The Conroe ISD board of trustees has approved 11 new district policies that involve recent laws such as Senate Bill 12, which state lawmakers passed earlier this year. The slate of new education laws includes new legal requirements that aim to expand parental authority on students' moral, religious, educational and medical decisions.

The setup

CISD Superintendent David Vinson led the discussion with the board on how the policy process is conducted, stating there are two types of policy: legal policy to comply with Texas laws and local policy adopted by trustees that can be clarified or expanded.

The cellphone ban, which was adopted at the Aug. 22 meeting, is an example of a legal policy, as previously reported by Community Impact.

“I think it’s important for the public to know when you pass a policy, it’s not just, ‘Here’s a group of stuff’ and you approve it, but that you actually have five steps that we take and meticulously cover to make sure you understand it, that we communicate it and that’s going to take good care of us [and] the district," Vinson said.

The details

The board adopted 11 policies at the Oct. 21 meeting, and 12 are in the process for November, Vinson said.

The adopted policies include:

• Board Policy EA: This policy covers where the district will post class syllabuses.
• Board Policy BED: This policy requires that parents of enrolled students can speak first during public comment.
• Board Policy FM: This policy pertains to student participation in student activity groups, establishing certain prohibitions and guidelines.

For a full list of policies discussed at the meeting, the board agenda is posted here.