Policies of a school district have the full force and effect of law and legally bind the school district. Wessington Springs Ed. Assoc. v. Wessington springs Sch. Dist., 467 N.W. 2d 101 (S.D. 1991).
By Gerry Kaufman, ASBSD Director of Policy & Legal Services
ASBSD’s Policy Services team recently approved two new sample policies and amended two others this spring.
The new ASBSD sample policy is GCBDF: Nursing Mothers, which was drafted at the request of an ASBSD member school. The sample policy is based on the requirements found in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), as well as state law.
“A school which employs 50 or more people is automatically required to follow the FLSA requirements,” Kaufman said.
“Schools that employ less than 50 employees are required to follow the same requirements unless doing so ‘would impose an undue hardship by causing a school district significant difficulty or expense in relation to the school’s size and financial resources, and it would be up to the school district to prove that undue hardship.’”
ASBSD Policy Services also drafted new sample policy EH: Service Animals in School.
The new sample policy relates to federal law, specifically the Americans with Disabilities Act, and its regulations, which are very specific about what constitutes a service animal, the rights and responsibilities of a disabled person utilizing a service animal, and the rights and responsibilities of schools with respect to that same service animal.
“It is highly recommended that schools be proactive and put policies in place, if they do not already have them, that address both service animals and non-service animals,” Kaufman said
The amended ASBSD sample policy ING: Animals in School, provides specific rules related to when it is permissible for an instructor or a student to have a non-service animal at school.
ASBSD Policy Services extensively amended sample policy GCBDD: Military Leave.
“Military leave is primarily governed by a federal law, the Uniform Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), and the sample policy was amended so it’s in compliance with that federal law,” Kaufman said
Kaufman added USERRA does not require an employer to pay employment wages while the employee is on military leave and the sample policy addresses that fact by including three different options for school boards to consider when making a decision on whether to pay the employee while they are on military leave.
For questions related to the sample policies, contact Kaufman at gkaufman@asbsd.org or at 605-773-2513.
To access the new sample policy and accompanying forms, school board members and administrators must login to the ASBSD Policy Services Website at http://policy.asbsd.org. Your district’s login and password information has been previously provided to your district’s administration.
If you are not able to access the online policy manual, please contact your district’s administration or ASBSD Policy Services Associate Kay Thompson-Tieszen at kay@asbsd.org.