District 114 to Overhaul Policy Updates with New ‘Press Plus’ Service

Article Summary: Manhattan School District 114 is moving forward with Press Plus, a service from the Illinois Association of School Boards designed to streamline and modernize the updating of its extensive board policy manual. This move aims to save significant administrative time and ensure district policies remain current with state law.

Policy and Curriculum Committee Key Points:

• The district will pay a one-time fee of $7,670 and an annual subscription of $3,055 for the service.

• Press Plus will automate policy recommendations, replacing a manual process for the 1,400-page document.

MANHATTAN – The Manhattan School District 114 is adopting a new service to manage its lengthy and complex policy manual, a move officials say will increase efficiency and ensure compliance.

During its report at Wednesday’s meeting, the Policy and Curriculum Committee announced the district will subscribe to Press Plus. The service automates the process of updating the 1,400-page policy document, which has historically been a manual and time-consuming task for administrators.

The service will cost the district a one-time setup fee of $7,670, which includes a full review and update of the existing manual. The ongoing annual subscription will be $3,055.

Press Plus provides a portal with color-coded recommendations for policy changes based on new legislation and legal precedents. This will allow administrators to focus on other priorities rather than spending hundreds of hours manually reviewing and revising policies.

The committee reported that the first round of updates will be large, and the board will likely approve the changes in manageable chunks. The district decided to hold off on subscribing to a separate, more expensive online publishing platform for now, instead opting to host the updated policy PDF on its own website.

Board members expressed support for the move, noting it will be a significant improvement over the current system.