updated and implemented by August 14, 2020. 11

Questions? Chris M. Pape LANIER FORD SHAVER &PAYNE, P. C. July 13, 2020 12