- Blaine County School District
- Best Practices of School Board Trustees
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Best Practices of School Board Trustees
1. Values and Ethical Behavior
To be effective, an individual school trustee:
- Places students’ needs first.
- Demonstrates commitment to equity and high standards of achievement for each student.
- Commits to treating each individual with dignity and respect.
- Models high ethical standards.
- Advocates for public education.
2. Leadership
To be effective, an individual school trustee:
- Contributes to thoughtful governance discussions and decisions by being well informed, open-minded and deliberative.
- Understands that authority rests with the board as a whole and not with individual trustees.
- Is able to articulate and model appropriate school trustee roles and responsibilities.
- Actively participates in school trustee duties and responsibilities.
- Demonstrates group membership and leadership skills, working within the board structure.
- Respects the board’s role in policy making and supports all adopted board policies.
3. Communication
To be effective, an individual school trustee:
- Builds and maintains positive connections with the community and staff.
- Communicates accurately and honestly, with awareness of the impact of his/her words and actions.
- Listens carefully and with an open mind.
- Maintains civility and treats all people with respect.
- Maintains confidentiality of appropriate matters.
- Refers and guides people with concerns to appropriate staff.
- Welcomes parent, student and community input.
4. Professional Development
To be effective, an individual school trustee:
- Commits the time and energy necessary to be informed and competent.
- Keeps abreast of current issues, research, applicable laws, regulations, and policies that affect public education.
- Participates in professional development, individually and with the board/superintendent team.
5. Accountability
To be effective, an individual school trustee:
- Is accountable to the community, staff, and fellow Board Trustees.
- Takes personal responsibility for his/her own words and actions.
- Respects and abides by board decisions.
- Meets expectations for transparency, including disclosing potential conflicts of interest and refraining from discussing or voting on those issues.
- Complies with board policies/procedures and the law.
I, ______________________________, Blaine County School Board Trustee, have read the above Practices, understand and embrace the same and pledge that I will observe each Practice to the full extent of my ability. I also understand that, by signing this document, I do not surrender my right and responsibility to voice my opinions and cast any vote I may be called upon to make according to the dictates of my individual judgment and conscience.
Practices courtesy of the Washington State School Directors’ Association.
You can view a PDF of this document here.