Skip to content

Category: Board Policy

Published on

Effective: 9/25/2012
Revision: 11/30/2021
Reviewed: 10/10/2023

The Board shall prepare an agenda for all regular and special Board meetings and ensure that copies are provided as required by the Open Meeting Law. Backup materials sufficient to allow Board members to give their prior consideration to the agenda items shall be provided to the Board members in addition to the agenda. Every Board member has the right to contribute to the agenda.

In preparing the agenda, the following procedures will be followed:

  1. Board members shall contact the Board Executive Committee (Board President, First Vice President and Second Vice President) in writing prior to each Board meeting requesting items to be placed on the agenda.
    1. If a Board member wishes to place an item on the agenda, he/she will contact a member of the Executive Committee not less than seven days prior to Board meeting when possible.  If a holiday occurs during this period, the deadline may be adjusted.
    2. Each agenda item request should  include a description, desired outcome statement, Board policy if applicable, and name of the person presenting.
    3. When requesting an agenda item, the Board member will specify the timeframe for when the item needs addressed.
    4. Closed session items may be requested by calling  a member of the Executive Committee.
    5. The Board First Vice President and Second Vice President will forward potential agenda items to the Board President.
  2. The Cabinet will submit agenda items to the Superintendent. The Superintendent will submit requested agenda items to the Board President.
  3. According to the posting dates of the agenda, the Executive Committee will review all agenda item requests. Every attempt will be made to honor the requests. Time and circumstances may necessitate the postponement of a requested agenda item. Board members and Superintendent will be notified if their agenda item is not included.
    1. The Board President will review all agenda item requests with the Superintendent.
    2. A draft agenda will be prepared and submitted in a timely manner to the Executive Committee for final approval.
    3. When at all possible, items placed on the agenda shall be referenced to a Board policy or appear on the consent agenda.
    4. An item will automatically be placed on the agenda for the next meeting upon written request of three or more Board members.
    5. The Board will have the final say in the event of a dispute.
    6. The approved agenda will be distributed to Board members and posted according to Open Meeting Laws.
  4. Addendum usage should be as minimal as possible. Addenda will only be used when the item is operationally necessary as determined by the Superintendent. Addendum items with background reference materials will be distributed electronically to Board members prior to the meeting.

Published on
  • Effective - 09/25/2012
  • Revision -
  • Reviewed - 3/31/2015

The Superintendent and/or Business Administrator will not cause or allow any practice, activity, decision, or organizational circumstance, which is either unlawful, imprudent or in violation of commonly accepted business and professional ethics and practices.

Published on
  • Effective: 9/25/2012
  • Revision: 11/26/20

Reference: Appendix “Procedures for Election of Board Officers”

The officers of the Board shall be a President, a First Vice President, and a Second Vice President. They shall be elected at the first Board of Education meeting in January from among the Board members.

  1. The term of office for all officers shall be two years in accordance with Utah Code 53G-4-201. Board members may be elected to more than one term.
  2. Procedure for the Election of Board Officers: The following procedure, utilized one office at a time, will be used for selecting a Board member to serve for each office:
    1. Nominations: Any Board member may nominate for any office, including the nomination of oneself.
      1. Nominations do not need to be seconded.
      2. A motion, a second, and a vote will close nominations.
      3. See Appendix “Procedures for Election of Board Officers” for detailed instructions according to Roberts Rules of Order.
    2. Voting: To be elected to an office, a nominee must receive four affirmative votes.
      1. Voting shall be by raise of hand.
      2. Candidates for an office shall be voted on according to the order of the nominations. The first nominee to receive four votes is elected to the office and the voting ceases for that office.
      3. If no candidate receives a simple majority due to more than two candidates receiving votes, the candidate(s) receiving the lowest number of votes will be given the option to withdraw. Regardless of that candidate’s choice, the Board will move to a run-off vote.
      4. The run-off vote will be only between the two candidates receiving the two lowest numbers of votes. This vote will be by raise of hand. After the run-off vote, a final round of voting will take place, by hand vote, to determine a majority winner. For additional detailed instructions according to Roberts Rules of Order, see the Appendix “Procedures for Election of Board Officers.”
  3. If an office becomes vacant for any reason, the office shall be filled by an election for that office by the Board members in the same manner as outlined in the Procedure for Election of Officers. Election shall take place as soon as possible at a meeting following receipt of notice of the vacancy and in accordance with the Open Meeting Law. If the office of the President becomes vacant, the Vice President shall fill the vacancy until the election of a successor.
  4. An officer may be removed from office by provisions in Utah Code 53G-4-203.

Revision history: 2/24/15

Published on

Effective: 9/25/2012
Revision: 1/28/2014

The Board will invest in training and preparation to govern with excellence.

Accordingly:

  1. Board skills, methods, and supports will be sufficient to assure governing with excellence.
    1. Training and retraining may be used liberally to orient new members and may be offered to candidates, as well as to maintain and increase existing member skills and understanding.
    2. Outside monitoring assistance may be arranged so that the Board can exercise confident control over organizational performance. This includes, but is not limited to, fiscal audits, surveys, or other practices by the Board.
    3. Outreach mechanisms will be used as needed to ensure the Board’s ability to listen to owners’ viewpoints and values.
    4. The cost of governance is not limited to leadership excellence. Good governing requires adequate resources to ensure the desired outcome of Board policies. Resources will be allocated for:
      1. Agenda production
      2. Transcription and production of minutes
      3. Response to constituent concerns
      4. Board communications
      5. Staff training in governance, public engagement, and customer service issues
  2. Costs will be incurred prudently, though not at the expense of good governance as follows:
    1. Sufficient resources will be budgeted within the General Fund to conduct Board professional development and supplemented with grants and contributions.
    2. Sufficient funding will be budgeted within the general funds to conduct audits and other third party monitoring or organizational performance.
  3. The Board will approve an annual plan derived from the perpetual calendar (see GP102 Board Responsibilities, GP103 Board Members’ Principles of Operation – Conduct and Ethics) and will include a review of the budget to guarantee issues, including an extensive policy review, will be conducted every year following the legislative session to ensure compliance with legislative changes.

Published on
  • Effective - 09/25/2012
  • Revision - 7/25/2017

In order to protect the Board from the sudden loss of services of the Superintendent and/or Business Administrator, each of these administrators shall have no fewer than two other administrators who are collectively familiar with their respective positions and the issues and processes of the Board.

Published on
  • Effective - 09/25/12
  • Revision - 09/25/2018

The Superintendent shall prepare an annual progress report for the public that includes the following items:

  1. Performance data toward accomplishing the Board’s Ends policies.
  2. Information about District strategies, programs and operations intended to accomplish the Board’s Ends policies.
  3. Revenues, expenditures and costs of major programs and elements of District operation.

Published on
  • Effective - 09/25/2012
  • Revision -

The Superintendent will not permit the Board to be uninformed or unsupported in its work.

Without limiting the scope of the aforementioned statement, the Superintendent will not:

  1. Neglect to submit monitoring data required by the Board in a timely, accurate, and understandable fashion, directly addressing the provisions of Board policies being monitored (see policy BSC204 Monitoring Superintendent Performance).
  2. Fail to communicate District objectives or fail to provide accurate data which reflects the need for improvement as well as success.
  3. Fail to notify the public when policies are under consideration for revision or adoption.
  4. Fail to report in a timely manner an actual or anticipated noncompliance with a policy of the Board.
  5. Fail to make the Board aware of state and federal legislative changes, District compliance to those changes, relevant trends, changes in Board district policies, anticipated adverse media coverage, threatened or pending lawsuits, significant harm to student(s) or staff, material external and internal changes, particularly changes in the assumptions upon which any Board policy has previously been established.
  6. Fail to support the Board in its Community Connection initiatives that develop community relations and communications with parents, community members, and staff.
  7. Fail to advise the Board if, in the Superintendent’s opinion, the Board is not in compliance with its own policies on Governance Process and Board/Superintendent Connection.
  8. Fail to provide for the Board as many staff and external points of view, all pertinent and significant information, issues and opinions as the Board determines it needs for fully informed Board choices.
  9. Fail to submit to the Board a consent agenda containing items delegated to the Superintendent, yet required by law, regulation, or contract to be Board approved, along with applicable monitoring information.

Published on

Effective: 9/25/2012
Revision: 1/28/2014
Reviewed: 2/24/2015

To accomplish its job with a governance style consistent with Board policies, the Board of Education will follow an annual agenda, which completes a re-exploration of Ends policies annually, and continually improves Board performance through Board education and enriched input and deliberation.

Accordingly, the Board will:

  1. Evaluate and review a perpetual calendar that includes a schedule of monitoring reports, regular board meetings, monthly governance policy reviews, Superintendent and Business Administrator evaluations and reviews, community connection activities, Town Hall meetings, Board assessment, Board and staff training, policy related briefings and analysis, public policy reviews, and other relevant issues. The perpetual calendar will reflect the outline of governance activities. The annual calendar will determine specific information.
  2. Finalize its Ends for the following year by the last day of December so that administrative planning and budgeting can take place.
  3. Develop the Board’s agenda for the next year by engaging in consultations with selected groups in Jordan School District or other methods of gaining input from the owners of Jordan School District. Governance education and education related to Ends determination, (e.g. presentations by futurists, demographers, advocacy groups, staff, etc.) will be arranged as desired to be held during the balance of the year and continually assessed throughout the year.
  4. Attend to consent agenda items as expeditiously as possible.
  5. Decide Superintendent and Business Administrator contract modifications only after a review of monitoring reports received in the last year.
  6. The Board will conduct a review of Governance Process (GP), Board/Superintendent Connection (B/SC) and Executive Limitations (EL) policies monthly. The reviews will serve two purposes:
    1. To conduct Board assessment by reviewing Board activity and adherence to GP and B/SC policies.
    2. To examine policies for possible revision. The Board President will post the GP, B/SC and EL policies to be reviewed at the respective meetings on the annual calendar.

Appendix for GP108

Published on

Effective: 09/25/2012
Revision: 1/25/2022

Board members may represent the Board on committees created by the District or other organizations.

  1. The President shall collaborate with Board members to make assignments and submit them to the Board for approval.
  2. Appointments to District or community boards/committees must be made according to the bylaws of the committee or board.
  3. Individual Board members assigned to committees or other organizations should report to the full Board when items pertaining to the Board or District arise.
  4. Board members should speak in harmony with Board policies and practices when representing the Board.
  5. Recommendations or proposals from committees can be provided during committee reports or processed as outlined in policy GP109 Construction of the Agenda.
  6. Assignments to committees and/or organizations may change as needs arise. See appendix Jordan School District Board of Education Committee Assignments for a list of current committees and assignments.

Revision history: 1/28/2014, 3/31/15, 3/27/18

Published on
  • Effective: 9/25/2012
  • Revision: 4/23/19

The Board will instruct the Superintendent through written policies that prescribe the organizational Ends to be achieved and describe organizational situations and actions to be avoided, allowing the Superintendent to use any reasonable interpretation of these policies.

Accordingly:

  1. The Board will develop policies instructing the Superintendent to achieve certain results for certain recipients at a specified cost. These policies will be developed systematically from the broadest, most general level to more defined levels, and will be called Ends policies.
  2. The Board will develop policies which limit the latitude the Superintendent may exercise in choosing the organizational means. These policies will be developed systematically from the broadest, most general level to more defined levels, and they will be called Executive Limitations policies.
  3. As long as the Superintendent uses any reasonable interpretation of the Board’s Ends and Executive Limitations policies, and specific action or instruction of the Board, the Superintendent is authorized to establish all further policies and procedures, make all decisions, take all actions, establish all practices, and/or develop all activities.
  4. The Board may change its Ends and Executive Limitations policies, thereby shifting the boundary between Board and Superintendent domains. By doing so, the Board changes the latitude of choice given to the Superintendent. However, as long as any particular Ends or Executive Limitations policies are in place, the Board will respect and support the Superintendent’s choices.
  5. The Superintendent will author policies to direct the operation of the District through staff and public input and the Board retains final approval.