8416 - DELEGATION FOR CONTINUED SCHOOL FUNCTIONS DURING A DECLARED EMERGENCY

Upon declaration of an emergency by Federal, State, or local officials, the School Board authorizes the Superintendent and the Superintendent’s designees the authority to act on behalf of the Board in accordance with applicable law with respect to the actions listed in this policy.

The Superintendent will consult with the Board President, or if unavailable, the Vice President, on any actions considered to be taken when such action is not immediately required.

The Superintendent will advise the Board of any actions taken at the time when possible. The Superintendent must advise the Board of any actions taken no later than its next regularly scheduled board meeting. At such meeting, the Board will review and ratify or approve the action(s) taken.

The Superintendent is authorized to take one or more of the following actions during a declared emergency but Federal, State, or local officials relating to a health, safety, or weather emergency:

1. To employ, contract for, reassign, change schedules or discharge employees necessary for school purposes during the public emergency period.
2. To continue payment of the salaries and compensation of persons and services consistent with existing contractual obligations. To reassign staff to other duties to ensure continued wages when regular assignments are interrupted by online learning or school closures. Too provide up to additional days of paid time off to address income losses impacted by the public emergency period.
3. To determine the number of persons or the amount of services needed to continue school operations during the public emergency period.
4. To determine the nature and extent of the duties of staff needed to continue school operations during the public emergency period including, but not limited to, reassignment of location, work schedule, specific duties, and job descriptions.
5. To approve the use of school facilities for use by other governmental or community health agencies to respond to declared public emergency.
6. To approve use of school vehicles, including buses, for transportation to respond to or to address community needs during the public emergency period.
7. To the extent feasible, to ensure instructional services to students are maintained through alternative methods such as eLearning, reduced instructional days, or other means deemed appropriate during the public emergency period.
8. To continue lunch program services for students, including permitting use of kitchens, kitchen facilities, kitchen equipment, and lunch rooms, and the purchases of materials and supplies for the lunch program, charging students for the operational costs of the lunch program, and fixing the price per meal or per food item during the public emergency period.
9. To operate the lunch program as an extracurricular activity during the public emergency period.
10. To participate in a surplus commodity or lunch aid program during the public emergency period.
11. To purchase curricular materials, to furnish curricular materials without costs, or to rent curricular materials to students, and to participate in a curricular materials aid program during the public emergency period.
12. To accept students transferred from other school corporations and to transfer students to other school corporations during the public emergency period.
13. To enforce, amend, or suspend rules, regulations, and procedures for the governance, management, and operations of the schools, property, facilities, and activities of the school corporation, the school corporation's agents, employees, and students during the public emergency period.
14. To determine the closure of schools to ensure the safety and health of students and staff when necessary during the public emergency period.

© Lewis Kappes 2020