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200.3 Responsibilities of the Board of Directors

Code No. 200.3

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
 
The board is authorized to govern the school district which it oversees.  The board is entrusted with public funds and is responsible for overseeing the improvement of student outcomes, including student academic achievement and skill proficiency.  As the governing board of the school district, the board has three duties to perform:  legislative duty, executive duty and evaluative duty.
 
As a representative of the citizens of the school district community, the board is responsible for legislating policy for the school district. As a policy-making body, the board has jurisdiction to enact policy with the force and effect of law for the management and operation of the school district.

It is the responsibility of the board, under the board's executive duty, to select its chief executive officer, the superintendent, to operate the school district on the board's behalf. The board delegates to the superintendent its authority to carry out board policy, to formulate and carry out rules and regulations, and to handle the administrative details in a manner which supports and is consistent with board policy.

The board has a responsibility, under its evaluative duty, to review the education program's performance. The board regularly reviews the education program and ancillary services. The review includes a careful study and examination of the facts, conditions, and circumstances surrounding the amount of funds received and expended, and the education program's ability to achieve the board's educational philosophy and goals for the school district.

The board fulfills its quasi-judicial duties in serving as a neutral arbiter for hearings related to student suspension or expulsion proceedings and certain employment termination hearings and appeals.  This important power was granted by the Iowa legislature and cannot be delegated.  To preserve the board’s neutrality to hear and decide upon these matters, the board does not investigate or become involved in student disciplinary matters or employment matters that may come before it and would require the board to serve in its quasi-judicial role.

Legal Reference:
Iowa Code §§ 274.1; 279.1, .8, .20; 280.12 (2013).
281 I.A.C. 12.3(2)

Cross Reference:
101     Educational Philosophy of the School District
103     Long-Range Needs Assessment
200.4  Board Member Social Media Engagement
209.1   Development of Policy
209.2.  Adoption of Policy
209.3   Dissemination of Policy
209.4   Suspension of Policy
209.5   Administration in the Absence of Policy
209.6   Review of and Revision of Policy
209.7   Review of Adminstrative Regulations
302.1   Superintendent Qualifications, Recruitment, Appointment
600     Goals and Objectives of the Education Program

Approved: 07-09-08
Reviewed: 08-28-18
Revised: 05-22-24