Legal Notices

Video Surveillance/Electronic Monitoring of School Facilities
In order to promote student and staff safety, and deter unauthorized access and destructive acts (e.g., theft and vandalism), the Board of Education authorizes the use of video surveillance and electronic monitoring equipment on school property, and in school buildings and school buses. Information obtained through video surveillance/electronic monitoring may be used to identify intruders and persons breaking the law, Board policy, or the Student Code of Conduct (i.e., it may be used as evidence in disciplinary actions and criminal proceedings). Any person who takes action to block, move, or alter the location and/or viewing angle of a video camera shall be subject to disciplinary action.

Notification Regarding Blood-Borne Pathogens
The Board of Education seeks to protect those staff members who may be exposed to blood pathogens and other potentially infectious materials in their performance of assigned duties.

The Superintendent shall implement administrative guidelines which will:  

A. identify those categories of employees whose duties create a reasonable anticipation of exposure to blood and other infectious materials;  

B. provide for inoculation of the Hepatitis B vaccine at no cost to the staff member and in accordance with Federally-mandated scheduling;                                                  

C. ensure proper training in the universal precautions against exposure and/or contamination including the provision of appropriate protective supplies and equipment;  

D. establish appropriate procedures for the reporting, evaluation, and follow-up to any and all incidents of exposure;  
E. provide for record-keeping of all of the above which complies with both Federal and State laws;  

F. develop an exposure control plan

School Visitors
The Board of Education welcomes and encourages visits to school by parents, other adult residents of the community and interested educators. But in order for the educational program to continue undisturbed when visitors are present and to prevent the intrusion of disruptive persons into the schools, it is necessary to invoke visitor controls.

The Superintendent or building principal has the authority to prohibit the entry of any person to a school of this District or to expel any person when there is reason to believe the presence of such person would be harmful to the good order of the school. If such an individual refuses to leave the school grounds or creates a disturbance, the principal is authorized to request from the local law enforcement agency whatever assistance is required to remove the individual.

Pest Management
Structural and landscape pests can pose significant problems to people, property, and the environment. Pesticides can also pose risks to people, property, and the environment. It is, therefore the purpose of these guidelines to provide integrated pest management procedures for control of structural and landscape pests. The District will notify the school staff, parents, and students of upcoming pesticide/herbicide treatments within thirty (30) days of the beginning of the school year. Notices will be posted in designated areas at school and sent home to parents at least three (3) days in advance of pesticide applications.

Notice of Nondiscrimination and Grievance Procedures for Title II, Title VI, Title VII and Title IX, Section 504, and ADA
The Board of Education declares it to be the policy of this District to provide an equal opportunity for all students, regardless of race, color, creed, disability, age, religion, gender, ancestry, national origin, place of residence within the boundaries of the District, or social or economic background, to learn through the curriculum offered in this District.

Complaint Procedure

Section I.
Any person who believes that s/he has been discriminated against or denied equal opportunity or access to programs or services may file a complaint, which may be referred to as a grievance, with the District’s Civil Rights Coordinator, Superintendent of Schools, Imlay City Community Schools, Imlay City, Michigan; 810-724-9861.

Section II.
A person who believes s/he has a valid basis for a complaint, may discuss the matter informally and on an oral basis with the District’s Civil Rights Coordinator, who will investigate the complaint and reply with an answer to the complainant. If the informal procedures do not resolve the matter to the complainant’s satisfaction or s/he skips the informal process, s/he may initiate formal procedures according to the following steps:

Step 1-Investigation by the District Civil Rights Coordinator: A person may initiate a formal investigation by filing a written complaint with the District Civil Rights Coordinator. The complaint must contain the name and address of the individual or representative filing the complaint, be signed by the complainant or someone authorized to sign for the complainant, and describe the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Civil Rights Coordinator of the nature and date of the alleged violation, and propose a resolution. The complaint must be filed within thirty (30) calendar days of the circumstances or event giving rise to the complaint, unless the time for filing is extended by the Civil Rights Coordinator for good cause. The Civil Rights Coordinator will conduct an impartial investigation of the complaint. As part of the investigation, the Civil Rights Coordinator shall interview any witnesses and review other evidence provided by the complainant. The investigation shall be completed within ten (10) school days of the written complaint being filed. The Civil Rights Coordinator will notify the complainant in writing of his/her decision and will maintain the District’s files and records relating to the complaint

Step 2-If the complainant is not satisfied with the Civil Rights Coordinator’s decision, s/he may submit, in writing, a signed statement of appeal to the Board of Education within five (5) school days of his/her receipt of the Superintendent’s response. In an attempt to resolve the grievance, the Board shall meet with the concerned parties and their representative within twenty (20) business days of the receipt of such an appeal. A copy of the Board’s disposition of the appeal shall be sent to each concerned party within ten (10) business days of this meeting.

Step 3-If at this point, the grievance has not been satisfactorily settled, further appeal may be made to the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights, 600 Superior Avenue, Room 750, Cleveland, Ohio  44114.

The Board will not discriminate against, coerce, intimidate, threaten, or interfere with any individual because the person opposed any act or practice made unlawful by any Federal civil rights law, or because that individual made a charge, testified, assisted or participated in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under those laws or because that individual exercised, enjoyed, aided or encouraged any other person in the exercise or enjoyment of any right granted or protected by those laws.

Inquiries concerning the nondiscriminatory policy may be directed to Director, Office for Civil Rights, Department of Education, Washington, D.C. 20201. The District’s Coordinator, on request will provide a copy of the District’s grievance procedure and investigate all complaints in accordance with this procedure.  A copy of each of the Acts and regulations on which this notice is based, may be found in the District Coordinator’s office.

Notification to Parents Regarding Student Records
In compliance with federal regulations, the Imlay City Community Schools has established the following guidelines concerning student records:

The principal is the custodian of records and is responsible for the supervision of all student records at each school. Each student’s records will be kept in a confidential file located at the student’s school office.  The information in a student’s record file will be available for review only by the parents or legal guardian of a student, adult student (18 years of age or older), and those authorized by federal law and district regulations.

A parent, guardian, or adult student has the following rights:

A. Inspect and review the student’s education records;
B. Request amendments if the parent believes the record is inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the student’s rights;
C. Consent to disclosures of personally-identifiable information contained in the student’s education records, except to those disclosures allowed by the law;
D. Challenge district noncompliance with a parent’s request to amend the records through a hearing;
E. File a complaint with the Department of Education;
F. Obtain a copy of the district’s policy and administrative guidelines on student records.

The district has established the following information about each student as “directory information”—name and address; date and place of birth; photograph; major field of study; participation in officially recognized activities and sports; height and weight, if a member of an athletic team; dates of attendance, date of graduation and awards received; honor rolls; scholarships; and telephone numbers, only for inclusion in school or PTA directories.

The district will make the above information available upon a legitimate request unless a parent, guardian, or adult student notifies the District Records Officer in writing within ten (10) days from the date of this notification that s/he will not permit distribution of any or all of such information.

Notification Regarding Inspection of Instructional Materials
Parents have the right to inspect, upon request, a survey or evaluation created by a third party before the survey/evaluation is administered or distributed by the school to the student. The parent will have access to the survey/evaluation within a reasonable period of time after the request is received by the building principal.

Military Recruiting
High school students and their parents/guardians may prevent disclosure of a student’s name, address and telephone number to military recruiting representatives by submitting a signed, written request to the high school principal.

Directory Information on Students
The following identification is declared to be Directory Information: student’s name, address, phone number, student number identifiers, etc. Student records shall be available only to students and their parents, eligible students, and designated school officials who have a legitimate educational interest in the information, or to other individuals or organizations as permitted by law. The term "parents" includes legal guardians or other persons standing in loco parentis (such as a grandparent or stepparent with whom the child lives, or a person who is legally responsible for the welfare of the child). The term "eligible student" refers to a student who is eighteen (18) years of age or older or a student of any age who is enrolled in a post-secondary institution.

In situations in which a student has both a custodial and a noncustodial parent, both shall have access to the student's educational records unless stipulated otherwise by court order. In the case of eligible students parents will be allowed access to the records without the student's consent, provided the student is considered a dependent under section 152 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Concussion Awareness

Before a youth may participate in any athletic activity sponsored by or operated under the auspices of the District, all of the following must occur:

  1. All coaches, employees, volunteers, and other adults who are involved with the participation of youth athletes in the athletic activity must have completed the concussion awareness training programs as developed and made available by the state Department of Community Health (DCH).
  2. Each youth athlete who participates in an athletic activity and a parent or guardian of the youth athlete must be provided educational materials on the risk of concussions, as developed by the DCH.
  3. A signed receipt for the materials described in B. above must be obtained from the youth athlete and a parent/guardian.

Free and Reduced Price of Meals/Free Milk

Children, eligible for free or reduced-price meals, shall be determined by the criteria established by the Child Nutrition Program. These criteria are issued annual by the Federal government through the State Department of Education. Schools shall annually notify all families of the availability, eligibility requirements, and application procedure for free and reduced-price meals by distributing an application to the family of each student enrolled in the school and shall seek out and apply for such Federal, State, and local funds as may be applied to the District’s program of free and reduced-price meals.

Locker Searches

The Board of Education has charged school authorities with the responsibility of safeguarding the safety and well-being of the students in their care. In the discharge of that responsibility, school authorities may search school property such as lockers used by students or the person or property, in accordance with the following policy.

The Board acknowledges the need for in-school storage of student possessions and shall provide storage places, including desks and lockers, for that purpose. School principals are directed to conduct routine inspection at least annually of all such storage places. In the course of any search, student’s privacy rights will be respected regarding any items that are not illegal or against Board policy. The Board also authorizes the use of canines, trained in detecting the presence of drugs. This means of detection shall be used only to determine the presence of drugs in locker areas and other places in the school where such substances could be concealed. Canine detection must be conducted in collaboration with law enforcement.

Asbestos

In its efforts to comply with the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA), Michigan Occupational Safety and Health (MIOSHA), and the Asbestos Abatement Contractors’ Licensing Act, the Board recognizes its responsibility to: inspect all buildings for the existence of asbestos or asbestos-containing materials, take appropriate actions, in accordance with State law and EPA regulations, based on inspections, and comply with all EPA regulations.

Schools of Choice

The District agrees to consider nonresident students residing in a contiguous school district located in another intermediate school district for admission under the District’s Schools of Choice Program. The number of openings in a particular program for Section 105C schools of choice students will be determined by optimum size for a particular program or classroom which is the number of students that can be accommodated without increasing District expenditures for staff or equipment. This includes all special education and inclusion programs.

McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act

The Superintendent will appoint a Liaison for Homeless Children who will perform the duties as assigned by the Superintendent. Additionally, the Liaison will coordinate and collaborate with the State Coordinator for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth as well as with community and school personnel responsible for the provision of education and related services to homeless children and youth.

English Language Learner (ELL) Students and Limited English Proficient Parents

It is the policy of the Board of Education that all students be provided a meaningful education and access to the programs provided by the District. Limited proficiency in the English language should not be a barrier to equal participation in the instructional or extra-curricular programs of the District. It is, therefore, the policy of the District that those students identified as having limited English proficiency will be provided additional support and instruction to assist them in gaining English proficiency and in accessing the educational and extra-curricular programs offered by the District. Further, the District will endeavor to assist the student and his/her parents in their access to District programs by providing as much information as possible in a language or format that they are likely to understand.