Shorewood School District gets a handbook

Shorewood - After more than a year of back and forth between administrators, staff, and community members, the School Board approved an employee handbook and teacher appendix tonight.

Though the board needed to address two areas of the handbook text before it was approved, board members and teachers expressed their relief to finally have the handbook - required by Act 10 to replace teacher contracts - in place.

"The employee handbook has been worked on for months and months," Superintendent Martin Lexmond said. "I think it's been a very smart process here. It's been very collaborative, (looking back at) when we backtracked all the various meetings and players, and I think it's been done very well."

Though the handbook has been approved, the district isn't done with it yet. On the horizon is the district's "big idea" meeting in January 2012, at which teachers, administrators, community members, and the School Board will have the opportunity to examine any defects they may have found in the handbook.

"It's good to have a document, something to build on," Shorewood Education Association President Michael Halloran said before the board meeting. "Now we get to take it for a test drive."