Dear Parents, Teachers and Community Members,
The policies of our District provide an important framework for the work of our administration. They assist us in responding with consistency and fairness to situations ranging from board governance issues, personnel management, materials procurement, discrimination and sexual harassment, instructional practices and community relations, to student achievement and discipline. The work of the Policy Committee is never done, as there are always worthwhile improvements to be made to our policies.
By way of background, you will see that we use an alphabetical coding system to keep track of our policies. This system is based on a national model, which has been further refined and adopted by the Maine School Management Association (MSMA). Most schools in Maine use a similar coding system. You will see on the chart that accompanies our policies that MSMA's coding system includes a rating system indicating whether particular policies are mandated, recommended or merely prudent.
In addition to the coding system, MSMA provides sample policies on a variety of topics. Our District's Policy Committee often uses these samples as a starting point in updating specific policies, particularly those that are technically or legally complex. Although the process of policy development is never easy or quick, using the MSMA's model policies as a starting point has proven to be an efficient way for us to develop state-of-the-art policies without a huge expenditures for research or legal analysis.
Currently our Policy Committee is making its way through the District's existing book of policies. As we finish sections, we are putting them onto this Website for easy public access. We ask your patience as we go about this work.
We welcome you as a visitor to this section of the District Website and urge you to contact us with any suggestions you have for our policy work.
With regards,
Susan Campbell
Chairperson of the MSAD #51 Policy Committee
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