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Notices

 

Nondiscrimination Policy

The Merrick Union Free School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, national origin, religion, age, sex, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, military status, or genetic predisposition or carrier status in its educational programs or employment.

The Board of Education of the Merrick School District is committed to providing to its students and employees an environment free from all forms of unlawful harassment, including sexual. Any student or employee who believes that he or she has been subjected to unlawful harassment should report the alleged misconduct so that appropriate corrective action may be taken. The Board of Education Sexual Harassment Policy is available at the District Office. The Assistant Superintendent for Business and Technology serves as the District Compliance Coordinator for this policy.

Health Policy 

Beginning in the 2017-2018 school year, the district implemented modifications to the regulations associated with the student health services policy. To increase food safety, particularly for children with food allergies, these regulation changes were adopted by the Board of Education during the 2016-2017 school year. 
Specifically, the regulation (Student Health Services 5075) outlines the following:

Celebrations and Parties

Celebrations for birthdays, holidays and other special events will focus on acknowledgement of the student(s) and the significance of the event.  Foods will not be permitted at celebrations with the following exceptions:  Peace and Friendship Day and the Sixth Grade Picnic. For these two events, the selection of foods must include options that are free of target allergens so that all students may be included in the celebration.

Snacks

Snacks brought from home are for personal consumption only.  Students will only eat food from their home or a parent approved school supplied snack. Students will receive instruction about allergy awareness. Teachers will discuss with students, in an age appropriate manner, the seriousness of life-threatening allergies and the importance of not sharing or trading food with classmates. As a further precautionary measure, if a class has a student with a life-threatening food allergy, parents of classmates will be advised that each student’s snack must be free of the life-threatening food allergen.  In all classes, all student’s snack must be purchased in stores, commercially-prepared and packaged, and contain complete ingredient lists. However, fruits and vegetables are acceptable in the classroom without a life-threatening allergy to the fruits and vegetables. 

The policy in its entirety can be found on the Merrick website in the Board of Education policy section.

FERPA (The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act)

Consistent with FERPA, and with certain exceptions, the Merrick School District cannot release personally identifiable information from a student’s educational records without a parent or guardian’s written consent. However, “directory information” may be disclosed, typically by way of a districtwide or school building publication, without written consent unless a parent or guardian provides written objection to the building principal. The Merrick School District has designated the following information as directory information: name, address, telephone listing, grade level, photograph and video image.

Pesticide Neighbor Notification

No pesticide applications took place this past year at any of our schools. Individuals may register to receive a written notice within 48 hours prior to a pesticide application. You may request information about the products that were applied, including any warnings that may appear on the pesticide label that pertains to the protection of humans, animals, or the environment. Please contact the Assistant Superintendent for Business at 992-7260 if you wish to obtain additional information.

AHERA Compliance

The district’s regular maintenance of schools includes asbestos inspections in all facilities; in compliance with the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) the district undertakes the following:

  • Performs periodic surveillance and three year inspections for all asbestos building materials.
  • Updates the district asbestos management plan.

Should anyone have questions they should contact the Director of School Facilities at 992-7255.