File: BBA
School Board Powers and Responsibilities
Powers and
mandatory duties of the Board are defined in state statutes.
This Board
considers that its most important functions fall into the following categories:
1. Legislative or policymaking. The Board is responsible for the development
of policy and for the employment of a superintendent who will carry out its
policy through the development and implementation of regulations.
2. Student achievement. The Board believes that one of its primary responsibilities
is to provide leadership in the area of student achievement. Toward that end, the Board shall focus its
attention and energy on the quality of education provided in the school and on
the achievement of the school’s students.
3. Personnel.
The Board is responsible for employing a superintendent who meets
the qualifications set forth in state law as well as any additional
qualifications established by the Board.
The Board is also responsible for evaluating the superintendent’s
performance in accordance with applicable Board policy. The Board shall review and approve or deny
the superintendent’s recommended appointments of school officers and employees.
4. Additional educational services and charter
schools. The Board may choose to
provide additional educational services throughout the state, through
intergovernmental agreements with school districts or other local governmental
entities, partnerships with BOCES, and through charter schools. The Board may
also provide a program of instruction for parents of children who are deaf
and/or blind throughout
5. Student admissions and delivery of other
services. The Board is responsible
for determining eligibility of students and providing for students’ necessary
bedding, food and medical services, and such other things as may be proper for
students’ health and comfort. The Board
is also responsible for setting tuition and other fees for nonresidents of the
state and entering into contracts for the admission of out-of-state students to
the school.
6. Financial resources. The Board is responsible for adopting a
budget that will provide the financial basis for buildings, staff, materials
and equipment which will enable the school to carry out the educational
program. The Board is responsible for
exercising
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control over the finances of the school to
ensure proper use of, and accounting for, all school funds, in accordance with
applicable law. The Board is also
responsible for oversight of the school’s trust fund, and may expend such
amounts from the trust fund as the Board deems to be in the best interest of
the school and its students.
7. School property. To the extent permitted by law, the Board
is responsible for acquiring, holding, leasing and selling school property, for
purchasing sites, and for approving building plans that will support and
enhance the educational program.
8. Communication with the public. The Board is responsible for providing
adequate and direct means for keeping the local citizenry informed about the
school and for keeping itself informed about the wishes of the public.
9. Judicial. The Board is responsible for acting as a
court of appeal for school staff members, students and the public when issues
involve Board policies and their fair implementation.
The Board may
exercise the above powers and duties only when convened in a legally
constituted meeting.
All powers of
the Board lie in its action as a group.
Individual Board members exercise authority only as they vote at a legal
meeting of the Board or when the Board has lawfully delegated authority to
them.
No Board
member, by virtue of his/her office, shall exercise any administrative
responsibility with respect to the school or, as an individual, command the
services of any school employee. A
member of the Board who takes action on behalf of the Board shall inform the
other Board members of the nature and extent of their action not later than the
next scheduled Board meeting and at an earlier date if the member deems
necessary.
Board members
are expected to be free during reasonable hours and times, to discuss with
parents, teachers, or students, concerns raised. While the Board hopes to achieve an open and
forthright relationship with the superintendent and other administrators of the
school, it shall always be recognized that the Board is separate from, and
independent of, administration and has the right and duty to take a stance
separate and apart from administration if it is deemed to be in the best
interests of the school to do so.
A
representative of the Board may be required to testify in front of the
legislature on behalf of the school or on issues pertaining to the school. A representative of the Board may be required
to attend various school and community functions in the role of public speaker.
Adopted by Board
of Trustees:
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LEGAL REFS.: C.R.S.
22-80-102(4)
C.R.S. 22-80-103(3),(4),(5),(6)
C.R.S.
22-80-105(1)
C.R.S.
22-80-106(1)(a)
C.R.S. 22-80-110
C.R.S. 22-80-116
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