Parent Advisory Board Standard
Operating Procedure
2008-2009
(revised September
16, 2008)
This Standard
Operating Procedure (SOP) is intended to provide the Parent Advisory Board
(PAB) with a guideline to facilitate its operations. Some items are determined
by the charter, others by the SBMC SOP, and others have just developed over
time. Each PAB should adopt a Standard Operating Procedure at their first
meeting after school starts, making necessary changes to the previous year’s
SOP to allow the Board to operate most efficiently. Items required in the
charter may not be changed, unless the charter is revised. Items dictated by
the SBMC SOP may only be changed if they are changed in that document (approved
by SBMC at the beginning of each school year.)
Logistics
Agendas:
The president (or vice president, in the president’s absence) will prepare the agenda, publish it in the Friday Notes the week before the next PAB meeting, and provide an advance copy to each PAB member. Publishing in the Friday Notes is preferred; however, in rare circumstances, when publishing in Friday Notes is not possible, posting an agenda at the school and/or on the website at lease 5 days before the meeting is acceptable. Agendas should include a time for Community Comment and must include every item that will be discussed or acted on during the meeting. Any member of the school community may request that an item be added to the agenda by notifying the president two weeks before a meeting.
Meeting Preparation:
Pertinent information related to agenda items should be distributed in advance of the PAB meeting to allow members enough time to prepare. Email at least 48 hours before the meeting is preferred. Members should check their e-mail daily, if possible, to ensure they have all relevant information necessary to discuss or act on current agenda items or other issues that may arise.
PAB members should prepare for meetings in advance by reviewing agenda-related materials, collecting necessary input, and considering possible solutions to issues that will be discussed.
Meeting Logistics:
PAB meetings will be
held at least once a month when school is in session. The regular monthly
meeting is on the third Tuesday of the month from 5-7 p.m.
The PAB President chairs PAB meetings. In the absence of the PAB President, the PAB Vice President will chair the meeting. In the absence of both President and Vice President, the PAB Secretary will chair the meeting.
The meeting chair will call on people in turn to speak on issues being discussed; no side conversations.
· Keep comments concise and to the point.
· Carefully listen with respect.
· Agree to disagree, if necessary.
· Attack the issues, not the people.
Once PAB makes a decision by majority vote, all members will support the Board’s decision, even if they were not in the majority.
For meetings that occur over the dinner hour, responsibility for ordering or providing a meal will be shared by PAB members as determined at or before the beginning of the school year.
Absences:
In the event that a PAB member is unable to attend a meeting, she/he must notify the PAB President. If the President is unable to attend, she/he will contact the Vice President.
Use of PAB folders:
A mail folder for each PAB member will be held in the school office. Because most PAB correspondence is handled by electronic mail, it is advised that PAB members notify those for whom they have left items for in these folders.
Member Duties:
Each member of the PAB, in addition to the duties of their specific office, should:
1. Write at least two Friday Note Letters (per school year) to the TCKS Community. The dates are determined at a training meeting before school starts.
2. Choose at least one month per school year to monitor and report on BOE activity. This assignment is also determined at a training meeting before school starts.
3. Serve as liaison to a BOE Director:
a) Each PAB member is assigned to be a liaison to a BOE Director at the training meeting before school starts for the year. The PAB member is to contact and meet the BOE Director early in the school year and maintain that contact throughout the school year. Each PAB member should approach the BOE Director with inquiries about what the BOE Director is concerned about for the district and Traut. The goal is to develop a relationship with each Director, provide any needed assistance on district issues and provide an opportunity to represent Traut’s position on any specific issues that may arise.
4. Serve as a Committee Liaison to 2-4 TCKS committees:
a. Each PAB member is responsible for recruiting a chair for each committee to which he/she is a liaison. If there is no chair, the PAB member serves as chair until one is found.
b. The liaison should ensure that the committee chair is clear about the mission, goals, and timetable for completion.
c. The liaison should make sure that committee members have sufficient direction and resources to accomplish their mission/goals within in the specified timetable.
d. The liaison will report progress to the SBMC during SBMC meetings at least once each quarter or as time permits
5. Familiarize themselves with the TCKS Charter and Covenant, keeping in mind that all decisions should be in accord these founding documents.
6. Train successor:
a. After PAB elections have occurred in the Spring, the new PAB will meet (after the last SBMC meeting of the year) to select its officers for the next year.
b. At this meeting, each new member will plan a time to meet with the person who is currently holding their position, at a time before the new PAB’s training/calendar planning meeting for the next school year.
c. During their scheduled meeting, the outgoing member will give the new member their PAB notebook and train the new member in any duties specific to their office.
Job Descriptions
President:
In addition to the job duties which are listed in the “Member Duties” section, the following duties are assigned to the president:
1. Facilitator for all regular and special PAB meetings (Any two members may call a special PAB meeting.)
a. Ensure that a quorum will be in attendance for all meetings.
b. Prepare agendas and publish in the Friday Note the week before the meeting. (Friday Note deadline is Wednesday at 10 a.m. Watch out for short weeks—the deadline may be earlier or you may need to publish the week before because there is not a Friday Note.
c. Make sure space is reserved for each meeting. Office manager has a form that is filled out to reserve the space. You can include all meetings on the same form.
d. In May, ensure that dates are determined and agendas published for any PAB (training/calendar planning) or SAAC meetings which are to occur before school starts for the next school year.
2. Share facilitator responsibility for SBMC meetings
a. The TAB president, principal, and PAB president alternate these duties.
b. Duties are same as outlined above for PAB meetings.
3. Member of Navigation Team
a. Meets the Monday before the agenda is published in the Friday Notes.
b. Membership includes the principal, TAB president and vice president and the PAB president and vice president.
c. Determine/review procedures and processes for items on upcoming agenda.
d. Decide if any motions are required. If so, craft the motions and decide who needs to make them.
4. Organize and facilitate new member training and calendar planning before school starts. (Make sure this meeting agenda is published in the last Friday Note of the school year.) At this meeting:
a. Calendar with essential dates and monthly duties is compiled. (Monthly BOE monitor, Friday Notes letter assignments, dinner provider for PAB meetings, etc.)
b. Ensure each PAB member is assigned to 1 BOE Director as the primary point of contact and communication.
c. Ensure that all TCKS committees which have parent membership are assigned a PAB liaison.
d. Distribute SOP for review, with adoption at the first regularly scheduled PAB meeting of the year.
e. Train on history/foundational documents as needed and additional topics relevant to issues that PAB/SBMC may face in the coming year
5. Ensure required representation on PSD committees
a. DAB representative (and alternate) and Boundary Committee representative (and alternate) are appointed no later than their respective committees first meeting of the school year.
6. Serve as SAAC chairman
a. Plans and publishes dates and agendas for all SAAC meetings. Serves as facilitator for all SAAC meetings.
b. The SAAC is required to meet at least twice per year. Time, place, and agenda must be published in the Friday Notes. Time for community input is required.
c. 2006-07 SAAC agreed upon the following timeline for the 2007-08 SAAC process
i. Spring ’07 – SAAC will begin brainstorming all school goals via e-mail. The president will maintain the records of all suggestions submitted during this time.
ii. August ’07 – (before or shortly after school starts) –Meet to finalize all school goals (Usually there are two to three site goals per year. Some examples: character based anti-bullying program, fiscal management policy, and parent education handbook.)
iii. September ’07 – Meet for Assessment Committee presentation of last year’s standardized test results (CSAP scores) and proposed academic goals for this year.
iv. October ’07 – Meet to finalize academic and required goals for the year.
v. Spring ’08 – Meet to recommend funding priorities to SBMC, begin brainstorming all school goals, and outline process for additional brainstorming to occur. Sources of information used to inform the brainstorming session should include results of surveys and community input.
d. When the SAAC process is complete, a required district school improvement report is submitted. The principal writes it. The report is signed by the principal and the PAB president. The deadline for the report is usually in the late fall. A condensed form of the report is shared with the TCKS community via Friday Notes.
e. Coordinates a yearlong schedule to achieve the SAAC goals.
7. Back to School Night (aka annual meeting)
a. Oversees the planning and organization of the annual meeting portion. The Parent Education chair is generally the “point person.”
b. Presents, along with the principal, the school goals.
c. Encourages committee participation. (Make sure it is clear the Hiring Committee runs April to April.)
8. Coordinate PAB selection of parent members to Hiring Committee
a. Formed in the spring. It runs April to April.
b. PAB names half of the members.
c. A PAB liaison (continuing PAB member) is required as part of the membership.
d. Parents are encouraged to serve for two years.
e. PAB establishes decision making criteria to select parents.
f. Advertise in Friday Notes and/or other media beginning in January to ensure a qualified pool of applicants.
g. Discussion and vote always occur in executive session.
h. PAB liaison is to report any concerns about the process to PAB (without violating confidentiality) and report on committee actions.
i. Once Hiring Committee makes a decision, that decision will be supported by PAB, even though they may not know all details of the decision.
9. PAB representative at Kindergarten Orientation
a. Speak about parent partnership and shared governance.
b. Usually occurs in April.
10. Coordinate PAB Elections
a. Nominations are due the Monday of the second full week in April.
b. Elections must occur the first week in May.
c. Advertises the nomination/election in the Friday Notes.
d. Plans and advertises candidate forum if necessary.
e. Designs PAB ballot and sends to office for inclusion in Friday Notes.
f. The ballot box is in the office. Additional opportunities to drop off ballots may be provided.
g. Two continuing members and one TAB member must count votes.
h. Publish new PAB members in Friday Notes after election.
11. PAB representative at TCKS Graduation
a. Sign all diplomas.
b. Speak at graduation.
c. Shake hands with all graduates.
12. Coordinate evaluations of the principal (at least once per year)
a. Calls an executive session at least once per year to discuss principal evaluation (The agenda would indicate an executive session for the purpose of principal evaluation.)
b. Writes principal evaluation and sends to PAB for approval.
c. The president and vice-president meet with the principal to discuss each evaluation.
d. The president and vice-president present the evaluations to the Assistant Superintendent to whom the principal reports.
13. Ensure that member notebooks are updated and passed to new PAB members after the spring PAB elections
Vice President:
1. Serves as the president when the president absent. See president description.
2. Coordinates committee activity.
a. Recruits volunteers for the parent sponsored committees.
i. Ensures availability of sign-up sheets at the Ice Cream Social and Back to School Night (make sure it is clear the Hiring Committee runs April to April.)
ii. Advertises one committee a month in the Friday Note.
b. Ensures that when ad hoc committees are formed, the scope and membership of the committee is defined in the original motion.
c. Ensures each committee has a PAB liaison.
3. Member of Navigation Team
a. Meets the Monday before the agenda is published in the Friday Notes.
b. Membership includes the principal, TAB president and vice president and the PAB president and vice president.
c. Determine/review procedures and processes for items on upcoming agenda.
d. Decide if any motions are required. If so, craft the motions and decide who needs to make them.
4. Presents PAB Standard Operating Procedure at
the PAB training meeting, and revises as suggested so that the PAB may pass it
at the first meeting of the school year.
5. Knows and implements the DMM, SOP, Charter, Covenant and Robert’s Rules of Order.
i. Keeps a record of each policy proposal brought before SBMC and where it is in the process as outlined by the DMM. In the past, vice presidents have created and printed an “issues matrix” spreadsheet.
ii. Ensures that Robert’s Rules of Order are followed.
iii. Serves as timekeeper during meetings.
6. Ensures that each BOE meeting is monitored and reported on by a PAB member
Secretary:
Meeting-related
responsibilities:
1.
Minutes
a. Records and publishes all PAB meeting minutes.
b. Shares responsibility for recording and publishing SBMC meetings with the TAB secretary.
c. Records and publishes all votes of the PAB in the minutes.
d. Sends minutes to PAB and TAB members one week before the next meeting for editing and corrections. Minutes should be marked clearly with a header or watermark: PENDING APPROVAL, and the electronic file should be named with a naming convention as follows: PABmmddyy or SBMCmmddyy. Ensures that final draft minutes are available to PAB members before a vote to approve the minutes.
e. After an approval vote, changes the “PENDING APPROVAL” to “APPROVED,” and sends an electronic copy to (Peggy Lundeby) for posting on the TCKS server, and posts a hard copy of the approved minutes on the bulletin board at school.
2.
Community
Input
a. At PAB and SBMC meetings, ensure that there is a sign up available for Community Input. The sign-up folder should contain a copy of community input guidelines.
3.
School Policies
a. Maintains
a record of current school policies.
b. Posts updated policies on TCKS file server by sending them to Peggy Lundeby. c. Posts updated policies on TCKS website (currently, Chris Hunt is handling this).
d. Ensures distribution of policies as specified in the DMM.
Treasurer:
A. work with Principal and TAB Treasurer to propose a budget for each school year
B. Places the proposed budget on the SBMC agenda for action
C. Tracks expenditures and assures follow-up reporting on funds spent.
II. Additional Responsibilities:
A. Serves on the budget committee along with the principal and the TAB Treasurer.
a) Ensures that the annual needs assessment is completed.
b) Considers
requests for additional funds for activities not covered by the
B. Serves as liaison to the Fundraising and Grants committees, helping to develop and present the fundraising plan to SBMC and working with the committees to coordinate their respective functions.
C. Ensure that the following timeline (determined by Fiscal Management Policy and Budget Committee SOP) is followed:
August - September:
· Budget Committee decides if any change in the School-Wide Budget is needed.
· Publish the Fundraising Plan (approved by SBMC last Spring)
· Parent Contribution campaign is conducted by PAB.
January - February:
· Work with strategic planners to coordinate need assessment and class contribution amount determination.
March:
· Prepare Funding Recommendations and schedule a SAAC meeting with the PAB president for their approval.
· Based on funding recommendations, prepare proposed Funding Priorities for SBMC approval.
· Prepare proposed class contribution amounts for SBMC approval (based on information gathered from teachers by the Strategic Planners)
· Work with the Principal, TAB Treasurer, and Office Manager on the School-Wide Budget.
April:
· First SBMC meeting: First presentation of the School-Wide budget.
· Second SBMC meeting:
Establish Funding Priorities for the following school year.
Establish per student contribution amounts for the following school year.
Establish Fundraising Plan for the following school year.
May:
· Coordinate sending home contribution amount requests.
· Prepare an account of the Fundraising money and grant money collected and spent and publish to the school community.
· First SBMC meeting: Final School-Wide budget approval for following year.
Ongoing (August – May):
· Decide Budget Committee requests.
· Monitor fundraisers.
· Publish Budget Committee decisions in the Friday Notes.
· Assess fund raising ideas.
· Education: explain the fiscal management process as needed.
III. Fiscal Management Policy responsibilities:
A. Annual School-Wide Budget
1. Budget preparation
a. See the Budget Committee Standard Operating Procedure Section II for detailed procedure.
b. In practice the development of the budget is more the responsibility of the Principal and the school Office Manager.
2. Annual report to the community:
a. In May, obtain account statements for the fundraising account, contribution account, and the various individual fund raising accounts, as well as information on grants, and the file showing disbursements pursuant to Budget Committee decisions from the school office manager.
b. Calculate the amount raised, spent, and the resulting balance and report this to the school community.
3. Changes to the School-Wide budget: Changes are to be considered by the Budget Committee if less than 10% and by the SBMC if more than 10%. See the Fiscal Management Policy and Budget Committee Standard Operating Procedure for details.
B. Needs Assessment
1. See the Fiscal Management Policy Section III and the Budget Committee Standard Operating Procedure Section III.
2. In January and February coordinate with the strategic planners to conduct a needs assessment to determine long-term overall school needs as well as class contribution amounts for the following year.
3. In March, coordinate with the PAB president to place the issue of establishing funding recommendations on the SAAC meeting agenda. Prepare a detailed list of these funding recommendations and a resolution establishing them and send it out to the SAAC committee prior to the meeting.
4. Once the funding recommendations are established, use these to establish suggested funding priorities for the SBMC to vote on establishing at the second April meeting.
5. Break out the class contribution amounts to be established as part of the fundraising plan at the first May SBMC meeting (see below).
C. Deciding on assessed and un-assessed needs requests
1. See the Fiscal Management Policy Section III and Budget Committee Standard Operating Procedure Section IV along with the funding request instructions and the assessed need and un-assessed need request forms.
2. The Fiscal Management Policy’s language states that the order of funding is to first consider grant funds, than to district funds, and then fund raising funds. In practice this means that the Budget Committee must decide what source of funds best matches the purpose of the request.
D. Fundraising Plan
1. The fundraising plan includes the various fundraisers as well as the annual parent contribution Amount.
2. Present the fundraising plan to the SBMC for approval at the first SBMC meeting in May.
3. Be aware that any fundraiser, active or passive, must be added to the fundraising plan before TCKS may participate in it.
4. Adding a fundraiser to the plan is a one meeting/one vote procedure in the SBMC.
E. Parent contribution amount
1. See the Fiscal Management Policy Section IV.
2. This is an overall PAB responsibility, but the Treasurer coordinates the campaign.
3. The Fiscal Management Policy states that the contribution drive shall be held at the beginning of the year. This could be any time from the ice cream social to a later date. The exact procedure to follow can vary from year to year. In general, one key element is to explain clearly what the contributions are for and that they are voluntary, but also more or less “expected.”
4. As the campaign progresses, check with the Office Manager to assess the success rate and tailor the Friday Note reminders accordingly.
IV. Communication:
Recognize that the Fiscal Management Policy, Budget Committee Standard Operating Procedure, school budget, and related documents cover a very wide range of topics. Seek to understand them in such a way that you can break down the different parts into small tasks that others can follow.
Strategic
Planning Advisors:
I. The PAB Strategic Planners work with the
TAB Strategic Planners to develop strategy for dealing with both internal and
external issues that affect the vision and mission of TCKS. They should work to
determine an action plan and communicate it to leadership and the entire school
community, if necessary, to ensure that the TCKS’s message is clear and
consistent.
A. External (
1.
Stay current on district wide issues by:
a.
Maintain communication with DAB representative to ensure PAB is aware of
current issues at the district level
b.
Maintain communication with Boundary Committee representative
c. Review newspaper articles
d.
Attend or coordinate attendance to community forum meetings.
2.
Coordinate with all of SBMC on TCKS responses that will be communicated on
behalf of our school.
a.
Ensure that they are well thought out and reflect the TCKS vision and mission
as defined in the covenant and charter.
b.
Communicate with/educate leadership and the school community, when necessary,
on the issues.
c. Give
updates on issues at PAB / SBMC meetings and to the school community as needed
d.
Ensure that a plan for communications on strategic issues is developed with the
Communications Coordinator.
B. Internal (TCKS) Issues
1. Investigate any issues / strategic direction needed.
2. Work with affected stakeholders to develop a
plan
3.
Communicate plan to leadership and ensure its implementation
II. In addition, Strategic Planners are responsible for completing a
yearly assessment of items that need to be replaced, upgraded, or added
throughout the entire school. This assessment also determines the amount that
each grade level team would like to request for the next year’s
A. Needs Assessment process:
1.
Gather the previous year’s needs requests
2.
Eliminate the one time requests that were funded.
3. Timeline:
January:
a.
Send those requests out to the grade level teams, specials, and all staff with
space to add new needs
b.
Send out the parent contribution request information for that grade to
receive any changes (inflation, additional items, subtracted items, etc…)
c.
Request feedback from the SAB on needs.
d.
Request feedback from the TCKS community (via Friday Notes) on needs.
e. Request specific feedback on needs from committee chairs.
f. Allow teachers about 2 weeks to complete
needs assessments. (Ensure all are
received or track them down.)
February:Combine the results of the needs
assessments into an easy to read document to present to the Budget Committee
and SAAC by March 1.
March:
a. Work
with the Budget Committee to organize and prioritize the needs for presentation
as proposed Funding Recommendations to the SAAC.
Communications Coordinator:
The Communications Coordinator (CC) organizes and facilitates communication between the PAB and other groups, such as the parent body, the staff, the District Advisory Board and Boundary Committee representatives, and the district. For each action taken by PAB, they are to ensure the communication of that action with the affected stakeholders (though they may not be the actual communicator).
Other specific duties include:
1. Maintaining a list of “Action Items” based on assignments to members at each PAB meeting. This list should include the item for action, the person assigned to complete it, the deadline, and a place to indicate when the action item is completed. It should be compiled at each meeting and sent to members as soon as possible after the meeting (preferably the next day). The CC will update this list as items are completed between meetings and bring it to each PAB meeting so incomplete items may be reassigned at that meeting.
2. Maintaining a BOE liaison list
3. Compiling and updating a SBMC Contact List. Sends that list to all members of SBMC and the office staff via e-mail as soon as possible after new PAB members choose their officers in the Spring
4. Reminding PAB members about monthly meals and Friday notes
5. Compiling a Committee list which includes Chairs and TAB/PAB liaisons to committees before BTS might. Contact Chairs after BTS night to get updated membership lists and sends to all of SBMC, office staff, and principal via e-mail.
6. Ensuring that the school community is aware of the PAB e-mail address.
7. Contacting DAB and BC representatives after each meeting of their respective committee and reporting on DAB and BC activity at each PAB meeting
8. Developing and maintaining a calendar of PAB responsibilities for the year. This calendar and all updates should be provided to the person responsible for publishing the Friday notes, all of PAB, and the principal
9. Working with Strategic Planners to coordinate TCKS communications with the BOE and district
10. Working with Strategic Planners to coordinate communication on critical strategic issues to the school community
11. Posting information in the Friday notes as necessary to communicate with school community
12. Moderating or ensuring that a moderator is selected for the group e-mail account. Though any PAB member may answer an e-mail to the group e-mail account, the CC should ensure that these e-mails are responded to in a timely manner.
Robert's Rules of Order
The Parent Advisory Board will adopt Robert's Rules of Order for the purpose of maintaining orderly conduct during meetings.
Introducing Business
1. A motion is made by a member who has the floor.
2. The motion is seconded.
3. The secretary restates the motion.
Debate and Discussion
All will have the opportunity to speak on the issue.
Amendments
u
Friendly Amendments
u The person who has made the motion may amend it at any time during the debate with the concurrence of the person who has seconded it.
u
Other Amendments
u Any member can make a motion to amend the motion on the floor
u The amendment must be seconded.
u Once an amendment has been proposed and seconded, all discussion on the original motion ceases and the amendment is debated/discussed.
u A vote takes place on the amendment.
u Debate will continue on the amended motion.
Calling a Vote
u The chairperson may call a Vote if she/he feels discussion/debate is complete
Calling the Question
u A member can Call the Question at any time in order to cease debate/discussion of the motion in preparation for a vote..
u The Question is Called must be seconded.
u A vote will be taken.
u If successful, debate/discussion stops and a vote will take place.
u If unsuccessful, debate/discussion will continue.
Tabling a Motion
u A member can table a motion at any time to indefinitely suspend action of a motion.
u The Motion to Table must be seconded.
u A vote will be taken.
u If successful, debate/discussion stops and debate/discussion will cease and the motion is tabled.
u If unsuccessful, debate/discussion will continue.
Postponing a Motion
u A member can postpone a motion at any time to suspend action on a motion for a given time
u The Motion to Postpone must be seconded..
u A vote will be taken.
u If successful, debate/discussion stops and debate/discussion will cease and the motion is postponed.
u If unsuccessful, debate/discussion will continue.
Voting
u The secretary will call for the vote.
u Minutes will be approved by consensus rather than a vote.
u For all other decisions, votes are called for by name and recorded by name in the minutes.
u All members have the right to vote 'Yes', 'No', or 'Abstain.'