Policy 3250

SCHOOL COMMUNITY RELATIONS
3250 CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEES


A citizens advisory committee is a group of citizens from the School District whose function it is to advise the Board of Education with regard to the direction it should take concerning a particular curricular or noncurricular matter.

Once established, a citizens advisory committee has the complete freedom to study the charge created by the Board of Education and make recommendations to the Board of Education. Their function is strictly advisory, never policy making. The Board has the legal responsibility for operating the schools and as a legally constituted body, cannot delegate its powers and responsibilities.

Any recommendations forwarded to the Board of Education must be based on a continuing study of available relevant facts defined at the outset so that the committee knows what its relationship is toward the Board of Education, the Superintendent of Schools, staff members and other citizens of the community.

Each committee member is charged with determining and considering the views of the community regarding the problem or issue in question.

Kinds of Committee

a) Special purpose advisory committee—deals with specific short-term problems—usually requires one to six months to complete. Its purpose for existence ceases as soon as the specific task is satisfied.
b) Long-range advisory committee—operates for long periods of time to act as advisors to the Board of Education. The Board of Education receives an annual report from the committee. Additional reports will be identified in the charge to the committee. After the Board has analyzed and discussed committee reports, the Board of Education will decide whether or not to continue advisory committee for study. The Board of Education may choose to discontinue the committee's work, continue the committee's work with the original charge, or create a new charge for the committee. The Board of Education, at its discretion, may continue or reselect members of a long-range advisory committee at any time.

Size of the Committee

The size of the committee will depend on the purpose of the committee. However, it should be small enough so that it can function efficiently in the time allotted to complete its mission.

Methods of Selection for Members

The selection of citizen advisory members appointed by the Board of Education will be based on:

a) Solicitation of volunteers and/or nomination by community members.
b) Nomination by the Board of Education.
c) Membership required by the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education. Thus, they are appointed and charged with duties annually in accordance with the rules designated by the Commissioner of Education.

Selection of Members to Ensure Diverse Community Representation

a) Citizens advisory committees will be broadly representative of the entire School District, reflecting it economically, geographically, occupationally, culturally, politically, etc. or as otherwise directed by the Commissioner of Education.

Members should exhibit:

1. A sincere interest in public education.
2. Honesty and sincerity of purpose.
3. Ability to recognize problems, interpret information fairly and reach honest conclusions.
4. Freedom from strong bias that may interfere with reaching sound conclusions.
5. Commitment to attend committee meetings.

b) Employees of the School District may be members of an advisory committee.
c) The Superintendent of Schools and the Board President, or designees will be ex officio members of all advisory committees.
d) Advisory committees will have administrator and citizen co-chairs.

Organization

The organization of citizens' advisory committees will be as follows:

a) The creation of a citizens' advisory committee is an action of the Board.
b) The Board motion creating a citizens' advisory committee will include a statement outlining clearly what the Board expects from the group and a time frame to accomplish that charge.
c) Committee findings will be reported to the Board of Education. This report will be in writing and can be accompanied by an oral summary in accordance with the time frame established by the Board of Education. At this time, the committee would be decommissioned. The Board of Education reserves the right to form a new advisory committee to investigate related issues, or further study the same issue.
d) The citizens advisory committee is responsible for organizing itself by deciding:

1. What officers to have in addition to administrator and citizen co-chairs.
2. How often to meet.
3. What records to keep.
4. Whether it is to have subcommittees or study groups. All subcommittees will report to the parent committee.

e) Committee organization will be in alignment with any governing state regulations. 



Adopted: 6/22/99
Revised: 9/6/22

Policy 3250