Policy Page: Local Control in the Board’s Policy Manual
By Angie PowellThe School Board is legally responsible for developing and maintaining a comprehensive board policy manual. In fact, adopting up-to-date, customized policies is one of the most important duties of a school board. It is through policy that the board establishes and communicates its priorities, expectations, and direction for the district. While legal compliance is certainly a vital component of the manual, there are numerous opportunities for each board to consider what policy language is right for its local district.
A subscription to PRESS, IASB’s policy and procedure information and updating service, provides boards with access to the Policy Reference Manual, which contains approximately 185 sample policies. However, when using these samples as the basis for the local board policy manual, adopted policies at one district will not be identical to those found in the manual at the district down the road, over the river, or across the interstate.
The PRESS sample policies contain many footnotes that provide important information about policy requirements, legal citations, background information, when to contact the board attorney, and other helpful resources. There are hundreds of options and alternates found in the footnotes for the board to consider. Using the information in these footnotes to appropriately customize the board’s policies will ensure that an elementary board’s manual does not look the same as a high school or unit board’s manual, and a small, single-building district does not contain the same language as that of a large, multi-building district. Of course, the differences only begin there. Each individual community’s values, and each board’s goals, will be clear in a fully customized board policy manual.
Section 1 – School District Organization
Starting with the first section, the first footnote found in sample policy 1:30, School District Philosophy, contains clear direction for boards to replace the text in the sample policy with the district’s mission, vision, and/or belief statement. Other customizations found in Section 1 include the grade levels served by the district, what joint programs and intergovernmental agreements the district participates in, and other information about how the district operates.
Section 2 – School Board
Section 2 is all about how the school board operates, and there are many opportunities for customization to be found here. In sample policy 2:40, Board Member Qualifications, for example, a board may choose to specify that it will appoint a student member to serve in an advisory capacity. Any specific residency requirements for board members might also be found here if board members are not elected at large in the district. Other examples of customization include whether or not the board uses a consent agenda, guidelines for public participation at board meetings, and how the board administers the oath of office, fills vacancies, prepares agendas, and votes.
Section 3 – General School Administration
One of the smallest sections of the board policy manual, Section 3 covers goals for the administration’s implementation of a quality educational program. Sample policy 3:10, Goals and Objectives, should be customized with the board’s goals and objectives for school administration in alignment with the mission and vision included in policy 1:30.
Section 4 – Operational Services
Section 4 covers operational topics, such as district finances, identity protection, transportation, food services, safety, and security. The board has more than 60 opportunities for customization in this section. For example, in sample policy 4:55, Use of Credit and Procurement Cards, each board will specify whether these cards are issued by the district, and if so, specifics regarding card use should be customized.
Section 5 – Personnel
The personnel section is further divided into three categories: General Personnel, Professional Personnel, and Educational Support Personnel. The policies found here will be heavily affected by whether or not the topics covered are also included in district collective bargaining agreements. Examples of additional customization in this section include the particular 12-month period chosen by the district to define when the 12-week FMLA entitlement occurs, whether or not the district provides compensatory time-off, and local specifics regarding sick days, vacation, and other leaves.
Section 6 – Instruction
In Section 6, the board will first customize sample policy 6:10, Educational Philosophy and Objectives, in alignment with the mission and vision included in policy 1:30. This will allow the board to monitor whether the educational program is making progress toward its student learning goals. The board will also set other goals in this section, such as for social and emotional learning, instructional materials, the library media program, and the guidance and counseling program. Sample policy 6:60, Curriculum Content, has more than 10 options for the board to consider, and sample policy 6:310, High School Credit for Non-District Experiences; Course Substitutions; Re-Entering Students, has more than 15 options that a board in a district with high school students may, or may not, choose to include. Each board will also consider whether to cover certain optional topics in the policy manual, such as a program for the gifted, a bring-your-own technology program, or recreational class trips.
Section 7 – Students
Tied with Section 6 as the largest section of the board’s policy manual, Section 7 covers a lot of ground. Which undesignated medications are available to students is one topic to be customized here; other decisions for the board in this section include whether non-public school students enrolled for part-time attendance are allowed to participate in extracurricular activities, certain parameters regarding students transferring into the district, and whether and under what conditions the district will accept non-resident tuition students.
Section 8 – Community Relations
Sample policy 8:10, Connection with the Community, contains examples of objectives for the district’s public relations program, which should be customized by each local board. The board should also discuss its community engagement process to determine the policy language appropriate to include. Examples of other topics covered in the community relations section are the board’s rules for community use of school facilities, advertising and distributing materials in schools, visitors to and conduct on school property, and gifts to the district.
The Ongoing Policymaking Role of the Board
The policymaking role of the board is continuous and ongoing. Times change, laws change, the board changes, and the community it represents changes over time. Ensuring that the board policy manual consistently reflects these changes will help a board effectively govern its unique local district by written policy.
Angie Powell is Associate Executive Director for Policy Services at the Illinois Association of School Boards.