WHAT MAKES A GOOD SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER

SCHOOLS

BHES

BVES

FOX LANE HIGH SCHOOL

FLMS

MKES

PRES

SCANDALS

The Public Schools of Westchester County New York

Details concerning these requirements may be obtained from your district's clerk or from the Bureau of Educational Management Services, New York State Education Department, Albany, N. Y. 12234.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER

The legal requirements for board membership are few, but qualifications for effective service are many.

A board member should have a broad background of experience and knowledge or be ready, willing and able to learn quickly. Intelligence, awareness and sensitivity will see him or her through the intricacies of such issues as school finance, student-employee-community relationships and curriculum. A board member must understand simplistic approaches will not meet the complex challenges imposed by the demands of contemporary education.

A board member must he motivated by a sincere desire to serve the community rather than to achieve personal glory or carry out a personal vendetta. Board members must invest many hours in discharging their duties.

A board member must be able to provide today's kind of education for today's children. He or she must understand the forces of change in society and foresee their potential effects on the district.

Tolerant and free of prejudice, a board member must he responsive to the human needs of individuals and groups. He or she must bear in mind that, as a state official, his or her responsibility is to all the state's children.

A hoard member should be able to defend his or her hoard's philosophy and goals and withstand the criticism that will inevitably come from people with opposing views. He or she will not confuse a few noisy voices in the community with consensus.

A board member is a member of the district's education team. A board's decision-making authority is vested in the board of education as a corporate body, not in the individual board member. He or she must remember that the

superintendent is also a member of the team and must he able and willing to work with all the team members.

WHAT DOES A BOARD MEMBER DO?

One of the most important duties of a school board member is to help set goals and establish policy for the school system. All board decisions should follow logically from the board's delineated goals and objectives.

Board members are expected to make decisions on a wide range of problems. Some decisions are strictly routine, while others are somewhat more complex; some are extremely important and some may result from many lesser ones.

One of the most important Association services is its orientation seminars for new school board members. Participating in one of these is perhaps the most effective way a new board member can learn about his or her job quickly.

A board member must remember decisions are to tie made only by the board acting as a whole in a public meeting. Individual members' opinions on board matters can and should be defended vigorously, but once the board has made a decision as a unit, its members should accept it gracefully and help implement it wholeheartedly. No individual board member may bind the board of education to a particular course of action.

Effective board members establish good working relationships with the superintendent of schools. Although it has been said frequently that the board makes policy and the superintendent administers it, the line between policy and administration is often blurred. The board should refrain from becoming involved in the day-to-day operation of the school, but it should follow up on the administration and operation of the school and require periodic reports for purposes of evaluation.

Perhaps the most important work a board member can do is to help build the community's support and understanding of public education. This means serving as a link between the school and the public and interpreting the schools to the public and the public to the schools. Members also can help establish a climate for change when change is necessary.

THE STATE ASSOCIATION

The New York State School Boards Association was founded in 1896 in Utica, N.Y., and it was incorporated in 1935.

The Association coordinates the activities and interests of New York State's school boards. It provides information and advice on school board problems to its members and cooperates with other educational organizations for the welfare of public school children in the state.

During the legislative session the Association works to ensure adequate state support of education and enactment of legislation that favors the interests of the public schools.

The Association conducts a wide-ranging program of in-service education for school board members and administrators as well as an annual delegate assembly and convention.

The Association invites all board members to avail themselves of its programs and services. The Association's headquarters are in Albany.

We are as close as your telephone at 518-465-3474.

The New York State School Boards Association is an instrumentality of the school districts of New York State as defined in subdivision I of section 313 of the Retirement and Social Security Law.

The expenditure of public funds to the Association has legal basis in section 1618 of the Education law of 1945.

JOIN T CODE OF CONDUCT FOR

SCHOOL BOARDS AND SUPERINTENDENTS

This Joint Code of Conduct was developed co-operatively bay the New York State Council of School Superintendents and the New York State School Boards, is Association and was adopted by their respective fit e governing bodies in spring 1983 and amended in 1994.The success of every school system depends on an effective working relationship between the school board and the superintendent. Ibis code emphasizes the most important goats and obligations of that relationship.

Assure the opportunity for high quality education for every student and make the well-being of students the fundamental principle in all decisions and actions. Honor all national, state, and local laws and regulations pertaining to education and public agencies. Represent the entire community without fear or

favor, while not using these positions for personal gain and accepting all responsibilities as a means of unselfish service.

Uphold the principles of due process and individual dignity, and protect the civil and human rights of all. Adhere to die principle that the board shall confine its role to policy making, planning, and appraisal while the superintendent shall implement die board's policies.

Act as part of an educational team with mutual respect, civility, and regard for each other's respective responsibilities and duties, recognizing that the strength of a school board is in acting as a board, not as individuals; and that the strength of the superintendent is in being the educational leader of the school district.

Practice and promote ethical behavior in the boardroom and in the classroom.

Maintain high standards and the effectiveness of education through research and continuing professional development.

Consider and decide all issues fairly and without bias.

Instill respect for community, state and nation. Protect the spirit and letter of all contract, until fulfillment or modification by mutual agreement_ Inspire and nurture the highest level of ethic:, and integrity.