As a Member of my local Board of Education, I will strive to improve public education, and to that end I will:
- Attend all regularly scheduled board meetings insofar as possible, and become informed concerning the issues to be considered at those meetings;
- Recognize that I should endeavor to make policy decisions only after full discussion at publicly held board meetings;
- Recognize that I exercise collective authority when acting together with fellow board members and not individual authority;
- Render all decisions based on the available facts and my independent judgment, and refuse to surrender that judgment to individuals or special interest groups;
- Encourage the free expression of opinion by all board members;
- Seek systematic communications between the board and students, staff, and all elements of the community;
- Work with other board members to establish effective board policies and to delegate authority for the administration of the schools to the superintendent;
- Communicate to other board members and the superintendent expressions of public reaction to board policies and school programs;
- Inform myself about current educational issues by individual study and through participation in programs providing needed information, such as those sponsored by my state and national school board associations;
- Support the employment of those persons best qualified to serve as school staff, and insist on a regular and impartial evaluation of all staff;
- Avoid being placed in a position of conflict of interest;
- Take no private action that will compromise the board or administration;
- Preserve the confidentiality of information and documents to which I have access in the scope of my office and which are privileged, exempt, or prohibited from public disclosure under applicable law;
- Support and protect the civil and human rights of all members of the school community;
- Share in the responsibility of all board decisions, regardless of how I voted;
- Remember always that my first and greatest concern must be the educational welfare of the students attending the public schools.
Adoption From a Publication from the National School Board Association
Revised 17-Apr-02
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