The Roselle Park Board Of Education (BOE), after a second reading and public hearing, approved changes to the school district visitor policy at their May 6th meeting.
In the light of incidents within the last few years, most recently the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, the Board put into place stricter regulations which will affect all visitors from sales representatives to parents and immediate family members.
The policy, numbered 1250 (Visitors), has changes that will require all visitors – including parents – to give prior notification to the relevant school with the reason for visiting the building and that no one will be allowed entry without a prior appointment. There is no mention as to a time frame for the notification or if the notice need be in writing or verbally to the school main office personnel.
In the event that a student has a scheduled appointment that will require him/her to leave school premises (such as for a doctor’s appointment), the parent or guardian of that student will need to provide the relevant teacher/instructor with a written correspondence – email is acceptable – notifying of the time that the student will be excused from class and picked up from school.
If a student leaves school premises before the regular end of the school day, the parent, guardian, or other responsible party, must present personal photo identification or the school will not release the student to the visitor.
Documentation will also be required by the appropriate legal guardian when the parental rights of a parent have been terminated by a court. Written documentation was not required previously.
Additionally, no school personnel – be it a staff member or faculty – shall communicate or allow the presence in a school building of any visitor who has not been previously registered with the principal’s office.
The policy also changes the wording to state that “No one may visit any school during school hours for the purpose of soliciting for any reason” as opposed to the previous “No one may visit the school during school hours for the purpose of recommending or exhibiting books, maps, etc., to staff”.