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Illinois School Board Journal
November/December 2002

Our policy manual is up-to-date...What now?

by Cathy Talbert

Cathy Talbert is IASB senior director of policy services. You may contact her at ctalbert@iasb.com.

One of our board goals for this year was to update our old policy manual. Whew! Glad that's done. Now we can go on to other things

Does this reflect the attitude of your board toward your board policy manual? If so, please open yourself to other possibilities!

Defining our words and what we mean by them is important to real communication. For example, when the courts talk about "policy," they are talking about written board policy and district practice -- essentially anything and everything the board and district says and does.

School board association staff use a narrower definition of policy. We believe it is important to distinguish between the work of the school board and the work of the staff. We refer to board work as policymaking: establishing "ends" for the district, identifying who receives what benefits and how resources are prioritized. We refer to staff work as implementing board policy: establishing the "means" and identifying how to best proceed to reach the ends established by the board.

Locally elected school boards are by definition policymaking bodies. Policy is the key work of school boards. The School Code provides that school boards have the duty "to adopt and enforce all necessary rules for the management and government of the public schools of the district."

These rules are what we call written board policy.

Your board policy manual is the place where these policy decisions are collected and published. This manual serves several purposes in addition to fulfilling the statutory requirement of establishing the rules for the district.

In its basic form, the policy manual is a legal compliance document. There are state and federal statutes and administrative regulations that require certain topics, such as goals and objectives to guide the administration, to be covered in the board policy manual. There also are certain statutes and regulations that govern the content of some topics that aren't required, but that the board may choose to include, such as the reasons a board may go into closed session. Some topics are not expressly required, but highly recommended to protect a district from potential liability, such as policy on sexual harassment.

All of these topics relate to legal compliance. Most school boards are aware of this service provided by a policy manual and thus the sigh of relief when they know their manual is up-to-date.

Too often school boards do not recognize that the policy manual is also the governing document for the school district. This is the place that staff, students, parents and community members should be able to look to hear the voice of the board.

The policy manual is the document that allows the board to make clear its leadership and direction for the district. Governing policies should state:

• the board-established district ends;
• the board's own processes, including how the board will relate to the community, and how the board will monitor district progress toward its ends;
• the relationship between the board and the superintendent, and through the superintendent, the staff;
• any limitations on superintendent authority;
• and any specific requirements for the superintendent.

A panel roundtable discussion by board members, superintendents and district staff at the 2001 Joint Annual Conference discussed the board policy manual as a governance document. The discussion addressed who needs access to a school district's most recent policies and why. Here's what your colleagues said:

• District staff generally needs to know the most recent board policy in order to implement the policy. This knowledge is critical if the policy's purpose is to be fulfilled. Administration needs this information to field questions it may receive.
• Teachers are frequently the first line of implementation and enforcement of board policy. They can also supply valuable feedback concerning the appropriateness of policy and any unexpected consequences.
• Staff members generally need to know what is expected of them. They need the direction that is supplied by the most current policies.
• Parents and students will find it impossible to comply with policies unless they have easy access to those policies. They need to be able to check the rules. They also need to know whom to call with questions. Parents need to know what is expected of their children.
• The community needs the most recent board policies in order to evaluate what it is getting for its tax dollar. Community members should not have to make assumptions. Access to board policies increases trust and support for the district.
• Municipal agencies need to know board policy to assist in its implementation and to partner in its enforcement.
• Elementary districts need to know the board policies of their high school districts in order to know the expectations that will be placed on their students.

By giving everyone equal access to complete board policy, everyone will operate on the basis of the same, consistent, accurate information.

The laws affecting school districts and the requirements for school board policy are constantly changing. The needs of the local district may be changing. The policymaking role of the board, its essential function in our system of public education as it has been established by our state legislature, is never done. This is the continuing work of the school board.

Documenting this board work in the board policy manual need not be an overwhelming task. The first step is for your board to establish a process for regularly updating the manual.

More than 700 Illinois public school districts use PRESS, the IASB policy and procedure information and updating service, as an important resource in their updating process. The goal of this service is to provide one source that boards and superintendents can rely on to provide current information on required board policy and administrative procedures, as well as the latest thinking about effective school board governance.

IASB policy staff is always available to assist school boards in thinking about and putting into place an efficient and effective local process for updating the board policy manual on a regular basis.

Now you have a current board policy manual, a process for keeping it current and a new appreciation for the policy manual as a governing document, as well as a legal compliance document. But, your work is still not done! Communication of the board policy manual is essential to effective school board governance and allows the board's voice to be heard.

How can your school board communicate its policies? Again, roundtable discussions by your colleagues revealed the most common form of communication is through written board policy manuals -- materials compiled in three-ringed binders and available in the district administrative offices.

Some districts distribute copies of the manual to each school building, each board member, the school library and sometimes the local public library. Board members raised concerns about the cost of staff time to distribute new and updated pages and the constant uncertainty as to whether or not the binders were up-to-date with new and revised policies.

Individual policies sometimes are communicated in staff and student handbooks. This was found to be helpful, but not complete. And, since these handbooks are often revised only once a year, there were concerns about misinformation if a policy changes at any time during the year.

Technology now provides opportunities for 21st Century board policy communication. Easy Internet access to current board policy by board, staff, parents, students and the community 24 hours a day, 365 days a week, is now possible by publishing the policy manual on the World Wide Web. Advantages include quick, easy updating after a board meeting, timesaving links to the complete text of legal references and cross-references to related policies, and a search engine that makes locating the needed policies quick and easy.

The participants in the roundtable discussions unanimously agreed that Web-based publishing was the most highly effective, and in the long run, most cost efficient method of communicating board policy.

You can visit the IASB Web site (www.iasb.com/policy) to see several school board policy manuals online and to learn about a new association service, School Board Policies Online, designed to assist districts that want the advantages of Web publishing.