What is it about?
School boards have only one employee, the district administrator. For the school board to make its will known and acted upon, it passes policies that instruct the administration, teachers, staff, and students on how to operate the schools. Most school districts use management by policy. It keeps the school board from micromanaging while creating accountability for the operations and conduct of the schools. School boards must periodically evaluate the effectiveness and the unintended outcomes of each policy.
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Why is it important?
The school board may pass a policy that appears to be straightforward in directing the actions of the administration, teachers, staff, and students. As the policy is implemented, it causes an increase in suspensions, failures, absences, or limits instructional effectiveness, or creates problems with the community values, then the board needs to evaluate the policy and make changes.
Perspectives
I have seen well-intentioned policies aimed at adding rigor to the curriculum, decreasing behavior problems, absenteeism, drug use in schools, and even parking lot rules that have created unintended problems. A rural school district that forbids students from driving snowmobiles or tractors to school will probably increase absenteeism. "No excuses" discipline may increase drop-out rates. More rigorous grading policies will probably increase failures.
Daniel Paulson
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Policy and Procedures, July 2025, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1163/9789004736597_007.
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