The Jefferson City School District Board of Education will consider new policies today at its regular September meeting.
The three policies on the table have already been vetted by the policy committee, which met in August and decided to bring the policies before the full board.
Policy DFJ-I would create a framework for when a board may give preference to local, minority or woman-owned business' bids. The policy allows the district to award a contract to one of those companies even if they are not the lowest bidder but they are considered the best choice and are within a certain percentage of the lowest bid.
Policy JEDB would let school staff allow students to go with a person staff recognizes as a parent, guardian or authorized contact without requiring ID each time.
Policy BDA would alter the date of regular meetings. Previously, the meetings were held on the second Monday of each month, but they are now held on Thursdays.
The board will also consider approval of a handbook detailing procedures for the Career Ladder program.
The voluntary program allows school districts to pay teachers extra if they participate in additional activities outside of their normal duties. State funding had been inactive for the program for years until it was rebooted by the Missouri Legislature this past session.
Jefferson City's proposed handbook stipulates teachers must have completed at least two years of teaching before they are eligible to participate. Teachers can advance through stages to make more money, with a cap of $5,000 on top of their regular salary.
The first level requires 50 hours of extra responsibilities, the second level requires 75, and the third level requires 100.
According to the handbook, responsibilities must "directly relate to the improvement of programs and services for students as outlined in the District Strategic Plan, Curriculum Development, Professional Development Plan, Missouri School Improvement Program, or other instructional improvement plan."
This could include things like tutoring, after-school extracurricular activities, club sponsorship, science fairs, parent education programs, registration, curriculum writing or planning, and more. Teachers cannot use activities that they are already paid for as part of their contract toward the Career Ladder program.
The board will meet at 6 p.m. today at 204 Dix Road.