Mahwah December 14, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 9 School board sets new policies and regulations by Frank J. McMahon The Mahwah Board of Education is considering several new policies and regulations that were introduced at the last meeting of the school board. The measures that were introduced include a new policy and regulation on dating violence, a special education regulation on instructional materials for blind and print-disabled pupils, a policy and regulation establishing student safety patrols for kindergarten through grade five, and a regulation that sets the definition of when a person is a victim of a kidnapping from a school and the procedures to be implemented in such an event. “The board of education believes a safe and civil environment in school is necessary for children to learn,” the dating violence policy states. “A pupil who is a victim of dating violence suffers academically and the pupil’s safety at school is jeopardized. Acts or incidents of dating violence at school, whether they are verbal, sexual, physical, or emotional, will not be tolerated and will be dealt with in accordance with the school’s pupil code of conduct.” The policy points out that acts or incidents of dating violence may include, but are not limited to, those characterized by physical, emotional, verbal, or sexual abuse; digital or electronic acts or incidents of dating violence; and/or patterns of behavior that are threatening or controlling. School staff members must take all reasonable measures to prevent acts or incidents of dating violence at school involving a pupil. The consequences contained in the policy include admonishment, temporary removal from the classroom, classroom or administrative detention, in-school suspension, out-of-school suspension, reports to law enforcement, and/or expulsion. Retaliation toward the victim of any act or incident of dating violence will be considered when administering consequences to the alleged aggressor based on the severity of the act or incident. In the regulation pertaining to this policy, “dating partner” refers to any person involved in an intimate association with another individual that is primarily characterized by the expectation of affectionate involvement, whether casual, serious, or long-term. “Dating violence” is defined as a pattern of behavior where one person threatens to use, or actually uses physical, sexual, verbal, or emotional abuse to control a dating partner. The regulation contains procedures for reporting acts or incidents of dating violence, and guidelines for responding to at-school acts or incidents of dating violence. The document also contains procedures for administrative investigation, procedures for working with the victim and the aggressor, and for the documentation and reporting of an act or incident of dating violence at school. The regulation also describes the warning signs of dating violence. The special education regulation provides the plan to provide blind or print-disabled pupils with instructional materials in a timely manner. The student safety patrol policy and regulation establish the safety patrols as a means of preventing accidents and instructing pupils in good habits while providing opportunities for leadership training. All eligible students may apply, but they must have the written consent of their parents or legal guardians. The students selected will receive training and instruction and will serve as an example to others in the prevention of accidents and will report to the safety patrol coordinator any serious misconduct or dangerous practices of other pupils. The kidnapping regulation defines when a person is a victim of kidnapping and what procedures must be followed in the event there is a reason to believe that a pupil has been kidnapped. The Oct. 29 snowstorm, which caused extensive damage to trees in the Mahwah area and extended electric power outages due to downed power lines, caused the township’s school district to use up some of its allotted snow days, and resulted in a two-day extension of the school year. The Mahwah Board of Education adopted a revised calendar at its Nov. 30 public meeting, which shows single session school days for students on June 20, when the eighth grade promotion exercises will be held, and June 21, which will be the last day of school. High school graduation is scheduled for June 21 and June 22 will be the last day for faculty. School Board President Patricia Shada explained that, due to the snowstorm and power outages, the students at the Betsy Ross and George Washington elementary schools lost three school days, while the other schools in the district lost one school day. She said there may be an issue with providing enough school days for the lower grades but, if necessary, they may schedule double sessions at those schools because the state will not permit school on Saturdays. In response to a question about the effect of the additional school days on the district’s employees by William Howe, a district school teacher and member of the Mahwah Education Association, which represents the teachers in the district, Shada explained that the board was concerned that there may be more snow days required this winter. She said the board wanted to preserve the (continued on page 11) Early snowstorm adds two days to school calendar