DEFINITIONS

DEFINITIONS

po0100Adopted June 22, 2017Revised September 19, 2024

0100 - DEFINITIONS

As used in the School Board’s bylaws and policies, the following terms shall have the meaning set forth below:

Administrative Guideline

A written statement adopted and approved by the Superintendent which is consistent with Board policy to outline and prescribe procedures to be used in implementing Board policy.

Apps and Services

Apps and services are software (i.e., computer programs) that support the interaction of personal communication devices (as defined below) over a network or client-server applications in which the user interface runs in a web browser. Apps and services are used to communicate or transfer information or data that allow students to perform actions or tasks that assist them in attaining educational achievement goals and objectives, enable staff to monitor and assess their students' progress, and allow staff to perform other tasks related to their employment. Apps and services also are used to facilitate communication to, from, and among and between staff, students, parents, Board members, and/or other stakeholders and members of the community.

Board

The Board of School Trustees (or Education), which is the governing body of the School Corporation as defined in I.C. 20-18-2-5.

Bylaw

A rule of the Board for its own governance adopted by a Board vote at a meeting.

Certificated Employee

An employee of the Board in a position that requires a license or permit from the Division of Professional Standards of the Indiana Department of Education. See Indiana Code 20-29-2-4. The term includes teachers, and all administrators in positions requiring a license or permit from the Division of Professional Standards of the Indiana Department of Education.

Classified Employee

A non-certificated employee as defined in these definitions. Synonymous with "support" and "non-professional."

Corporation

The Loogootee Community School Corporation.

Due Process

Procedural due process requires an established rule or standard, notice of facts of an alleged violation and the applicable rule or standard (accusation), and an opportunity to respond before a decision is made.

Executive Session

A meeting from which the public is excluded, except the Board may admit those persons necessary to carry out its purpose. The Board also may admit an individual who has been elected to the Board but has not been sworn in as a member of the Board.

Full Board

All members of the Board.

Individualized Education Program or IEP

"Individualized education program" or "IEP" means a written document, developed, reviewed, and revised by the case conference committee ("CCC") in accordance with Title 511, Article 7 of the Indiana Administrative Code that describes the following:

  1. How a student will access the general education curriculum, if appropriate.
  2. The special education and related services needed to participate in the educational environment.

The required components of an IEP are contained in 511 IAC 7-42-6.

A transition IEP is an IEP that is:

  1. developed in accordance with 511 IAC 7-43-4; and
  2. in effect when the student enters into grade 9 or becomes fourteen (14) years of age, whichever occurs first, or earlier if determined appropriate by the CCC.

Information Resources

The Board defines Information Resources to include any data or information in electronic, audio-visual or physical form, or any hardware or software that makes possible the storage and use of data or information. This definition includes but is not limited to electronic mail, voice mail, social media, text messages, databases, CD-ROMs, DVDs, websites, motion picture film, recorded magnetic media, photographs, digitized information, or microfilm. This also includes any equipment, computer facilities, or online services used in accessing, storing, transmitting or retrieving electronic communications.

May

A statement providing that an action is permitted but not required.

Meeting

A gathering of a majority of the Board for the purpose of taking official action upon public business. It does not include any of the following:

  1. Any social or chance gathering not intended to avoid the Open Door Law.
  2. Any on-site inspection of any:
  1. project;
  2. program; or
  3. facilities of applicants for incentives or assistance from the Board.
  1. Traveling to and attending meetings of organizations devoted to the betterment of government.
  2. A caucus.
  3. A gathering to discuss an industrial or a commercial prospect that does not include a conclusion as to recommendations, policy, decisions, or final action on the terms of a request or an offer of public financial resources.
  4. An orientation of members of the Board on their role and responsibilities as public officials, but not for any other official action.
  5. A gathering for the sole purpose of administering an oath of office to an individual.
  6. Collective bargaining discussions that the Board engages in directly with bargaining adversaries, provided that the Board has not appointed an agent or agents to conduct collective bargaining on its behalf.

See Indiana Code 5-14-1.5-2(c), (d), (e) and -3.5.

Non-Certificated Employee

An employee of the Board employed in a position that does not require a permit or license issued by the Division of Professional Standards of the Indiana Department of Education. See Indiana Code 20-29-2-11. Synonymous with "classified employee" and "support employee".

Official Action

Board action to receive information, deliberate, make recommendations, establish policy, make decisions, or take final action. See Indiana Code 5-14-1.5-2(d).

Parent

The natural or adoptive parent(s) or the party designated by a court as the legal guardian or custodian of a student. Both parents shall be considered to have equal rights unless a court terminates or otherwise limits parental rights.

Personal Communication Devices

Personal communication devices ("PCDs") include computers, laptops, tablets, e-readers, cellular or mobile phones, smartphones, gaming devices, and/or other web-enabled devices of any type.

Policy

A general, written statement approved by the Board which defines its expectations or position on a particular matter and authorizes appropriate action that must or may be taken to establish and/or maintain those expectations.

President

The chief executive officer of the Board of School Trustees (or Education) (see Bylaw 0171.1).

Principal

A professional employee who is assigned to be the educational leader and head administrator of one or more Corporation schools. The term is synonymous with the building administrator in charge of a facility. The use of the term includes a delegate unless the law, policy or guideline specifically prohibits delegation. "Vice Principal" or "Assistant Principal" means an administrator assisting a Principal with the performance of all or a portion of the duties assigned to the Principal.

Professional Employee or Professional Staff Member

An employee of the Board in a position that requires a license or permit from the Division of Professional Standards of the Indiana Department of Education. See Indiana Code 20-29-2-4. The term includes teachers, and all administrators in positions requiring a license or permit from the Department of Professional Standards of the Indiana Department of Education. Synonymous with "certificated employee."

Public Business

The performance by the Board of a function upon which it is specifically authorized to take official action, or not statutorily prohibited from performing. See Indiana Code 5-14-1.5-2(e), Indiana Code 20-26-3, and Indiana Code 20-26-5-4.

Relative

The mother, father, sister, brother, spouse, child, parent of spouse, grandparents, grandchild, or dependent residing in the immediate household of a person.

Secretary

An officer of the Board of School Trustees (or Education) responsible for preparation of minutes of Board meetings and custody of the Records of the Board (see Bylaw 0171.3).

Shall

Expressing non-discretionary required action or action, synonymous with "will" or "must".

Social Media

Social media are online platforms where users engage one another and/or share information and ideas through text, video, or pictures. Social media consists of any form of online publication or presence that allows interactive communication, including but not limited to text messaging, instant messaging, websites, weblogs ("blogs"), wikis, online forums (e.g., chat rooms), virtual worlds, and social networks. Examples of social media include but are not limited to Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Google Hangouts, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, Instagram, Pinterest, Skype, and Facetime. Social media does not include sending or receiving e-mail through the use of Corporation-issued e-mail accounts. Apps and services shall not be considered social media unless they are listed on the Corporation's website as Corporation-approved social media platforms/sites.

State-Mandated Assessment

Assessments (including but not limited to ILEARN, I AM, ISTEP+ Grade 10, IREAD-3, End of Course Assessments, and WIDA) for which the participation of all Indiana students is required.

Student

A person who is officially enrolled in a school or program of the Corporation.

Superintendent

The chief executive officer of the Corporation. The use of the term includes a delegate unless the law, policy or guideline specifically prohibits delegation.

Support Employee

A non-certificated employee as the term is used in Indiana Code 20-29-2- 11, and as defined in these definitions.

Teacher

A professional person whose position in a school corporation requires certain educational preparation and licensing and whose primary responsibility is the instruction of students. The term includes a superintendent who holds a license under I.C. 20-28-5, a principal, a teacher, a librarian, school psychologist and a school counselor. See I.C. 20-18-2-22

Technology Resources

The Board defines Technology Resources to include computers, laptops, tablets, e-readers, cellular or mobile telephones, smartphones, web-enabled devices, video and/or audio recording equipment, SLR and DSLR cameras, projectors, software and operating systems that work on any device, copy machines, printers and scanners, information storage devices (including mobile or portable storage devices, such as external hard drives, CDs, DVDs, USB thumb drives and memory chips), the computer network, Internet connection, and online educational services and apps.

Vice-President

The Vice-President of the Board of School Trustees (or Education) (see Bylaw 0171.2).

Voting

An action by which a member of the Board indicates approval or rejection of a motion by a Board member that has been seconded by another Board member at a meeting convened in compliance with all applicable laws including the Indiana Open Door Law (Indiana Code 5-14-1.5). Also see Bylaw 0167.1.

Using Citations to Indiana and Federal Statutes, Rules and Cases

Citations to Indiana Law, Rules and Court Decisions

Citations to the Indiana Code are shown as I.C. or Ind. Code. The numbers which follow I.C. or Ind. Code separated by a hyphen state the title, article, chapter, section, and subsection of an Indiana statute. So Ind. Code 5-14-1.5-6.1(a) is found at title 5, article 14, chapter 1.5, section 6.1, subsection (a).

Citations to the Indiana Administrative Code ("IAC" or "I.A.C.") are prefaced by a title and followed by an article, rule, and section number. So 511 I.A.C. 6-5-1 identifies title 511, article 6, rule 5, section 1.

Citations to Indiana cases begin with a citation to a volume and page in Thompson Reuters North Eastern Reporter Series. So a citation to 545 N.E.2d 341 (Ind. 1997) is a cite to volume 545, page 341 of the North Eastern Reporter, Second Series. The "(Ind. 1997)" tells the reader the case cited is an Indiana Supreme Court decision issued in 1997.

Citations to Federal Laws, Rules and Court Decisions

Citations to the United States Code ("USC" or "U.S.C.") are preceded by a title number and followed by a section number. So 20 USC 1232g refers to title 20 of the United States Code section 1232g.

Citations to the Code of Federal Regulations ("C.F.R." or "CFR") are identified by a citation similar to the Indiana Administrative Code. The citation to the title precedes CFR, and the section number follows.

Federal cases are cited in much the same way as Indiana cases. Trial court decisions are reported in the Federal Supplement as "F. Supp." followed by the series number, such as "F. Supp.2d" for the second series of the Federal Supplement. Appellate decisions are published in the Federal Reporter, which is now in its third series. Citations in both the Federal Supplement and the Federal Reporter follow the same format. A volume number precedes the name of the volume, and a page number in that volume follows the volume number. So a cite to 406 F.3d 500 (7th Cir. 2005) directs the reader to volume 406 of the Federal Reporter Third Series, page 500.

The (7th Cir. 2005) tells the reader that the case was issued by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in 2005.

Revised 8/15/19
Revised 5/21/20

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