Procedure: 2460P
Instruction
Site-Based Decision Making
Participation:
A learning improvement team shall be established and maintained at each school building in the district. The charge of each team is to develop a learning plan for its school by specifying the activities, necessary human and material resources and budget that will enhance student learning in the school. Each team is also charged with developing operating procedures. The teams shall operate within the district’s policies, budget parameters established by the board, the requirements of contracts to which the district is a party and all other legal constraints. The teams’ activities, decisions and recommendations shall be consistent with the district’s long range plans and shall contribute to achieving district goals.
Learning Improvement Plan Approval
The learning improvement plan developed by each team shall be reviewed and approved at the school level before being submitted to the school board. The board shall conduct a public hearing on the plan and may refer a plan back to a learning improvement team with recommendations for change. When approved by the board the plan shall be submitted to the superintendent of public instruction as part of the district’s application for student learning improvement grants.
Once a school’s learning improvement plan has been approved by the board, the team shall meet at regular intervals to review progress toward the plan’s goals, to develop actions and strategies which may contribute to the plan’s success and annually to evaluate and report to the Board on the progress of the student learning improvement plan.
Learning Improvement Team Operations
Each learning improvement team shall develop its own operating procedures to govern its operations. As a minimum these shall:
1. identify the membership of the team, including at a minimum, the principal, nonadministrative certificated staff, classified staff, parents, members of the community served by the school, and students (in middle and high schools). The principals shall be both members of their respective teams and technical advisors to their teams.
2. provide that, whenever practicable, team members shall be selected by the group they represent.
3. emphasize decision by consensus in order to encourage the development of decisions which have the support of most of the school community.
4. provide for annual self-evaluation of the work of the team as part of its report to the board; And
5. identify the communications responsibilities of the team and its members for the purpose of informing all people with an interest in the work of the school.
The superintendent shall establish the interim procedures for identifying the members of the initial learning improvement teams. Such procedures shall be consistent with the above criteria and effective until each site’s operating procedures are developed and approved.
Learning Improvement Team Accountability
The superintendent, in collaboration with the learning improvement teams, shall develop evaluation methods for the teams which include the following criteria:
What are the specific results from the student learning improvement plan and other team activities?
Is there evidence of improved student performance, school climate, and improved support for learning among parents, students and the community?
Has the team operated within its delegated authority by focusing on plans and strategies to improve student learning?
Has the team effectively used consensus decision making?
Do the decisions reflect consideration of the need for consistency and compatibility among schools in the district?