Dist. 211 policy review targets bias
Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 Superintendent Roger Thornton assured board members there was no single incident that provided motivation for the bevy of anti-discriminatory policy revisions reviewed during Thursday's meeting.
Every seven years District 211 undergoes a review by officials from the Suburban Cook County Office of Regional Education, Thornton said. District 211 officials have to be prepared to show the regional office that its policies are up to date.
"We didn't do this to punish you," Thornton told the board jokingly.
Board member Debra Strauss said she's never seen so many policies listed for review during a single meeting.
The revisions mostly feature language changes as recommended by District 211 attorneys regarding policies pertaining to nondiscrimination. Race, age, gender and sexual orientation were included in past policies. Additions include highlighting discrimination against military service and victims of domestic or sexual violence as well as use of a psychotropic medication due to depression.
The issue of military service extended to policy revision tied into residency and admission. The new policy states that the district must allow a student to attend school even if he or she is forced to move outside the district's boundaries because a guardian has been called to military action. The exemption would last only through the duration of the military service.
There's also a new policy proposal to alert board members if the superintendent is ever investigated for any wrongdoing. The board still has to vote on all these proposals at a future meeting.
The Suburban Cook County Office of Regional Education is based in Westchester and counts 143 school districts among its members. Regional offices are supposed to facilitate education between the local school districts and the state board of education.
In other District 211 news, officials Thursday reported as of the sixth day of enrollment, Aug. 27, that 12,595 students had registered in its five schools. That's 165 more than what was projected in March. Last year's enrollment was 12,652, and 2006-07's was 12,736.