A NIGHT OF POLICY-MAKING FOR DCSC BOARD

Policies were the hot topic at the Monday night Delphi Community
School Corporation Board of Trustees meeting.

A revised attendance policy for the middle school was adopted as
well as changes and additions to the corporation-wide bylaws and
policies manual.

The new policy manual replaces the existing version.

According to Shelly Wills, secretary to superintendent Ralph Walker,
a majority of the manual did not change.

Board member Mike Shoemaker made the motion to approve the document,
with a second by Melinda Rossetter. The new corporation policy
manual was unanimously approved.

The board worked with Ohiobased Neola during the updating process.
Neola helped make policy changes adhere to state and federal laws.

Superintendent Walker said the policy manual is a "living document"
that can be revised or updated at any board meeting. Pending
changes, the mission and vision statements were excluded from the
approval process.

The corporation's drug and alcohol policy has not changed. The three
strikes rule is still in effect.

However, one section added was a drug test policy for students.
Random drug testing will soon be a tool available to the corporation.

As stated in the new drug testing policy section, "the board requires
that each student participating in one of the corporation's
interscholastic athletic programs, extra-curricular programs, or
driving to school, sign an enrollment application agreeing that the
student will participate in a random drug-testing
program, conducted and paid for by the corporation, during the term
in which the student will be participating."

Athletic Director Bob Blaydes said the projected implementation date
will be the fall of 2007.

"There are a lot of things to take care of before it's actually put
into action," Blaydes commented. "The next step in the process is
for the board to find agencies to collect and analyze test results."

Blaydes chaired the committee responsible for piecing together the
new policy. He stated the process has taken more than a year to get
to the approval stage. Within that timeframe, the policy was put
before the school board twice, but tabled both times after discussion.

Similar policies are in place in other area schools. Blaydes stated
the Northwestern school drug testing policy was very helpful in the
design of the DCSC policy, as it had already stood the test of litigation.

According to Blaydes, cost will be the main factor in determining
how many students will be tested over the course of an academic
year. Although it has not yet been officially determined, Blaydes
said he believes tests will be administered to approximately 15 to
20 randomly selected middle and high school students every two to
three weeks. The days of testing will be random as well.

He also stated the agency selected by the board to collect samples
will choose at random those who will be tested.

Blaydes hopes the policy will discourage students from using illegal
or harmful substances. He said he realizes there is a chance that
some students will simply drop their levels of involvement, but
thinks overall the number of students who do so will be minimal.

Principal reports

High school principal Barry Stone announced the possibility of
developing a television station in addition to block scheduling as
part of enhanced programming.

Hillcrest principal Bill Schidler said over 95 percent of
parent/teacher conferences were completed in October. He encouraged
parents to contact teachers to set up a conference if they have not
yet done so.

Students collected 1,500 items for the Carroll County Food Pantry