Approved: March 13, 2019 120 Rule
SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS AND NEW MEMBER ORIENTATION
Beginning in November and through December, the Board President shall remind board members whose terms expire the following spring to submit their papers by the prescribed deadline in December. This deadline applies for candidates who run for re-election and those who do not.
The District Administrator and Board President shall set a meeting in December to orient prospective board candidates. Information provided shall include but will not be limited to:
- Expected time commitment
- Expected board member participation beyond the two monthly meetings
- Current issues facing the board and the district
Once the slate of candidates is set, the Deputy Clerk shall provide all prospective board members with complete board packets until the election. On election night, the district administrator shall contact all candidates with the result of the election.
NEW MEMBER ORIENTATION:
After the April election, the Board President or designee and the District Administrator shall welcome any newly elected members to the board. All other board members are encouraged to welcome the new members as well.
After the election and before the second April board meeting, the following orientation activities shall occur:
- The Wisconsin Association of School Boards (WASB) and the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) provide high quality new board member orientation sessions right after the April elections. The board president or designee shall provide new board members with orientation dates for these functions and encourage them to attend.
- The District Administrator or designee shall conduct building tours for each new board member.
- The District Business Manager shall conduct a school finance orientation session for all new board members.
- The Student Services Director shall conduct an orientation session for new members with a focus on special education law and funding.
- The Board President and District Administrator shall conduct an orientation session for new members. The new members shall be reminded that the school board’s primary responsibilities are to:
- Set the vision and goals for the district
- Adopt policies that give the district direction to set priorities and achieve its goals
- Hire and evaluate the superintendent
- Adopt and oversee the annual budget, and
- Manage the collective bargaining process for employees of the district
At this session, new members will receive their Board Binder containing essential board information, including but not limited to:
- Annual board common meeting themes by month
- Board member working agreements
- Most recent Employee handbook
- Current compensation models for all employee groups
- Most current Collective bargaining agreements
- Most recent list of compiled resources for new board members
- District goals and complete CSI reports
- What every board member needs to know
- 100 level policies (Board oriented policies), policy table of contents and comprehensive list of policies by title
- Open meetings law
- Statutory requirements for school districts
- District Administrator Evaluation policy and form
- Annual Budget report and most current budget
- Most recent detailed DPI report cards for the district and for each school.
- Most recent enrollment projections
Also at this orientation session, the board president or designee shall assign a mentor to each new board member. The mentor’s role will be to help new members navigate the complex concepts of board governance. Ideally, the mentors will be those board members with the most experience.
- At the second April board meeting, the newly elected president shall introduce new members and ask them to give a brief description of themselves.
- Any executive session issues that are ongoing shall be reviewed for the new board members in an executive session at the second April board meeting.
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