Standards for Local Boards of Education
The Georgia School Boards Association has developed a set of standards with which all local school boards may voluntarily choose to comply. It is GSBA’s belief that these suggested principles of good practice constitute levels of performance for local boards of education, which communicate an individual local board’s intent that its operation be ethical and effective.
GSBA believes that adoption and adherence to the GSBA Standards for Local Boards of Education will improve the effectiveness and overall governance of the local school system by the local board of education. By providing a sound governance structure, which includes generally accepted best practices, the local board can improve the environment in which student achievement may be enhanced.
The Standards are comprised of eight major components that encompass the primary elements of governing a local school system.
Those components are:
- Vision/Philosophy/Goals
- Systematic Improvement
- Organizational Structure
- Board Operations: Policy Development
- Board Operations: Board Meetings
- Board Operations: Personnel
- Board Operations: Financial Management
- Board/Staff/Community Relations
The Georgia School Boards Association and the Georgia School Superintendents Association challenge their constituents to reach for a higher level of performance by implementing these Standards. Link to the Full Standards Document, which details each of the eight areas above.
The Georgia Constitution calls for its public school systems to be governed by locally elected boards of education that appoint a superintendent, thus creating a leadership team for each school district.
Educational best practices stress the importance of the local board of education and superintendent acting as a leadership team. In order for the leadership team to function properly, the team must plan cooperatively, work together, and trust each other while maintaining separate but united roles to accomplish stated goals. Most importantly, the team must continually evaluate its progress. The team’s focus must be to provide leadership, establish goals and develop an organizational structure to enhance continual improvement in the school district. The GSBA Standards for Local Boards of Education assists the leadership team in establishing and functioning as a “local” organized team to manage and improve the school district.
The Standards assist the leadership team in establishing district vision, district goals, and developing local action plans for continual improvement in all areas. The Standards encourages a continuous improvement cycle, asking:
- Who are we?
- Where are we now?
- Where do we want to go?
- How will we know when we’ve arrived?
- How do we plan to get there?
This cycle, combined with the implementation of the defined “Standard Areas of Responsibilities,” will ensure a functional “local” organizational structure, which empowers the leadership team to manage the school district.
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