The Aiken County School Board approved several policy changes on first reading at its regular meeting Tuesday, including the Aiken County Public School District’s policies on head lice, staff conduct and professional development.

The policy change concerning head lice would remove the requirement that students be free of nits, or lice eggs, before returning to school.

Parents still would be required to produce evidence of treatment for head lice, and a physical screening also would be required that showed the absence of live head lice.

The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control requires that “only students with ‘live, crawling lice’ may not return to school.”

The revised policy on staff conduct would remove a specific reference to teachers regarding non-work-related phone calls.

It would include language requiring an employee arrested or ticketed for a criminal violation other than a minor traffic violation to report the incident to the employee’s direct supervisor and to the human resources director.

The policy also would provide the board with the option of suspending a certified employee without pay under certain circumstances.

The revised policy on professional development would preserve the district’s tradition of using Wednesday afternoons for professional staff development but would provide for flexibility based on the varied dismissal times for elementary, middle and high schools.

The Board tabled a proposed change to the policy concerning student teaching and internships.

Board members agreed to get more information about the appropriate number of hours to give current employees seeking to participate in practicum experiences or internships while pursuing advanced degrees, such as a master’s degree in counseling, or degrees that would result in initial or additional certification.

As written, the proposed change would allow semester internships and practicums of 100 hours or less without any alternation to the employee’s contract or service agreement.

The goal of the proposed change would be to make the internship policy for employees consistent across the district.

The board also tabled a request for the donation of SMART boards and projectors to Second Baptist Christian Preparatory School.

Before making a decision, Board members agreed to get more information on the number of boards available. Board members also wanted to explore the possibility that school PTOs, many of which raised money to buy the boards, might be able to sell the boards.

The Board also approved a change order for the new Leavelle McCampbell Middle School in Graniteville to install a traffic light and handicap ramps in the amount of $193,582 from H.G. Reynolds Company Inc.

The traffic light would be at the intersection of Bettis Academy Road and Weldon Way.

The district will hold a breakfast Sept. 25 to celebrate the successes of its Advance Placement thematic programs at South Aiken High and North Augusta High. The breakfast will be in the Carolina Terrace on the fourth floor of the North Augusta Municipal Building at 100 Georgia Ave.

The Board also approved Michelle Burns to be a member of the Area 3 Advisory Council, which represents schools in the North Augusta area.

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