< Board Operating Procedures Manual

Under Arizona law, the Board is responsible for general control and supervision of all matters pertaining to public schools in RSD and for enforcing school law in RSD schools located in Phoenix, Arizona. Although the law allows the Board to delegate some of its duties to others, ultimately, the Board is solely responsible for the entire operation of the school district and for ensuring that its employees comply with all Board policies, decisions, and applicable laws.

Board members will refrain from acting as arbitrators of complaints while the neutral third-party human resources and communication resource is in use. All complaints will be submitted through the appropriate complaint process for investigation and resolution. If these matters require Board action, they shall be presented to the Board by the Superintendent or Director of Communications. Other than the Board President’s duties and responsibilities, Board members, acting as individuals, have no authority over school affairs but have such authority when acting as a body duly called in session.

The Board is the corporate policy-making body for the district. The Superintendent and staff provide the additional leadership to cause Board policies to be implemented. The Superintendent, as the district’s chief executive officer, is responsible for ensuring that academic and business operations are being carried out following the lawful rules of the Board as either set forth by Board action or in Board policy. The Superintendent is also responsible for accomplishing any reasonable interpretation of the Board’s goals within the boundaries provided by the Board’s guardrails, Board policy, and State and federal law.

The Board and the Superintendent will always strive to preserve institutional integrity and support each other, the staff, and the students. They will strive to maintain mutual respect and be mindful that it is each's solemn duty to fulfill the hopes and aspirations of the general school community. When implementing duly constituted board policies, they will always act within the framework of local, State, and federal laws.

State and federal law requires the Board to adopt policies on a variety of topics. The Board’s adopted policies in the Board’s Policy Book constitute compliance with these legal requirements. The Board, through its oversight function, holds the Superintendent accountable for executing the policies following the will of the Board. The Board should not, as far as possible, directly execute its policies. The application of policies shall be an administrative task to be performed by the Superintendent and staff, who shall be responsible for and held accountable for preparing recommendations for policies to be adopted by the Board, overseeing the implementation of adopted policies, and developing appropriate administrative regulations.

The Board shall annually evaluate the Superintendent based on the school system’s achievement of the Board’s goals and compliance with the Board’s guardrails. The Board’s goals are:

In attaining the board’s Student Outcomes Focused Governance Goals, The Superintendent shall not:

1. Go without proactively sharing updates and plans on the budget or enrollment that will change the current landscape and stability of our district to stakeholders, including board members, students, parents, staff, and community members.

2. Fail to consider climate survey results to ensure a holistic approach to student development, addressing academic, social, emotional, and physical well-being, which includes after-school programming and wraparound services.

3. Allocate district budget resources outside of the current revenue generated through enrollment to pay for recurring expenses, and in a manner that does not prioritize and support student outcome-focused goals, ensuring that financial decisions directly contribute to the academic and developmental success of all students and makes progress towards long term financial health.

4. Fail to implement and maintain effective strategies for the retention and professional development of teachers and staff, including promoting from within, to ensure they have a positive impact on students as evidenced by measurable data.

5. Fail to ensure progress towards exiting aTSI and CSI status, which ensures that students with special needs (SPED), English Learners (EL), African Americans and other vulnerable groups in our community receive equitable access to high-quality instruction, resources and unique support to promote their academic success and overall development.

The Board will also annually evaluate the Superintendent for Performance-Based Pay based on the plan agreed to between the Board and the Superintendent or close to the end of the current Fiscal Year.

If, at any time, a Board member becomes concerned that the Superintendent may have (1) breached any term of the Superintendent’s contract, (2) violated a State or federal law, (3) violated a Board policy, or (4) failed within a reasonable amount of time to address a specific issue identified by the full Board, the following process will be used:

• The concerned Board member will meet privately with the Superintendent to discuss their concerns, resolve the issue(s), and communicate the outcomes to the Governing Board as its liaison in a closed session. Alternatively, the concerned Board member may elect to bring their concerns to the Board President, who will assist in resolving the issue(s).

• If the concerned Board member does not feel that the resolution is satisfactory, the Board member may request, through the Board President, that an item be placed on the next regular meeting agenda as a closed-session item. The concerned Board Member must inform the Board President in writing of the specific nature of any concern(s) that prompted the request for a closed-session discussion.

• In closed session, the Board must listen to the concern(s) and determine if the issue raised is truly cause for concern.

If the majority of the Board determines that there is a violation or breach of one of the items listed above, the following process will be followed:

1. The exact nature of the deficiency will be documented and discussed with the Superintendent.

2. A remediation plan will be written to include action(s) to be taken and timelines.

3. The Board President shall monitor the compliance plan, and the results will be included in the Superintendent’s annual performance evaluation.

4. The board President is responsible for ensuring that all documentation relating to performance deficiencies is appropriately placed in the Superintendent’s personnel file.

When a Board member has concerns about the performance of district staff that relates to employee, student, Board or community safety, the Board member will notify the Superintendent and inform the Board President. Such concerns must be limited to:

• Illegal actions;

• Violations of Board policy; or

• Actions that are harmful to the district’s or Board’s reputation.

Board members must remain cognizant that district personnel are the responsibility of the Superintendent, not the Board. The Superintendent is obligated to listen to Board concerns, review the matter and notify the Board of the resolution of the matter, to the extent allowed by State law.