It’s no secret that keeping up to date with education policy can be confusing, time-consuming and tedious. Policy requirements and laws are constantly changing, making consistency and compliance with new legal mandates an ongoing challenge. Neola is here to provide guidance and support as you navigate through the maze of complex requirements.

  • Overview

    With nearly 40 years of hands-on experience developing Board bylaws and policies, as well as administrative guidelines/procedures and forms, Neola provides comprehensive materials and personalized assistance to address the challenges our clients face.

    Our services enable districts to update their policies as laws change.

    Our materials reflect the best thinking of our diverse team, which serves 1,450-plus clients in six states. More than 400 policy templates cover a vast array of topics common to K-12 schools, with Neola associates assisting with customization. Neola also tracks hot topics in other districts and states, and proactively provides policy language before it becomes an issue for your district.

    • Neola’s Guarantee

      All of our templates are reviewed by Neola’s in-state legal counsel to ensure that the content complies with current statutory provisions.  If the district chooses to alter the templates substantively, then the district is responsible for any legal review necessary to determine the statutory accuracy of the revised templates. A warranty is provided to the district for all Neola templates. Specific details found in the license agreement address inclusions and limitations of the warranty.

  • Bylaws and Policies

    We pride ourselves on drafting policy language that addresses state-specific issues and laws. As a client of Neola, you will work with an associate who has previously served as a school superintendent, general counsel or other policy administrator in your state. Attorneys from legal firms in each state, whose principal practice area is school law, vet materials for compliance with state statutes. Neola also tracks hot topics in other districts and states before they become an issue for you, and provides policy language to respond appropriately.

    Our bylaws and policies are updated twice a year, based on changes in State and Federal statutes as changes are made by regulatory agencies, and as regular review necessitates. Your Neola associate will visit the district to explain any proposed changes to the regular updates so the district can make informed decisions before adoption. As circumstances require, Neola publishes special updates to address matters that require more urgent consideration.

    • Drafting

      The drafting phase entitles the client to face-to-face, on-site consultation to facilitate efforts to complete development of the bylaws and policies. During the drafting process, district representatives work with a Neola associate to customize Neola’s templates using built-in options or by adding district specific language to the material to create a policy that is unique to that district.

      When completed, the policy draft is returned to Neola’s production staff with the opportunity to review the drafts and make any necessary formatting changes before publishing the final book.

    • Updates

      As part of our service, Neola provides two regular updates per year. These updates include proposed revisions to Neola’s templates. Every client is entitled to on-site consultation from the Neola associate assigned to the district to review each update. During this consultation, the associate will explain the rationale for the proposed changes so that district representatives can decide whether to recommend changes to the Superintendent and Board members.

      From time to time and as circumstances require, Neola publishes special updates to address matters that require more urgent consideration — for example, the Federal requirement for districts to adopt a wellness policy. Neola issued a special update addressing this issue and distributed it to clients so that they could meet with the due date. Special updates are provided at no additional cost to subscribers. However, no on-site consultation is provided for special updates.

  • Administrative Guidelines/Procedures

    Our superintendent-approved guidelines/procedures give districts direction on how to implement the related policy. As with our policies, guidelines/procedures can be customized to meet specific district needs. Administrative guidelines/procedures are covered with your Neola associate during your regular policy update, which occurs twice a year. In conjunction with the administrative guidelines/procedures, Neola also provides a set of related standardized forms.

  • District Policy Website

    Districts can enhance their transparency by making Board bylaws and policies, administrative guidelines/procedures and forms accessible electronically on a secure, searchable site that Neola manages and updates. Forms are included as PDF documents so districts can easily download and print them as needed.