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NACS Board approves several policy updates, votes on officer positions

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The Northwest Allen County School Board updated two policies, voted for new board officers and named an acting superintendent at its meeting Monday.

The board appointed assistant superintendent Gloria Shamanoff as acting superintendent while current superintendent, Chris Himsel, is on leave. Shamanoff briefly served in the position in 2009.

The NACS board voted on new officers. Ron Felger is now board president and Kent Somers, formerly board president, is now vice president. Kristi Schlatter remains as secretary.

The board passed amendments to their policy on public participation in meetings, following a year of friction between the board and parents at meetings. The NACS board briefly stopped public comment following concerns about security.

The updated bylaw now generally limits public comment to 30 minutes and no longer allows participants to “cede” their time to other speakers in order to speak longer than the allotted two minutes. The policy passed with a 4-1 vote, with only Somers voting against.

Last year, the NACS board heard nearly three hours of public comment during a regular board meeting. The comments were mostly regarding requiring masks and homophobic comments made by a board member.

The board also updated its COVID-19 procedures to take into account changes from the Centers for Disease Control and local health departments. Changes include the reduction of quarantine days from 10 to five and an update to the definition of “fully vaccinated,” which does not have to include the booster.

The updates to COVID policies passed with a 3-2 vote, with Somers and board member Steve Bartkus voting against.

Ella Abbott is a multimedia reporter for 89.1 WBOI. She is a strong believer in the ways audio storytelling can engage an audience and create a sensory experience.