Governance Culture (GC) Policies

Policy: GC-2

Title: Governing Commitments

Status: Active

Adopted: February 27, 2018

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Governing Commitments

The Board will govern lawfully with primary emphasis on results for students; encourage full exploration of diverse viewpoints; focus on governance matters rather than administrative issues; observe clear separation of Board and Superintendent roles; make all official decisions by formal vote of the Board; and govern with long-term vision.

1. The Board will function as a single unit. The opinions and personal strengths of individual members will be used to the Board’s best advantage, but the Board faithfully will make decisions as a group by formal vote. No officer, individual, or committee of the Board will be permitted to limit the Board’s performance or prevent the Board from fulfilling its commitments.
    
2. The Board is responsible for its own performance, and commits itself to continuous improvement. The Board will assure that its members are provided with training and professional support necessary to govern effectively. As a means to assure continuous improvement, the Board regularly and systematically will monitor all policies in this section, and will assess the quality of each meeting by debriefing the meeting following its conclusion.
    
3. To ensure that the Board’s business meetings are conducted with maximum effectiveness and efficiency, members will:
    
   1. Come to meetings adequately prepared;
       
   2. Not interrupt each other;
       
   3. Not engage in side conversations;
       
   4. Not repeat what has already been said;
       
   5. Not “play to the audience” or monopolize the discussion;
       
   6. Support the President’s efforts to facilitate an orderly meeting;
       
   7. Communicate openly and actively in discussion and dialog to avoid surprises;
       
   8. Encourage balanced participation of all members; and
       
   9. Practice respectful body language.
       
4. The Board will use a consent agenda as a means to expedite the disposition of routine matters and dispose of other items of business it chooses not to discuss. All administrative matters delegated to the Superintendent that are required to be approved by the Board will be acted upon by the Board via the consent agenda.
    
5. An item may be removed from the consent agenda for separate discussion and action upon concurrence of a majority of the Board members present and voting.
    
6. The Board will direct the District through policy. The Board’s major focus will be on the results expected to be achieved by students, rather than on the strategic choices made by the Superintendent and staff to achieve those results. 
    
7. The Board, by majority vote, may revise or amend its policies at any time.  However, as a customary practice, a proposed policy revision will be discussed at one session of the Board prior to being approved at a subsequent Board meeting.

 

Adopted: 02.27.2018

Revised: 10.30.2018

Reviewed: 07.30.2019

 

Monitoring Method:          Board self-assessment

Monitoring Frequency:     Annually

 

Ferndale School District, Ferndale, WA