When the CulverPride weekly newsletter began publishing a column called Board Corner a couple of years ago, every other week the Board provided a post-Board of Education meeting recap, highlighting the most important discussion and decision items from the bi-monthly meetings.
As Paula Amezola begins her new term as Board President, the Board has begun issuing a weekly Board Corner column. In the weeks during which there is no meeting, the Board will highlight some important functions and priorities for which the Board is responsible.
This past week, the Board begins its educational series by asking, “What is the role of the Board?”
The answer to this can be found on the California School Board Association (CSBA) Roles and Responsibilities page.
“Citizen oversight of local government is the cornerstone of democracy in the United States. School board members are locally elected public officials entrusted with governing a community’s public schools. The role of the school board is to ensure that school districts are responsive to the values, beliefs and priorities of their communities. Boards fulfill this role by performing five major responsibilities:
Setting direction
Establishing an effective and efficient structure
Providing support
Ensuring accountability
Providing community leadership as advocates for children, the school district and public schools
These five responsibilities represent core functions that are so fundamental to a school system’s accountability to the public that they can only be performed by an elected governing body. Authority is granted to the board as a whole, not each member individually. Therefore, board members fulfill these responsibilities by working together as a governance team with the superintendent to make decisions that will best serve all the students in the community.”
The second thing to know is that the Board supervises, supports one employee, and holds accountable only one employee – the superintendent. The Board does not manage other administrators, teachers, or certificated employees, nor does the Board have authority over any issues with individual students, classrooms or on-campus activities.
The Board looks forward to providing more information about board governance in general, as well as giving you insight into the priorities, thought processes and strategies of CCUSD’s five-member Board of Education.
CulverPride
Photo Caption- CCUSD School Board President Paula Amezola
