Readopted: 7/10/02
Board Policy Development and Adoption
Policies shall be derived from principles, facts, and objectives. It is presumed that the superintendent shall make a special study of these matters. His or her recommendations on policy shall be based on cooperative study of issues by the superintendent and associates in the school system. Hence, they shall be carefully considered by the board and subsequently adopted or sent back for further study and possible change.
The board shall have the authority to formulate policies and pass motions to give policies effect on its own initiative. This should, however, occur rarely as it nullifies the potential contribution that the superintendent is or should be qualified to make.
Formulation of Policies
Policies may be defined as statements of board goals and aims. In the process of formulating policies, board members, administrators, staff, and perhaps representative laymen, should be involved. There shall be nothing eternal and immutable about district policies. Any changes, however, ought to be founded on study and well thought out proposals.
Advice on Policy Formulation
It shall be the responsibility of the superintendent to advise on formulation of policy and to propose new policies to the board for adoption as necessity for such arises.
Adoption and Revision of Policies
The policies of the board shall be subject to alteration, addition, or deletion only upon majority vote of the board at any regular or special meeting which all members have been notified of the text of the proposed alteration, addition, or deletion in writing at least 24 hours in advance. In most cases, a first reading of the policy shall be scheduled on the agenda of a regular meeting prior to the adoption at a subsequent regular meeting.
Unless an emergency is declared by a unanimous vote of the board, proposed policy changes shall not be made at any meeting where that change is first proposed.
The formal adoption of policies shall be recorded in the board minutes. Only those written statements so adopted and so recorded shall be regarded as official board policy.
Any formal motion or action of the board which tends to create, amend, or supplement policy shall, upon discovery, be called to the attention of the board in the review of the minutes for formal adoption as a revision to the existing policy. The superintendent is responsible for such notice.
The board’s policy manual is considered a public record and shall be open for inspection at the district office during regular working hours.
The operation of any section or sections of policies not established by law or specifically listed in the current collective bargaining agreement may be temporarily suspended by a majority vote of the board at a regular or special meeting. The suspension, however, does not apply to any section of board policy that may be established by law or contract.
The policy manual shall be reviewed from time to time in order to keep it current.
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