Ken Friesen, Former Assistant to the President, ACSI
Having well-developed handbooks and policy manuals can save schools from countless headaches and legal expenses. Anyone who would dispute that they are worth the trouble and effort is most likely someone who has not yet worked through a conflict with a student, staff member, or parent, dealing with a policy that was not clearly articulated in writing and that resulted in some form of legal action. It is easy to slip into the mind-set that handbooks and manuals are a huge headache to develop and are impractical because they have to be constantly updated, so why bother. It is true that they are a headache and must be constantly updated, but the headaches that come from creating and revising them are much less severe than the headaches connected to not doing so.
Early in my career, I took the position that Christian schools not only were exempt from the laws and regulations that governed public schools but were also exempt from just about any other kinds of laws and regulations because Christian schools answer to a higher authority. I also believed that Christians who worked together would seldom have conflicts and that they should be able to resolve among themselves these rare disputes. Certainly, I thought, no one would ever do something as drastic as take legal action against a school or an individual in a school. After living 22 years on both sides of the school leadership fence (staff member and administrator) and living through several lawsuits—both from parents and staff members—I have learned that the position I held early in my career was both ignorant and foolish. One of the biggest mistakes in life is to believe that we are immune to certain life circumstances and that we are accountable to no one but God. While it is true that as Christians we ultimately answer to a higher authority, it is also true that we are to submit ourselves to the authorities that have been put in place over us (1 Peter 2:13–14).
It is wise and appropriate that we as individuals and educators choose to hold ourselves accountable to the laws that govern educational institutions. It is also wise and appropriate that we demonstrate a mutual submission to those we work with in education. In doing so, we provide for staff, students, and parents written and well-articulated policies and guidelines that create a framework for a safe, secure, and trustworthy work and learning environment. It is also necessary to be prepared for situations that are something other than what we would expect and desire. One of the first and biggest steps for those in leadership is to acknowledge the need and appropriateness for legal compliance—whether in areas pertaining to employment law, facility regulations, or anything in between—as well as to acknowledge the need for the appropriate and effective dissemination of information to all involved. Free-flowing information that is appropriate and helpful builds an atmosphere of trust and confidence.
Besides the fact that we have a spiritual responsibility to operate Christian schools by legal and sound business principles, it also does not make sense in today’s world to put ourselves and those around us at risk by thinking we are unsusceptible to conflict or litigation. It also needs to be understood that the need for handbooks and policy manuals is not just a large-school issue. They are just as important for the small school with a staff of 10 or fewer people as they are for the school with a staff of over 100 people.
Having established the need and appropriateness of handbooks and policy manuals in Christian schools, let’s look at some of the critical components related to developing handbooks. Schools should ask the following questions before starting the process:
- What is the purpose of the handbook?
- Who will be reading/using it?
- How critical is the information that will be included? Will there be a great deal of confusion, chaos, or noncompliance with policy if the information in it is not known and obeyed?
- In how many other ways is the information being conveyed?
- To what degree will those it is intended for be held accountable for its contents? Are the consequences for noncompliance severe? What will be the impact or cost of simply reacting to noncompliance compared with the impact or cost of making proactive efforts to increase compliance?
- Which information included in it is specific to a particular year, and which is not likely to change?
- How will the handbooks be distributed?
At a minimum, schools need to have the following types of handbooks:
- Faculty handbook
- Parent/student handbook
- Policy manual (employee handbook)
In addition to the three necessary types of handbooks, schools might choose to have the following:
- Academic handbook
- Advisor/coach handbook
- College handbook
Schools should consider the following when developing handbooks:
- Put in print only the policies that you are committed to enforcing.
- Make positive statements as often as possible:
- A positive statement might be "Visitors are welcome but must check in at the office."
- Distinguish policies from guidelines and procedures.
- A policy might contain consequences for unexcused absences.
- A guideline or procedure might explain when and where lunch tickets are sold.
- To avoid mixed messages and inconsistencies, make sure that consistency exists between multiple documents that communicate policies and procedures.
- Note the date of the most recent revision in the handbook.
- Indicate which information has changed or been added from one printing to the next.
- Format the handbook/manual in a logical sequence and style.
- Include a table of contents, an index, and a glossary of terms.
- Make reference to state/federal regulations where appropriate.
- Consider a full reprint every other year and a distribution of changes/revisions in the off year to reduce the expense of printing and distributing a full handbook/manual every year.
- It is important to have handbooks and policy manuals reviewed by your school’s legal council as part of a regular legal audit.
While nothing can totally isolate schools from various forms of tension and conflict or from the threat of lawsuits, well-written handbooks and manuals can minimize the potential for tension and conflict as well as protect schools from the likelihood of losing lawsuits that are filed. These great proactive tools also promote an atmosphere of safety and trust. When disputes do end up in court, the question that is most often being tested is, Was there a written and clearly articulated policy that applied to the situation being contested, and if so, was it appropriately adhered to? The outcome of a lawsuit typically rests in the answer to that question. Most often, the existence of a reasonable policy that is written, clearly articulated, and followed makes it possible for a dispute to be resolved between the parties involved without being carried further to some point of appeal, arbitration, or formal suit. In addition to these legal benefits is the fact that students, staff, and parents will most often appreciate the continuity and structure provided by handbooks and policy manuals, viewing them as being positive efforts by the school to create a secure environment.
Handbooks and Policy Manuals: Are They Worth the Trouble and Effort? 6.4