Policy 102 - Board of Education - Committees and Representation

The Board shall promote broad and substantive public and employee involvement in the development of policy and the initiation of activities that support education in the School District. The availability of additional expertise and broader input through the committee consultative process is valued by the Board. Therefore, the Board will use standing and ad hoc committees to investigate relevant issues, problems or needs and to present findings to the Board in the form of additional recommendations for Board action.

The Board reserves for itself, as the elected and responsible body, the right and duty to provide final approval to any change of policy or other act normally expected of school boards.

The Board mandates the operation of two standing committees: Education and Programs and Finance and Facilities. Operational guidelines for these standing committees appear in the administrative procedures of this policy.

Subject to approval of the Board, the Chair of the Board may, for a calendar year, appoint Trustees to represent the perspective of the Board to external organizations or agencies in those instances where the maintenance of external relationships is considered essential to Board effectiveness or where representation is required by legislation or contract. The Board shall review annually all representational assignments.

Following the inaugural meeting of the Board each year, the Chair of the Board will assign each Trustee to a liaison area consisting of a secondary school and its surrounding elementary schools (family of schools).

Administrative Procedures

General Operating Guidelines for Standing Committees

The purposes of a standing committee shall be to deliberate upon and clarify issues for Board discussion and decision-making, to identify policy needs and present policy recommendations for Board consideration, and to attend to other matters or motions referred to it by the Board.

A standing committee shall report regularly to the Board, shall be of the whole, and shall have attached to it, by way of support, senior administrators to be named by the Superintendent, and other administrative officers and managers as may be required by the committee, from time to time. The Superintendent shall be an ex officio member of all standing committees. A standing committee may include representatives of employee groups and members of the community and its meetings will be open to any interested persons.

In making decisions respecting recommendations to the Board, a standing committee may decide on matters by resolution or by consensus. A record containing a summary of the matters discussed and any recommendations to the Board shall be provided to the Board at the first Board meeting following a meeting of a standing committee.

Each standing committee shall have a Chair appointed by the Board and meet, in public, at least once every two months, excepting July and August. A standing committee may resolve to consider, in the absence of persons other than Trustees and senior staff, matters of a confidential nature. In such circumstances, no actions shall be taken and no minutes shall be kept.

Standing Committee on Education and Programs

The composition of the Standing Committee on Education and Programs shall include all Trustees and an Assistant Superintendent. A representative of each of the five partner groups and two students shall be invited by the committee chair to participate in the deliberations of the standing committee. The committee chair may invite other employees and members of the community to participate in specific discussions. The five partner groups are the North Vancouver Parent Advisory Council (NVPAC), the North Vancouver Teachers’ Association (NVTA), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Secondary School Administrators and Elementary School Administrators.

The Chair of the Standing Committee on Education and Programs shall be appointed from among the Trustees by the Chair of the Board. The committee chair shall preside at all meetings of the committee.

Meetings shall be held bi-monthly at the Leo Marshall Curriculum Centre according to a schedule established annually by the Board. Meetings shall be open to the public.

The preparation of the agenda for a meeting of the committee shall be the responsibility of the Chair in consultation with the assigned Assistant Superintendent. The meeting agenda shall be made available on the preceding Friday.

Staff support shall be provided to the Standing Committee on Education and Programs at the direction of the Assistant Superintendent.

Standing Committee on Finance and Facilities

The composition of the Standing Committee on Finance and Facilities shall include all Trustees and the Secretary-Treasurer. A representative of each of the five partner groups and two students shall be invited by the committee chair to participate in the deliberations of the standing committee. The committee chair may invite other employees and members of the community to participate in specific discussions. The five partner groups are the North Vancouver Parent Advisory Council (NVPAC), the North Vancouver Teachers’ Association (NVTA), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Secondary School Administrators and Elementary School Administrators.

The Chair of the Standing Committee on Finance and Facilities shall be appointed from among the Trustees by the Chair of the Board. The committee chair shall preside at all meetings of the committee.

Meetings shall be held bi-monthly at the Leo Marshall Curriculum Centre according to a schedule established annually by the Board. Meetings shall be open to the public.

The preparation of the agenda for a meeting of the committee shall be the responsibility of the Committee Chair in consultation with the Secretary-Treasurer. The meeting agenda shall be made available on the preceding Friday.

Staff support shall be provided to the Standing Committee on Finance and Facilities at the direction of the Secretary-Treasurer.

Ad Hoc Committees (Working Groups

)

The Board believes that its policy making role and the quality of its decisions are enhanced when the considerable expertise, resources and talents within the School District and the community are recognized and are applied to assisting the Board in addressing the challenges and opportunities of providing exceptional educational programs and services to students in a restrained fiscal environment.

The Board may, from time to time, establish working groups, comprising of less than a majority of the Board plus other persons, for purposes of investigating or considering particular issues, opportunities or problems, with the intent of reporting or presenting recommendations to the Board.

In establishing a working group, the Board shall set out, by resolution, its membership, chair, terms of reference, responsibilities and relationship to the Board, and its duration. It is expected that each working group shall determine its work plan, record keeping procedures, methods of decision making and the frequency and scheduling of its meetings.

Liaison Trustees

The assignment of a Trustee to a "family of schools" shall be a calendar year, and to the degree possible, "families of schools" shall be rotated among Trustees each year.

The purposes of liaison assignments are to provide:

each Trustee with increased opportunities to become acquainted with the schools
a Board representative when one is desired at school functions
an opportunity for increased communication between Trustees and residents of the schools' communities.

Consistent with the policy making and corporate role of the Board, the liaison Trustee is not expected to carry out administrative or Board-delegated authority.