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School board approves website accessibility policy

By Staff | Feb 16, 2018

In a regular meeting Tuesday morning, the Rugby Public School District No. 5 Board of Education voted to approve the first reading of a policy regarding the accessibility of the district’s online presence.

In a related motion, the board also approved the first reading of a policy regarding grievances related to said online presence’s accessibility.

The accessibility policy states that any existing and new web content the District produces, as well as content from third parties, must conform to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines by no later that Jan. 31 of this year. The District’s technology coordinator will review and evaluate new material published by District staff, and will also review and evaluate all areas of the district’s website on a periodic basis.

Only District staff who have received website accessibility training can upload content to the website, however the technology director can assist staff with publishing or uploading accessible material. Departments or staff pages with content that doesn’t conform to accessibility guidelines will be asked to correct the problem.

The grievance policy states that students, parents or members of the public who wish to submit a grievance related to online accessibility regarding a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 or Title II may complain directly to school administrators. Administrators must then, upon receipt of information, inform the District’s technology director. Once the District has been notified, complainants must be provided with communication to access information no later than 10 working days following receipt of complaint.

The complaint must be investigated by the technology director or another person designated by the superintendent, and the investigation must be completed within 15 working days. Once completed, the investigator must write a report on the investigation’s findings and conclusions within five working days following completion.

Submitted grievances must include a description of the problem, and must also include complainant’s name and address, date, web address or location of the page with the problem, desired solution and contact information.

Other actions

– More Rugby students are eating breakfast. In a presentation the board learned that the number of breakfast meals served has seen a huge increase. From Oct. 9, 2017 to January 2018 a total of 4,832 breakfast meals were served. By way of comparison, 806 meals were served around the same time the previous school year.

– The board learned in a presentation that the Lonetree Special Education Unit served 210 students in 2017. It is an increase from 159 students the previous year.

– The board discussed a facilities audit proposal from Valuations Northwest; board election information; an enrollment study report and the 10-year facility plan.

– The board approved the first reading on a policy that would create fund balance classifications. The district must classify its balances in its various funds as either non-spendable, restricted, committed, assigned and unassigned. The District must maintain a minimum unassigned general fund balance that is not less than 10 percent and not more than 25 percent of its annual budget.

– The board approved the first reading of the 2018-19 school district calendar. The first day of school for that year is slated for Aug. 22, and the last day of school for May 23, 2019.

– The board approved the consent agenda, which included January meeting minutes, bills and financial statements.