Can I configure Django runserver to reload when static or non-python files are changed?
As the comments on your question say, Django always pulls the file from the filesystem on every request, so they are not cached. 
However, there is a check (indjango.views.static) for the mtime of the file if the browser sends an If-Modified-Since header which is why you may be seeing 304 Not Modified.
Regardless, would simply disabling  browser caching meet your needs?
By default, Django's runserver command auto reloads the server when python or template files are changed.
Is it possible to configure Django to extend its file monitoring for this purpose to other directories or sets of files, such as JavaScript or CSS files being served statically (during development)?
This would be useful in this scenario: the Django app reads a set of static text files on startup and I would like the server to re-read them when they change, without having to add this specific feature - simply restarting would be fine.
Do I need to start meddling with (or extending) django/utils/autoreload.py ?