District staff presented a package of policy updates recommended to align Polk County School District policies with recent federal and model-policy guidance.

Teresa Griffin summarized the recommended consolidation of separate nursing-mothers policies (previously maintained for multiple employee groups) into a single updated policy to reflect amendments to the Fair Labor Standards Act and related guidance. "One thing that I want to point out is we're not changing the way we handle nursing mothers here at the district," Griffin said, adding that the change is mainly to consolidate existing language into a single policy that covers all employee groups.

Staff also discussed an investments-policy update informed by input from the district investment advisory council, procurement and federal-grants policy updates (including an increase to the micro-purchase threshold to align with federal regulations), and revisions to the travel-and-expense and gifts templates consistent with NEOLA's ongoing policy reviews and Office of Management and Budget uniform grant guidance. Heather Jenkins was credited with work on the investment revisions and staff noted the procurement threshold change from an earlier figure to $15,000 to match federal regulations.

Griffin said staff will ask for authority to advertise these policies for public hearing at the board meeting and noted that one earlier item — a drug-free workplace policy — may be delayed pending further review with risk management. The board did not take final action during the work session; staff will advertise the package for public hearing as requested and follow up on any items flagged for additional revision.