File BDE: Board Committees

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The School Board uses three types of committees: (1) Standing Board; (2) Advisory; and (3) ad hoc.

STANDING BOARD COMMITTEES:
Standing Board committees are created to perform specific continuing functions which support the work of the Board. They remain in existence indefinitely, although the individual members of the committee may change. Typically, appointments to Standing Board committees are made at the Board’s annual organizational meeting or shortly thereafter so that committee work can continue with minimal interruption.

Standing Board committees are comprised solely of School Board members and must be less than a majority of the Board. The Superintendent may serve in an ex officio capacity and Standing Board committees may seek input from administrators, staff and others. Only Standing Board committee members may vote or otherwise agree upon recommendations to be made to the full Board.

Examples of Standing Board committees are (but not limited to) Finance Committee, Policy Committee, and Facilities Committee.

ADVISORY COMMITTEES:
Advisory committees are used to work with specific programs and may be required by Law. They are similar to Standing Board committees in that their role/task continues indefinitely. However, these committees may include administrators, staff, parents, students, and/or community representatives as well as Board members. They are generally facilitated by the staff member responsible for that particular department or program.

Examples of Advisory committees are (but not limited to) the Orion Performing Arts Center Advisory Committee and the Adult Education Advisory Committee.

AD HOC COMMITTEES:
In contrast to Standing Board and Advisory committees, ad hoc committees are created by the Board to perform a specific task. Ad hoc committees may include administrators, staff, parents, students, and/or community representatives as well as Board members. When it has made its final report or recommendations to the Board, the ad hoc committee ceases to exist unless the Board determines that further activity is needed.

The Board will consult with the Superintendent before establishing or eliminating any ad hoc committee. The number of members, the composition of each ad hoc committee, and the selection of members will be determined by the Board, in consultation with the Superintendent based upon the purpose of the committee.

ESTABLISHMENT AND FUNCTIONS OF COMMITTEES (EXCEPTIONS FOR PARTICULAR TYPES OF COMMITTEES ARE NOTED.):

  1. Establishing or eliminating a committee: Standing Board committees will be established and eliminated by vote of the Board. Advisory committees will be established and eliminated by consensus of the Board and the Superintendent. Ad hoc committees are established by the Board and shall be eliminated by the Board when their task is completed or no longer required.

    Any change in the purpose or function of a committee must be approved by vote of the Board. If the name of the committee also changes, the committee must be eliminated and re-established under the new name following the procedure described above.

  2. Board membership on all committees will be established by vote of the Board. Board candidates for committee membership may be established by soliciting volunteers or nominating candidates at a Board meeting. In the case that time is critical, the Board Chair may request volunteers via email. If there are no volunteers or nominees, the Chair may appoint members to a committee with the approval of the Board.

    In the case that membership selection to a Standing committee does not follow the above described procedure (e.g., the Finance Committee), that committee’s membership process shall be outlined in a separate policy in Section B of the Board Policy Manual.

  3. Membership of Standing Board and Advisory committees will be established at the same designated time each year. It is recommended that this selection shall take place at the first meeting of the Board in July. Newly-elected Board members whose terms start later in the year may join a committee (with Board approval) mid-year.

  4. Should a vacancy occur, finding a replacement member to a committee will follow the same procedure as described in Section B above.

  5. Terms of appointment: For Standing Board and Advisory committees the term of appointment will be one year. For ad hoc committees the term of appointment will be until the task is completed or until the committee is eliminated.

  6. Election of Committee Chair: The chair of a Standing Board committee will be elected for one year by the committee members at the first committee meeting after the committee membership is established in July. For Advisory committees, the chair will be the director of the department or program that the committee advises. (For example, the chair of the Orion Performing Arts Center Advisory committee will be the Orion

    Performing Arts Center Coordinator) Election of a chair for ad hoc committees will take place at the first meeting of the committee.

  7. Absences from committee meetings: If a member of the committee is unable to attend a committee meeting, that member is expected to contact the Chair of the committee. If the committee member finds that he/she is unable to attend committee meetings on a regular basis, it is expected that he/she will inform the Chair of the committee so that a vacancy may be declared and a new member can be appointed to fill the position.

  8. Any Board member may attend committee meetings other than the Professional Negotiations and Support Staff Negotiations Committee meetings. However, only members of the committee may vote.

  9. All committee meetings are open to the public except as may otherwise be provided by Law. Committee reports and minutes of committee meetings, if kept, are public information subject to the Freedom of Access Law.

  10. Notice of committee meetings shall be provided in a manner consistent with the Board’s policy and practice concerning notification of Board meetings as far as practicable.

  11. Except as authorized by Law or Board action, a committee may research issues and make recommendations for Board action, but may not act for the Board.

  12. The number of Board members on a committee may be set by the Board. However, in no case shall a committee (Standing Board, ad hoc, or Advisory) have more than seven Board members as representatives on the committee.

  13. Responsibilities of a committee: The responsibility of a Standing Board committee may be modified at any time by a vote of the Board.

AUTHORIZATION/APPOINTMENT OF STANDING BOARD COMMITTEES:
The Board shall have the following Standing Board committees:

Finance Policy
Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment
Facilities
Professional Negotiations
Support Staff Negotiations
The Board may establish other Standing Board committees as it deems necessary in accordance with this policy.

DESCRIPTION/PURPOSE OF EACH STANDING BOARD COMMITTEE:
The FINANCE COMMITTEE meets weekly during the Budget season (January through March) to review, discuss and recommend the proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Members of this committee are elected by the Board annually in the manner described in Policy BCE.

The CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION & ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE has two primary roles. First, according to Board policies, the Committee has a role in recommending or advancing to the full Board curriculum adoption proposals (Policy IGA), program evaluations reports (Policy IL) and materials/methods adoption proposals (Policy IJJ). Once a district committee has worked on one of these areas, the Committee is charged with providing feedback, asking clarifying questions, and requesting additional information, before recommending or advancing the proposals to the Board. Second, the Committee is essential in learning, on behalf of the full Board, about curriculum, instruction, and assessment methods, initiatives, materials, as well as a variety of data from across the District. In this role, too, the Committee works to provide feedback, ask clarifying questions, and request additional information from the presenters.

The FACILITIES COMMITTEE reviews and recommends capital projects and additional smaller projects such as playground updates, construction of small outbuildings, and expansion of sports fields. The committee conducts an annual Facilities tour each fall in preparation for its review of capital projects.

The POLICY COMMITTEE reviews and recommends changes in existing policies and recommends adoption of new policies as needed.

The PROFESSIONAL NEGOTIATIONS COMMITTEE is responsible for negotiating successive teacher, administrator, and technology professional contracts. Any person serving on a negotiation committee will attend a workshop on that subject.

The SUPPORT STAFF NEGOTIATIONS COMMITTEE is responsible for negotiating successive contracts with support staff. Any person serving on a negotiation committee will attend a workshop on that subject.

FIRST READING: February 27, 2014
SECOND READING: March 20, 2014
ADOPTION: March 20, 2014

 

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