At the Cherokee School Board's regular meeting Monday evening, the board discussed and adopted a new policy: one for medical marijuana.

Anderson did not just grab the first such policy she could find, she said.

“I really did wait until I found policy that we could probably live with the changes,” Anderson told the board. “And who knows what the legislative session will bring us, because we're just a year into medical marijuana.”

Anderson has been educating herself on the issues that affect the school now, regardless of what happens in the legislative session. “For example, our CDL drivers can't have a card at all,” she said. “That might really cause a problem in the future for bus driving.”

Anderson chose the policy before the board because, she said, “It really does treat it like a prescription-controlled substance. And there really wasn't anything on here we couldn't live with.”

The school board approved the new medical marijuana policy.

Basics of New Medical Marijuana Policy

The policy states, in part, “the district will not regulate or take any adverse action against an employee for holding a medical marijuana license. The school district may take action against an employee who possesses a medical marijuana license if the employee uses or possesses marijuana while at school or during the hours of employment.”

No smoking of any substance is ever allowed on school premises, and at no time will marijuana be grown or stored on school premises.

School employees are prohibited in all circumstances from helping students get or use medical marijuana, store medical marijuana for students, take or use a student's medical marijuana, or serve as a student's designated caregiver, unless the student is the child or in the legal custody of the employee.

Employees who violate the policy are subject to disciplinary action, which can include losing their job.

Students with a medical condition that requires the use of marijuana (and has a marijuana card) may use it during the school day, but the circumstances are carefully controlled.

“School personnel are not legally permitted to administer medical marijuana to students. The district will provide a private location for a caregiver to administer medical marijuana to students at school.” Caregivers must have the appropriate state license designating them to act on behalf of the student. This person may bring the medical marijuana to the student, and then, when the student has taken his dosage, must promptly remove the medical marijuana from the premises.

However, learning always takes precedence.

“If a student has specific procedures regarding medical marijuana that are written into the student's individualized education program (IEP) and such procedures are consistent with state and federal law, those provisions will take precedence over this policy.”

Students who violate the policy are also subject to disciplinary action in accordance with the student discipline code.

What the Kids Are Up To

Elementary Principal Ruth Richmond, in her report to the board, listed a number of upcoming events at the elementary school, and High School Principal Jeremy Hickman did the same for the high school. Here's what the kids are up to in the coming month or so:

• Today: Elementary school book fair

• Tomorrow: Grandparents' Night at the elementary

• Friday: Donuts with Dudes (for dads); also, One Act will compete in regionals at Tonkawa

• This weekend: Cross country has a meet in Enid (regionals will also be in Enid).

• Oct. 14: Junior high football will have its last game. (High school football will be going on for some time yet.)

• Oct. 15: Parent/teacher conferences.

• Oct. 24: Fall Festival

• Oct. 25: School-wide vision screening

• Oct. 26: State speech and drama competition; also, state cross country competition

• Oct. 31: Spook Parade

Six Cherokee FCCLA officers are hoping to attend the National Fall Conference in Dallas on Nov. 14-17. They are conference offers learning opportunities and students will compete in skill demonstrations there. Students will be responsible for paying $75 for their portion of the conference, and the FCCLA Activity Account will cover the other $210 for each officer. The group will travel to Dallas in a school suburban.

Individual students were also singled out for recognition in the meeting. Tanner Bowman is starting a local chapter of FCA, Hickman told the board. Superintendent Anderson chimed in with the student praises by pointing out that a former Cherokee student, Avery Bagenstos, is now appearing in a TV series produced by Hulu.com. The name of the show is “Into the Dark,” and Bagenstos appears in the episode titled “Uncanny Annie.” “

“So we have a Cherokee graduate who is Prime Time Hulu,” said Anderson, “And I'm very excited about it. What he's done is pretty neat.”

Numerous Fundraisers Approved

The board approved numerous fundraisers:

Cherokee Athletics: golf tournament Oct. 12 or 26 in Enid at Pheasant Run Golf Course. Projected revenue: $2500-$3500.

FCCLA's Egg My Yard: students will “egg” yards with Easter eggs for participants. Projected revenue: $1,000.

Sophomore Class 50/50 Raffle: class keeps 50% of total collected and winning ticket gets other half. Projected revenue: $1,000.

Sophomore Class T-shirt sales: Projected revenue: $2,000.

Sophomore Class Raffle: sell chances on five night stay in Red River, NM.

Sophomore Class Raffle: sell chances on family photo session.

Sophomore Class Yard Decorating: decorate lawns with flamingos or another fun decoration, remain in yard for 24 hours and then person pays to move to new yard.

High School Basketball Banner and Scariest Ads Fundraiser. Projected revenue: $4,000 to $5,000.

High School Basketball Discount Cards. Projected revenue: $1500-$1700.

Elementary & Junior High Cheer: Tattoo Sale

Elementary & Junior High Cheer: Bake Sale

Girls Basketball: Free Throw Shoot-A-Thon. Projected revenue: $3,000 to $3,500.

High School Cheer: Bake Sale. Projected revenue: $300.

High School Cheer's Mini Cheer Clinic. Projected revenue: $700.

FFA Meat Sales: Blue & Gold Sausage, etc. Projected revenue: $18,000.

FFA Labor Auction/Dinner. Projected revenue $20,000.

FFA Business Ads: on screen at Cherokee Sale Barn. Projected revenue: $2,000.

Seventh Grade 50/50 Raffle. Projected revenue: $500.

Other Board Business

Among other business, the board approved the annual school board election resolution.

“We do this every year,” said Anderson. “We get it written and publish it in the newspaper and have it ready to go for the December filing period. We'll see how many file in December,” she added. “Seat 5 is up for election.” The resolution also closes a couple precincts due to low numbers.

After mentioning that the school is accredited with no deficiencies for last year, Superintendent Anderson singled out Principal Hickman for her thanks.

“He's representing us on some committees at the Career Tech,” she told the board. He's also involved in some discussions about ways to provide educational services to home-schooled kids – offer them the benefits of being part of an established public school without taking from those parents their control over what exactly gets taught during the school day, Anderson said.

Under new business, Anderson announced that she'd received the resignation of Anna Sanborn, a school cook.

“Anna's been with us six years, and we really appreciate Anna,” said Anderson. “We will probably not be replacing Anna; we just will try to fill that when we can.”

The board will not officially accept Sanborn's resignation until the next board meeting, so that it can be put on the agenda in advance.

The board also approved the consent agenda (consisting of the minutes of two past meetings; reports on the encumbrances, purchase orders, warrants, and balances of the general fund, child nutrition fund, building fund, complex bond fund, bond fund and activity fund; the treasurer's report, and activity fundraiser requests), and voted to allow the superintendent to pursue development of retirement packages for eligible personnel.