In addition to policies involving student health and wellness, the Pleasant Valley School Board recently discussed changes to policies involving new academic standards, curriculum, lead testing for drinking water, flexible instruction days (FID), and school safety training.

Policy 105 is about curriculum and adds that the board will approve curriculum improvements using the school district’s Comprehensive Plan and the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Standards Aligned System.

Policy 102 involves academic standards and the term encompasses the Pennsylvania Core Standards, Pennsylvania Integrated Standards, as well as state academic standards and local academic standards.

According to the policy, the board will approve academic standards changes in the following content areas: English Language Arts, Mathematics and Social Studies, Pa. Core Standards; Science, Environment, Ecology, Technology and Engineering for grades K-5, Pa. Integrated Standards; and added Personal Finance.

The policy’s guidelines added that the “standards require the incorporation of education on social media literacy.” This means that students will be taught about “the potential health and academic impacts, and safety and security concerns associated with social media use.”

Other policies

• Policy 005.1 requires school board directors to give their questions to the board president to forward to the superintendent. The superintendent would then answer the questions or seek out answers through district personnel. The current policy recommends that they go through the president. The school board directors decided to continue to working on this policy.

• Policy 704 added testing lead levels in the drinking water to the list of maintenance items.

• Policy 803 is about the school calendar. The change requires the school board to discuss “the use or potential use of flexible instructional days and remote or virtual instruction days at a public board meeting.”

• Policy 805.2 governs school security personnel. Under the list of responsibilities of the school safety and security coordinator is training and resources for students and staff. The list of items in training was amended to include awareness and prevention to suicide, and cyberbullying awareness and prevention.

• Policy 822 involves the automated external defibrillator and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The policy adds the definition of AED, as well as requiring each of the school buildings to have at least one person trained in the use of an AED. All interscholastic athletics and practices also will have someone trained in the use of an AED present at the event.