FOREST LEAVES

FOREST LEAVES — Aug. 25, 2004

District 90 updates policies

BY CHRIS LAFORTUNE

STAFF WRITER

The District 90 School Board Monday adopted new and revised policies bringing aimed at compliance with state laws on emotional development of children and on Internet use.

Another change in state law also requires the district perform fingerprinting-based criminal background checks on all new employees.

The Illinois Children's Mental Health Act of 2003, which took effect in July, requires all school districts to develop formal policies on dealing with the social and emotional development of students, Superintendent Marlene Kamm said.

"Have we always served the social and emotional development of students?" Kamm said. "I think we certainly have. We have lots of services available."

District 90 already has certified registered nurses as well as a psychiatrist available to talk to students. A school social workers is in each building, School Trustee Donna Cech said.

But not every district supplies these services.

"It's not so much new as it's nice they've standardized it across the state," Cech said.

The district also made changes to its Internet safety, access and use policy, adding terms that reflect the state's Child's Internet Safety Act, also required of the district, Kamm said.

The district's procedures have been broadened to better define what is acceptable and unacceptable use of the district's computers and its networks by both students and staff, she said.

Unacceptable use includes threatening a person or group of people, regardless of intent to carry out that threat; compromising the privacy or safety of an individual; using the district's computer network for commercial, private or financial gain, or creating or forwarding chain letters, spam or unwanted messages.

The changes should not affect the daily use of computers in the district, School Trustee David Gregg said.

"It prohibits uses people would expect were prohibited in an educational environment," he said.

The School Board passed both policies unanimously on first reading Monday.

Starting Aug. 17, the state also started requiring school districts to fingerprint all new employees, Kamm told the board.

Initially the district thought only new certified employees needed to be fingerprinted, Kamm said, but the change is for all employees, including teachers assistants, custodians and part-time employees.

Kamm said she has made arrangements with the River Forest Police Department to do the fingerprinting and checks.

Chris LaFortune can be reached at clafortune@pioneerlocal.com.