Why School Boards?

National School Board Association: http://www.nsba.org

Five Reasons for Local Control of Public Education

Are school boards necessary?

Should the present governance structure of our nation’s public schools remain in place?

The answer to both questions is, unequivocally, yes.

No one questions why planning boards, municipal governments, and state legislatures exist. And yet, some people advocate turning over control of school governance to those same bodies, saying we should let someone else take charge of the future of our children’s future.

School boards, elected or appointed by their communities, represent the community’s beliefs and values. Who better than these community representatives to shoulder the responsibility for preparing children to live productive and satisfying lives?

Consider these five reasons that the school board, which represents your community’s beliefs and values, should be the decision maker in today’s schools:

Your school board looks out for children – first and foremost. Education is not a line item in your school board’s budget – it is the only item.

1. Your school board is the advocate for your community when decisions are made about your children’s education. The school board represents the public’s voice in public education, providing citizen governance for what the public schools need and what the community wants.
   
2. Your school board sets the standard for achievement in your district, incorporating the community’s view of what students should know and be able to do at each grade level. Your school board also is responsible for working with the superintendent to establish a valid process for measuring student success and, when necessary, shifting resources to ensure that the district’s goals are achieved.
   
3. Your school board is accessible to you and accountable for the performance of the schools in your district. If the schools are not producing, it is your right as a voter to select new board members who will see to it that your students and your schools succeed.
   
4. Your school board is your community’s education watchdog, ensuring that taxpayers get the most for their tax dollars. Public education is a $423 billion business. In the majority of districts, school boards have taxing authority. That direct oversight – and responsibility – should not be given to politicians whose first priority is something other than education.

US Deprtment of Education - Protecting Students from Harassment and Hate Crime

Checklist for a Comprehensive Approach to Addressing Harassment

·Board members, district administrators, and the superintendent recognize the urgency of the problem of unlawful harassment and hate crime, identify people and agencies that can help them develop effective prevention and response strategies, and compile a library of useful materials

·School officials select personnel to work on creating an effective anti-harassment program in consultation with parents, students, and community groups

·Compliance coordinators are appointed and trained

·School personnel assess the school climate to determine the prevalence and types of harassment that may exist and the potential for hate-motivated violence

·School district adopts a written anti-harassment policy or reviews and revises existing policies for accuracy, clarity and legal compliance; the policy is clearly communicated to all members of the school community; and school personnel and students are held accountable for their actions

·School district develops a formal grievance procedure and takes steps to make sure it is working properly

·Instructional personnel use or supplement the district's curriculum and pedagogical strategies to foster respect and appreciation for diversity

·School sites institute, improve, or expand age appropriate student activities to prevent or reduce prejudice and conflict

·School district and individual school sites institute specific measures to respond immediately and effectively when harassment occurs to stop the harassment and prevent recurrence

·School officials flexibly apply response mechanisms to both the victim and the perpetrator, taking into account the parties' ages and the context of the behavior

·School personnel continually monitor the school climate and promptly address problems that could lead to harassment or violence or that indicate that harassment could be occurring

·Appropriate school officials become familiar with pertinent civil and criminal laws at the state, local, and federal levels, so that they are able to recognize possible civil rights violations, hate crimes and other criminal acts

·Schools develop guidelines and procedures for collaboration with law enforcement officials, make appropriate referrals to outside agencies, and designate liaison personnel

·Crisis intervention plans are in place to minimize the possibility of violence or disruption of the educational process

·District-level personnel and individual school sites form continuing partnerships with parents and the community to prevent hate crimes and harassing behaviors

·Staff training and professional development programs support the district's anti-harassment efforts

·All harassment incidents are carefully documented and incidents are reported to outside authorities as required

·District regularly assesses the effectiveness of its anti-harassment efforts

Source: Protecting Students from Harassment and Hate Crime, A Guide for Schools

US Dept of Ed - Harrassment

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Due Process Clause

I found this information on another blog that I follow.

The Due Process Rights of Students
The issue: What rights to process to students in public schools have before they are punished or dismissed for disciplinary or academic reasons?

The Due Process Clause serves two basic goals. One is to produce, through the use of fair procedures, more accurate results: to prevent the wrongful deprivation of interests. The other goal is to make people feel that the government has treated them fairly by, say, listening to their side of the story.

Links:
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/dueprocesstudents.htm

http://www.gda.state.mn.us/resource.html?Id=3422

It's A New Year

School Board Meeting

Tuesday January 20, 2009

5 PM

Smith County Board of Education

Parents, Taxpayers and Citizens of Smith County attend board meetings, you have the power to make true change in our public schools.

I was not able to attend the December meeting but I heard that things are moving in the right direction. The overhead with the agenda was a positive improvement instead of the one page sheet that was handed out. Check out the Board of Education website under Board Meeting Schedule the agendas are now being posted. This is definitely a step in the right direction to share knowledge with the public.

Below are questions that have been asked by other parents that I would like to open up for discussion. I am new about how all of this works so I need some help with answers. Please blog to share information with all our readers.

1. Why does each school have different rules and guidelines? Does the principal write these rules and if so who approves them? Who is in charge of enforcing them?

2. If a student wants to fight a decision made by the principal they feel is unfair and Mr. Lewis has made it a school level decision that does the student turns to for appeal? I know what the policy is but based on my experience and the experience of others if Mr. Lewis states this is a school level problem then you can not approach the board.

3. Does the board work for Mr. Lewis?

4. Why are some classes offered at one school but not the other school in our county? I think they are talking about the high schools having different classes offered.

5. Who bases the salary levels our teachers are paid? Why does our county pay the lowest salaries when our scores are higher then most as reported by the BOE?

6. Why do all of our policies have the disclosure "The principal of the respective school shall have final determination". Of course this has different wording but in some form this line is always added. A rule is either a rule for all or it isn't a rule at all. How do you feel about this line?

These were just a few questions that were emailed to me. I would like everyone to use this blog for questions, answers or to share their stories. I know a lot of you are wondering what is happening with our situation and all I can say right now is I plan to continue to try to help our community with the change our school systems need. We need to work as a community to keep the good teachers we have, weed out the bad and bring in the new to improve the education of our children.