Katie Jeffrey

School Policy Review

Policies are an important part of any well functioning organization. Policies are

essentially the laws that govern and regulate an organization. They create structure and meaning.

In a school district, policies help to establish rules and procedures. They help to create

accountability and establish standards within a school. Policies help establish clear expectations

for all stakeholders involved including, the school board, administrators, teachers, support staff,

students, and parents. School policies also help school run efficiently by providing procedures,

rules, and routines for anything that should arise. School policies provide clear, well defined

responsibilities and expectations for all stakeholders in a school district.

The Revised School Code Act 451 of 1976, describes a school board as governing body

of a local district. This Act gives the school board the authority to develop and make policies for

the district it serves. Section 380.11a of Act 451 gives school districts all of the “rights, power

and duties” stated in the Act. These include education pupils, providing for the safety and

welfare of students, managing school property, managing employees and entering into

agreements. This section also states that a school district will be governed by a school board that

will therefore approve acts and policies by a majority vote. The board will adapt by-laws by

which they will follow. In turn, the Board has full authority over the district and will make all

decisions regarding school policy.

School Board Policies can vary from district to district but generally address similar

policies. The first policy included is usually the by-laws of the School Board. By-laws provide

the basis for how the Board will operate. By-laws may include the official description of the

Board, powers and philosophies, and function of the Board. Also included are the organization
of meetings and the duties of all Board members. This may also include information pertaining

to school leaders and administration including their responsibilities and job descriptions. By-laws

provide the procedures and routines of how the Board will be operated.

Polices involving instruction or school programs are also included in School Board

Policy. This policy might include goals for students, schools and districts. Other subjects

included could be curriculum development, other school programs, Title 1 programs, homework

and other subjects that pertain to instruction. Another large part of this policy is school

improvement, student assessment, and program evaluation as well as statements regarding

discrimination, least restrictive environment, and student privacy. This section of School Board

Policies provides many guidelines for the day to day function of a school.

School Board Policy also includes procedures and statements regarding personnel. This

includes staff, substitutes, resource personnel, and volunteers. This section might include

procedures for hiring staff including background checks and anti discrimination statements as

well as procedures for staff discipline, termination, resignation, leaves of absence and so on.

This section outlines all expectations regarding staff such as ethics, outside activities,

harassment, workplace safety, behavior, and FMLA. Many of these topics will be discussed and

defined explicitly in staff handbook that is based on these policies outline in the School Board

Policy.

Another important topic outlined in School Board Policy is students. This section would

include all policies, statements and procedures regarding students. The admission of students

would include general admission policies. Policies regarding attendance include absences, early

release and late arrival. Health services may also be included. This topic might include

immunization information, medications, special dietary needs, accident procedure, and suicide
prevention. Stances on promotion, placement and retention could also be outlined. These might

include reporting student progress, grading, and graduation requirements. Student conduct is

also discussed in this policy. This section would include policies regarding dress, caring for

school property, hazing, bullying, disorderly conduct, and drug prevention. Student discipline is

also included and may provide information about removal, suspension, expulsion, and student

restraint. A section is also included about student rights including equal access, search and

seizure, weapons etc. All of these topics would further be explained along with consequences in

a student handbook based on these policies developed by the Board.

A policy involving the finances of the district is also included in School Board Policies. .

This includes may include information about federal funds, student fees, fiscal planning, budget,

purchasing, new construction or renovation bids. This may also include information regarding

payroll, Fair Labor Standards Act and may also include a system for accounting. This policy

should outline how to deal with all issues involving finances.

Another topic that should be included in a School Board Policy is property. This would

include anything involving school property and events that may happen on school property. This

may include weapons on campus, maintenance, safety, and inventory. Other topics may include

use of school facilities, cell phone policy, computer and network policy, school webpage, and

acceptable network and internet use for both students and staff.

Operations is another policy that should be included. This may include information

regarding the school calendar and school day as well as public, personnel and student records.

School safety information is part of the operations section along with food service, insurance and

a statement about religious/patriotic ceremonies and observances.

 The final policy that should be included is community relations. This section outlines the

relationship between the district and stakeholders including parents and the public. A section

dealing with public complaints should also be outlined. It is important to note that the Board

provides a basic policy or procedure for all the topics previously discussed. School leaders may

expand and provide more detail especially in staff and student handbooks which then would need

to be approved by the Board. The School Board Policy is a guideline.

Policies and procedure are written by administrators. They should be current and up to

date. Policies and procedures should also be reviewed and revised if needed on a regular basis.

New policies should also be added as needed. They should be written with a specific audience in

mind. In a school district this could include administrators, teachers, support staff, students, or

parents. Policies and procedures should be clear and concise as to not be confusing to the

intended audience. For example, the Student Handbook should be written using student friendly

language.

There is a process to make policies become official. First, a rough draft of the policy

needs to be written, typically by a principal. Then the policy would go through a review

committee made up of stakeholders. Discussion would ensue and revisions may be made.

Eventually the policy would make it to the superintendent for review where revisions could take

place again or the policy could be sent to the Board for approval. The School Board could ask

for revisions, deny the policy, or approve the policy. The policy has to be approved by a majority

vote of the School Board. The School Board has the final say as to whether a policy will become

an official school policy.

Policies are implemented at many different levels in a school or school district. Many

policies do not affect the actual day to day operations of a school, such as hiring and terminating
staff. For this purpose only the policies that directly affect a school on a day to day basis will be

discussed. First it is imperative that the policies be communicated to staff and students. One

effective way to do this is through the staff and student handbook. Both of these will provide the

staff and students a basic outline of procedures and routines. Other procedures and policies such

as student discipline should be communicated with staff multiple times and in multiple ways.

Many school leaders may designate time on a professional development day to communicate

discipline procedures. When implementing a new procedure, it would also be in good practice to

develop and implementation plan to help staff implement the new policy. Progress of

implementation should be monitored and the plan should be revisited and reaffirmed often. Staff

should also be held accountable for implementing policies. One way to do this would be to

include following procedures and policies in teacher evaluations Likewise, implementation plans

could be developed for staff members who may be having difficulty implementing or following

any policy. If staff is not making progress on their plan, then the school leader or Board may use

discipline the staff member as they see fit. Again, clear and concise communication about

policies will assist with implementation.

There are a few strengths and weaknesses of the school policy system. One weakness is

that decisions about school policy are made by a relatively small few. Although the School

Board is the governing body of a school district, only a few people are making decisions for the

whole district. Politics can always be a risk when dealing with a Board of any kind. On the flip

side, by the time the policies make it to the School Board for vote, they have been reviewed and

revised multiple times by multiple stakeholders.

In conclusion, the School Board has the complete authority to set school policies. These

school policies help to ensure a school district can operate to serve their students the best they
can. School policies provide a basis for which procedures, rules and standards are developed.

They also establish accountability and expectations for all stakeholders. Well written and well

implemented policies help to form the basis to ensure a quality education for all students.