Craig Rizzi

EA 742
School Policy Review

Any substantial organization has policies that govern the way that the organization is

run. These policies dictate behavior of employees at work, nondiscrimination of employees,

daily operations of the organization, and much more. In the case of a school or company,

policies give the customer an idea of the level of service they should expect. When they don’t

receive the guaranteed level of service, they are justified in making a complaint to the

company. Most importantly, good policy provides a guarantee of consistency throughout an

organization.

Without standard policies in place, operating procedures could change based on the

whim of the leaders of the company. If there were to be a transition in leadership, the entire

company could quickly change without certain policies in place. In addition, good policies

protect the company and customers from inappropriate actions that could be taken by the

leadership.

For policy to be effective, it must be relevant, enforceable, supportive, and detailed.

Relevant policy is policy that has been updated to reflect changes in learning, thinking, and

culture. Our district recently updated many of its policies to reflect our new philosophies about

grading and student behavior. Enforceable policy can be followed easily and has a protocol in

place that ensures its accurate implementation. Student discipline policy is enforceable because

there is a handbook that details exactly what behaviors lead to particular consequences.

Supportive policy does not create unnecessary red tape that limits the productivity of an

organization. In a school, for example, a policy that requires teachers to grade three homework

assignments per week would stifle the professional judgement of teachers in determining
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worthwhile assignments and activities for students. Finally, to be effective, school policy must

be detailed. Our district works with a lawyer to ensure that our school board policies contain

the appropriate amount of detail to cover what they’re supposed to cover, protect the district

in case of a complaint, and comply with current laws.

The Michigan Constitution and the Revised School Code Act of 1976 govern the action of

school districts and give school boards the authority to make decisions for a school district. The

major responsibilities of school boards, as outlined by the Revised School Code Act, include

educating students, providing for their safety and welfare, managing school property, and work

with employees and contractors. These responsibilities all ensure the efficient management of

the school district. Secondary legal responsibilities of the school board include creating a

budget, hiring a superintendent, setting the curricula of the district, and negotiating with

employees for contracts. In terms of policy, the same law that gives districts these powers gives

them the ability to create policies that enable them to effectively carry out their responsibilities

with fidelity.

School boards create policy in several areas that regulate the following: bylaws,

administration, curriculum, human resources, students, finances, property, operations, and

relations. The policies contained in the bylaws regulate the operation of the school board itself,

including procedures for meetings and ethical behavior for board members. The administration

policies describe the organizational structure of the district and provide job descriptions for the

management positions. Curricular policy regulates a regular review of the curriculum,

development and implementation of new curriculum, and procedures for assessment. Human

resource policy regulates the relationship between employees and the school district regarding
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terms and condition of employment. Policy relating to students concerns student entrance

requirements, academic achievement, rights and responsibilities, and extra-curricular activities.

Financial policy relates to budget control, tuition paid by students, and accounting procedures.

Policies regarding property regulate the planning, operation, and utilization of school district

property. Operational policy relates to access to board records, district organization, emergency

procedures, food services, transportation, and insurance. Finally, policies that relate to relations

set forth guidelines for relationships between the Board of Education and the residents of the

district, visitors to the schools, parents of students, the community it serves, the press, and

other educational institutions. These policies essentially dictate how the board interacts with

community members. Most school boards keep their policies numbered in categories like the

ones listed above in order to keep their policy organized and easy to reference.

Essentially, school board policies are the “laws” of the school district. They are first

proposed by members of the school board or district administrators. Once the board members

have had a chance to deliberate about the policy during a meeting, they vote on whether or not

to enact the policy. In some cases, if the school board is not satisfied with a particular proposal

of policy, they may ask district administrators to re-work the policy to satisfy their conditions. In

my district, for example, school board members were very interested in creating a weighted

GPA scale for students in AP courses. Our secondary curriculum director led the district grading

committee in researching weighted GPA policies that neighboring similar districts had enacted.

We spent almost a year researching other district policies before making a research-based

recommendation to the school board on how to weight student GPAs. Had they not been
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satisfied by this recommendation, they would have voted against approving the policy until it

had been more thoroughly researched and re-written.

In many cases, school boards will periodically hire a lawyer or outside firm to look

through district policies to ensure they comply with current laws and regulations from the state

and federal level. These laws change all the time and supersede most school board policy, so it

is important for districts to stay on top of current regulation regarding such topics as special

education, student discipline, and more.

Once a policy has been approved by the vote of the school board, district administrators

are typically responsible for communicating policy change to staff. This communication could

happen in a number of ways. If the change is a simple one, staff may receive a memo over

email detailing the change and how it impacts the classroom. For example, in 2013 in

Rochester, we changed the minimum percentage required to receive an “A” from 95% to

92.5%. This was a minor change that was automatically corrected in our gradebook software, so

staff just needed to be made aware of the change and the rationale for the change.

Other policy changes are more serious and require explanation and an opportunity for

staff to ask questions. Often, these policy changes would be communicated at a building staff

meeting so that the principal has an opportunity to explain the rationale for the change and

field any questions that might arise due to the nature of the change. For example, once the

school board approved the weighted GPA policy for AP courses, building principals at the high

school devoted ten minutes in a staff meeting to explain the policy, reference similar districts to

Rochester who had already enacted a similar policy, and explain why the weighting applied to
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AP courses, but not honors courses. These explanations were more effective in person, rather

than in an email.

In terms of the system of school board policy creation, there are certainly some

strengths and weaknesses. One of the biggest strengths of this system is that districts can tailor

policy to their student population and community. With this system, district leaders are able to

respond to concerns raised by parents, community members, and staff members and create

policy to effectively remedy concerns raised by these groups. It goes without saying that

community expectations of curriculum and grading policy are different in Rochester than they

would be in a school district in the Upper Peninsula, as the goal of education in these two

communities is relatively different.

One of the biggest weaknesses of this system is that district board members might

overstep their bounds and enact policy that is not legal or ethical. They might unknowingly

break the law in an attempt to service their students how they believe they should be served.

Another problem might be the fact that it is relatively easy to change district policy. When

people with strong opinions are elected to a school board they might make it their business to

drastically change policy to align with their vision of a district. This can cause confusion or

frustration in a district among parents and staff members. Finally, the ability for each individual

district to create its own policy could potentially create a discrepancy between neighboring

districts if the standards for education are set very differentially. This could create competition

between districts while also potentially providing some students with a less rigorous education.

In all, I think the benefits outweigh the risks in the school board policy system that we

use. Giving districts the autonomy to respond swiftly to community members and changes in
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educational best practice allows them to keep up with trends without being slowed by the

bureaucracy of the state and federal government. In most cases with school boards, I have

witnessed them make student-centered decisions that keep changes in funding from directly

affecting students in the classroom and enact policy that creates a better learning environment

for all students. Ultimately, making student-centered decisions is the goal of an effective school

board.