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Check Your Board Policies . . . Every school district has a set of board policies and administrative regulations that cover a host of topics related to the governance of the district. While these policies seldom make for exciting reading, they play an important role over time, providing continuity as school board trustees and administrators come and go. Board policies are typically approved and revised, as needed, by the governing board to set the broad direction for the district. Administrative regulations (sometimes called “administrative procedures”) support the board policies with more specific guidelines that support policy implementation. But many school districts still carry policies on their books that date back into the 1980s, or even the 1970s -- documents that were prepared on IBM Selectric typewriters, back in the days when Jimmy Carter was in the White House. Many of these old policies haven’t been reviewed for a decade, two decades or more . . . and are in need of an update. Some are so obsolete that they should be discarded. Many districts, for instance, adopted policies during the 1980s and 1990s banning students from carrying pagers, and later cell phones. At the time, school boards and law enforcement officials associated pagers and cell phones with drug dealers. But during the last few years, cell phones have become incredibly common, as working parents equip their youngsters with a phone as a means to track their whereabouts and communicate with them after school. Many school districts, faced with the reality that hundreds of students were hiding cell phones in their backpacks, revised their policy to reflect conditions on the ground. But you can still find districts that are still carrying old policies banning cell phones, or even pagers. (And when’s the last time you saw a pager?) Old policies can actually hamper a school district’s operation -- particularly when a school board is unaware of the old policies, and acts in ways that puts the board out of compliance with the policies that were adopted decades ago. An example would be the No Child Left Behind legislation enacted in 2001, which includes requirements for teachers and paraeducators to meet “Highly Qualified” compliance standards. Most districts have updated their policies and regulations since 2001 to address NCLB requirements. Although all districts must meet the “Highly Qualified” standards, some districts have not incorporated this topic into their policies and regulations yet. Board policies and the related administrative regulations are usually voluminous, as they are grouped into categories for greater ease of use. Categories often include such areas as philosophy, goals, objectives; community relations; administration; business and non-instructional operations; personnel (human resources); students; and instruction. In the personnel area, it is not uncommon for policies and regulations to be divided further into categories such as certificated, classified, and administrative and supervisory. Districts should keep board policies up-to-date so they reflect current laws, legal decisions, and other prevailing requirements to guide the district’s work. Districts should also ensure policies and regulations are understood by staff. Personnel offices need to follow establish procedures in many day-to-day operations. Some personnel offices structure their operations procedure manuals to aligns with the district’s written policies and regulations. If policies and regulations are not maintained on an ongoing basis, the district may run the risk of not meeting legal requirements set by the governing board. And in today’s litigious society, that’s a situation that school districts are well advised to avoid. Editor's Note: Steve Horowitz is the Director of Human Resources and Organizational Development for the educational consulting firm Total School Solutions. |
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