Mars Area School Board explained seven groups of policies on Tuesday night's agenda aren't district policies, but policies issued by Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV (MIU).

Julia Konitzky, a parent in the district, asked the board to clarify what they were after identifying a policy that relates to individualized education program (IEP) procedures.

“We're obligated to these requirements by federal law,” Konitzky said. “Where's this coming from?”

Mike Hnath, district solicitor, explained the policies don't replace anything the district has. They're instead just part of the agreement Mars Area as a local educational agency (LEA) has with MIU.

“These are services that the IU provides,” Hnath said. “They have policies that we need to approve.”

Superintendent Mark Gross explained the policies are being presented to the board for approval at the request of MIU.

MIU requests all the districts it serves to approve these policies.

By providing services to districts in their jurisdiction, Gross said intermediate units are mediaries between districts and the state when it comes to special-education issues.

Konitzky thanked the board for the clarification, adding that differentiating between the district's and MIU's policies made sense.

The following MIU policies are on the agenda for approval at next week's board meeting:

- Policies 300.101-300.123 (Free and Appropriate Public Education, or FAPE requirements; least restrictive environment, or LRE, requirements; additional eligibility requirements)

- Policies 300.145-300.148 (children with disabilities in private schools placed or referred by public agencies)

- Policy 300.154 (parental consent to access public benefits or insurance)

- Policies 300.200-300.226 (LEA eligibility)

- Policies 300.229 (disciplinary information)

- Policies 300.300-300.536 (evaluations, eligibility, determinations, IEP and educational placements, procedural safeguards and discipline procedures)

- Policies 300.610-300.624 (confidentiality of information)

The policies do not need to be posted for 30 days before approval, because they are from MIU, according to Hnath.