School Committee duties

With some potential new members coming to the School Committee, I thought it would be a good idea to find out what the School Committee duties are. The following comes from the School Committee policy library.

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Policy BBAA

SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBER AUTHORITY

Authority

Because all powers of the Franklin School Committee derived from state laws are granted in terms of action as a group, members of the School Committee have authority only when acting as a committee legally in session.

The School Committee will not be bound in any way by any statement or action on the part of an individual member except when such statement or action is a result of specific instructions of the committee.

No member of the committee, by virtue of his/her office, will exercise any administrative responsibility with respect to the schools or command the services of any school employee.

The School Committee will function as a body and all policy decisions and other matters, as required by law, will be settled by an official vote of the committee sitting on formal session.

Duties

The duties and obligations of the individual committee member may be enumerated as follows:

1. To become familiar with the General Laws of the Commonwealth relating to educational and School Committee operations, regulations of the Massachusetts Board of Education, policies and procedures of this School Committee and the school department.

2. To keep abreast of new laws and the latest trends in education.

3. To have general knowledge of the goals, objectives, and programs of the town's public schools.

4. To work harmoniously with other committee members without trying either to dominate the committee or neglect his/her share of work.

5. To respect the privileged communication that exists in executive sessions by maintaining strict confidentiality on matters discussed in these sessions, except that which becomes part of the public record, once it has been approved for release.

6. To vote and act in committee impartially in the best interest of the students of the town of Franklin.

7. To accept the will of the majority vote in all cases, and to remember that he/she is one of a team and must abide by, and carry out, all committee decisions once they are made.

8. To represent the committee and the schools to the public in a way that promotes interest and support.

9. To refer questions and complaints to the proper school authorities.

10. To comply with the accepted code of ethics for School Committee members.

This policy statement can be found online with all the School Committee policies here