During the Nov. 15 Noblesville Schools Board of Trustees meeting, there was a first reading introduced to policy 5540 titled “THE SCHOOLS AND GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES” which relates to how Department of Child Safety (DCS) can interact with students. There are several notable proposed changes that require scrutiny.
For example, in the second paragraph, the sentence has been changed from “when an agency such as DCS requests permission to question a student …” to “when an agency such as DCS requests permission to interrogate a student …”
In the third paragraph the principal or designee shall be present throughout the proceedings, unless ordered not to be present by a court of law. However, in the proposed policy a phrase has been added to allow the removal of the principal or designee by a representative of the agency (DCS) or a court of law.
There is a positive addition in the sixth paragraph to state that “the interrogation should be conducted in cooperation with and in the presence of a school official” rather than the previous statement which stated that a school representative may be present during the interview when appropriate. However, the message is inconsistent since in one sentence it has the word interview, and the next sentence refers to interrogation.
The seventh paragraph is concerning because it describes a situation where a student could be interrogated by a law enforcement officer even when immediate notification of the parents is not possible. The policy goes further to state that if immediate notification is not possible the principal or designee has a 12-hour window in which to notify the parents.
To be clear, if this policy is approved it will apply to all students at all Noblesville schools regardless of age of the student or the mental or psychological capacity of the student. There is no distinction written in this policy that differentiates how DCS or a law enforcement officer can proceed with their interrogation if a student is of elementary school age, middle school age, or high school age.
While I can agree that we need a policy to spell out how the interaction between schools and governmental agencies should be handled, I believe that this policy as it is currently written requires clarification and additional details.
The next meeting of the school board will be at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 20 in the Board Room at the Noblesville Schools Educational Services Center, 18025 River Road, Noblesville. This will be the second reading of the policy. If there are no changes, the policy will be voted on and approved that same evening.
This policy can be seen by going to the Nov. 15, 2022, meeting agenda under the detailed agenda section, section 8. Click this link to see the agenda.