The Board has one employee - the superintendent. The Board and superintendent work together to fulfill their mutually complementary roles. Trust combined with open and honest communication is our intent.
The superintendent is accountable only to the full Board of Education. The relationship between the superintendent and any individual member of the Board of Education is collegial not hierarchical.
No Board member or subset of the Board of Education has the authority to act or speak on behalf of the Board without consent by the full Board. The Board president is the spokesperson for the Board to the media. Any outgoing communication from the Board will be shared with all Board members before being sent.
The Board and the superintendent have the right to expect performance, candor and honesty from one another.
The Board will keep its focus on balancing student achievement and fiscal responsibility while striving to reflect diverse community expectations.
All Board members represent the entire district.
As the Board establishes goals, it assures that there is agreement on how the goals will be measured and on the kind of data needed to monitor progress.
The Board is committed to considering Board initiatives in its annual goal setting process. As potential initiatives are presented, they will be placed in a "parking lot" for consideration at future goal setting sessions. Attachment A contains information about placing items in the "parking lot."
The Board as a whole and each member accept responsibility for the Board process and effectiveness. The Board commits itself individually and collectively to stand by its code of conduct, to abide by majority decisions of the Board, to maintain a positive culture and orderly decision making processes, and to do its work openly.
When confronted with concerns from stakeholders, Board members will listen carefully, yet clarify that one Board member has no individual authority to fix a problem. Board members will use care to distinguish between concerns which pertain to the key responsibilities of the Board and those which are operational in nature. Board members will handle operational concerns by referring the stakeholder to the appropriate staff within the chain of command. If the appropriate staff is not readily apparent, then Board members will refer the stakeholder to the superintendent. Board members will call the superintendent if this is an issue of concern.
The Superintendent shall keep the Board current on events, issues and other major topics across the District on a regular basis.. In school emergency situations, the Superintendent will notify the Board via email as soon as reasonably possible, with follow up as appropriate or as requested.
The Board will receive board packets and supporting documentation 5 days before regularly scheduled Board Meetings with larger supporting documents (i.e. student handbook, audit report) earlier if possible, to allow extra time for review.
Board members will make every effort to submit, by email to the superintendent, questions on agenda items by the Tuesday morning prior to the board meeting. Board Members should strive to make sure advance questions are intended to seek clarification or enhance understanding of Agenda items and shall not eliminate or avoid the need for discussion at a regularly scheduled open meeting. Whenever possible, in order to avoid surprises at Board Meetings, Board Members should indicate whether a response is needed prior to the meeting, or if the question is simply advanced notice of a question that will be asked at the meeting. The superintendent will provide responses to questions to that Board member and “cc” all Board members. This agreement does not preclude Board members from asking at the Board meeting any question previously submitted to the superintendent in compliance with this agreement. The superintendent will be prepared to answer the question at the Board meeting.
A Board member who wishes to listen to an audio recording of a closed session meeting will submit a request to the Board president. The Board president will arrange a date and time when the Board member and the Board president, or designee, will listen to the recording.
It is important that District information not be shared by individual Board members in a manner that could be perceived by others as contrary to official Board decisions and policy. When promoting official District 200 business and activities, personal use of social media or other electronic communications by individual Board members should be limited to directly sharing links from the District 200 media platforms, without personal editorial or opinion.

Community Unit School District 200

Board Operating Principles

Preamble

The Key RESPONSIBILITIES of the Board of Education:

AGREEMENTS Regarding Roles & Responsibilities

Expected BEHAVIORS:

Attachment A - Board of Education "Parking Lot"