By Matthew E. Milliken

mmilliken@heraldsun.com; 419-6684

DURHAM -- The Durham school board authorized changes to three policies this week.

Affected were documents governing student transfers, student conduct and policy dissemination. All of the changes were approved without board discussion at Thursday's monthly board meeting, although the policies had been the subject of earlier committee meetings.

The revised student transfer policy authorizes transfers to students in schools that are subject to corrective action under the 2002 "No Child Left Behind" law. It also authorizes transfers to a student "if he or she attends a school designated by the state as persistently dangerous or if he or she is subject to a violent criminal offense while on school grounds." The latter change was prompted by federal law and state school board policy.

A transfer due to a persistently dangerous designation is to last until the label is removed from the student's original school. A transfer due to a violent crime will remain in effect for the remainder of the school year.

"We've just added to policy what has been in practice," school board attorney Ann Majestic stated.

The change in the code of student conduct policy actually has no direct effect on students.

The altered sentences now state that when any of several types of alleged crimes occur on school property, "the principal shall report the act to the appropriate local law enforcement agency, notify parents/guardians of any alleged student victim of a violent crime and notify the Superintendent or designee. Notification must occur in writing or by electronic mail by the end of the workday in which the incident occurred, when reasonably possible, but not later than the end of the following workday. The superintendent must also provide the information to the school board."

The stipulated notification time frame and methods are new, as is the requirement that the school board be informed. The changes come in response to a new state law.

The policy dissemination policy was the subject of more discussion in previous meetings than the other two policies. The policy now requires:

- The school district policy manual to be made available to the public at the system's Web site, www.dpsnc.net. (The full current link is www.dpsnc.net/about-dps/district-policies.) Parents are to be notified of the policy manual's availability at the start of each school year through the student handbook and other means.

- Policies being considered for adoption or revision to be posted on the district Web site within 48 hours of first reading. Public comments on the policy are to be directed to the appropriate board committee.

- New policies and policy revisions approved by the board to be posted on the Web site policy manual within five working days.

The board had discussed authorizing the public to review policy on school computers, subject to principals' approval. But the board decided that allowing such access potentially posed a safety hazard and was not necessary given that policy can be accessed from public library computers.