Plan to review policies annually
Published: December 5, 2012
Local governance teams should plan to review their policies each year to account for new legislation, court decisions, administrative regulations and societal changes.
It’s that continual process of policy review and revision that ensures the policies actually reflect the community’s values, beliefs and priorities, said Martin Gonzalez, CSBA’s assistant executive director for Member Services.
CSBA’s Policy Services
staff and legal counsel are continually combing through new laws and regulations, as well as recent court decisions and other conditions to develop sample board policies and regulations to guide local school districts. Updated sample policies are sent three times each year to Policy Services subscribers.
While CSBA’s sample policies cite applicable legal and educational codes and offer options to consider when drafting a local policy, governance teams should consider how they might incorporate local values, beliefs and priorities in their final adopted policies.
“That’s why the role of the board is so important,” Gonzalez said. “The policies have to resonate with the community.”
The process of adopting policy should not be taken for granted, he continued, urging local boards to give extra attention, including review by legal counsel, to policies that have the potential for creating controversy.
As society changes, new trends often call for a review of existing board policies or for adding a new policy, noted Bode Owoyele, senior director of CSBA’s Policy Manual Maintenance service. That’s been the case in recent years in response to the use of new technologies such as cell phones and social networking platforms in schools; or new state laws that shift the emphasis away from zero tolerance discipline policies that were once quite popular.
The Policy Services staff produces an annual guide to the major policy issues addressed throughout the year; “Policies in Review” is posted annually on the CSBA website. Work is now under way on the 2012 edition.