Governance Standards

San Francisco Unified School District and County Office of Education

Board Rule and Procedure 9005

Governance Standards

 

This Rule and Procedure applies to the San Francisco Unified School District and the County Office of Education.

 

The Board of Education believes that its primary responsibility is to act in the best interests of every student in the District. The Board also has major commitments to parents/guardians, all members of the community, employees, the state of California, laws pertaining to public education, and established policies of the District. To maximize Board effectiveness and public confidence in District governance, Board members are expected to govern responsibly and hold themselves to the highest standards of ethical conduct.

 

(cf. 9000 – Role of the Board)

 

Communication Between and Among Board Members 

1. In their communication with each other, Board Members will:
   1. Follow all applicable laws, including the open meetings laws.
   2. Be professional and assume best intentions.

 

Communication Between Board Members & Community Members

1. For general comments or feedback, the Board Member will:
   1. Listen respectfully.
   2. The Superintendent will provide information to the Board and to the Public regarding how to provide comments and complaints regarding the District. This information will include procedures and a description of the chain of command.
   3. Relay information about the District in a manner that is constructive and that seeks resolution.
   4. Provide the community member with information about how to contact the appropriate staff person, or if that is not known, to the Superintendent’s designee for general comments. Board members will not contact District staff on behalf of community members. 

 

2. For specific comments or complaints, the Board Member will: 
   1. Ask if the individual has followed the District’s procedures and/or chain of command (see 1b above).
   2. If the individual does not know the correct procedures or chain of command, the Board Member will refer to the appropriate staff member or, where appropriate, will provide information about the District’s complaint procedures and the online system for filing complaints.  
   3. Board members will not contact District staff on behalf of community members. 
   4. The Superintendent will maintain a system to ensure that Board Members are informed of the resolution of any referred comment/complaint.

 

3. The Board will create, maintain, and implement an annual community engagement calendar.

 

4. In their communication with community members, Board Members recognize that they may not speak on behalf of the Board unless authorized to do so; and may not commit the Board or staff to any particular action.
    
5. If community members send communication to all board members or to a quorum of board members that includes the board president, to avoid a violation of the Brown Act the board president will respond on behalf of all board members and include an explanation of why only the president is responding.

 

Communication Between Board Members & Staff Who Do Not Report To The Board

1. Board Members will not initiate communication about District business with District staff except for the Superintendent or designee. This is intended to protect staff from inappropriate behavior from board members, not prevent staff from initiating communication with board members. This provision is not intended to permit the Superintendent to prohibit staff from communicating with board members provided staff has followed the appropriate process.

 

2. If contacted by District staff without the direction of the Superintendent, Board Members will follow the procedure, “Communication Between Board Members & Community Members.” If the communication from district staff could have legal or financial implications for the district, the board member should notify the superintendent.

 

Communication Between Board Members & Staff Who Report Directly To The Board

1. The only staff members who report directly to the board are the superintendent and general counsel.
2. It is appropriate for Board Members to meet with the Board’s Direct Reports — employees who are directly evaluated by the School Board — on a regular basis. It is common for the Board President and the Superintendent to meet regularly for the purpose of organizing the Board meeting agenda and other Board functions.

 

3. In their communication with staff who report directly to the Board, Board Members will recognize that the staff report to the Board as an entity and not to any individual Board Member, including the Board President.
   1. All requests made by Board Members should be made to the Direct Report or their designee.
   2. If a Board Member makes a written request for a document that already exists, the Direct Report will provide it no later than seven (7) business days after the request.
   3. If a Board Member makes a written request for a document that does not already exist that the Direct Report believes can be handled in fewer than fifteen (15) minutes of staff time to complete or create, the Direct Report shall provide the document no later than seven (7) business days after the request.
   4. If a Board Member makes a written request for a document that does not already exist that the Direct Report believes will take more than fifteen (15) minutes of staff time to complete or create, the Direct Report is required to:
      1. Notify the Board President; and
      2. With the Board President’s approval, add the request to the next Board Meeting agenda for the full Board to decide on.

 

4. Any response to a question or request that is submitted by a Board Member to a Direct Report of the Board must be shared with all Board Members in the weekly update that is emailed to all Board Members.

 

5. Board Members understand that most information requests to the Board’s Direct Reports will be addressed in a weekly written update that is emailed to all Board Members each Friday unless the Direct Reports determines that a more immediate response is required.

 

6. Because the Superintendent reports to the Board as an entity, and not to any individual Board Member, only the Board as a whole may make obligations on the Superintendent’s time or delegate authority to individual Board Members to do so. 

 

Board Member Concerns About The Performance Of Staff Who Do Not Report Directly To The Board

 

1. When a Board Member becomes concerned about the performance of District employees they must direct their concerns to the Superintendent or designee. Board Members must remain cognizant that District personnel are the responsibility of the Superintendent, not the Board. Such concerns must be limited to: 
   1. Actions by staff which are/could be illegal 
   2. Actions by staff which are/could be violations of Board policy

 

Board Member Concerns About The Performance Of Staff Who Report Directly To The Board

 

1. In general, concerns that Board Members have about the performance of the Board’s Direct Reports should model the District’s belief in restorative practices by attempting to address the matter in a non-public, healing manner. That is the intention of the following steps that follow a graduated approach to performance concerns, except in cases of illegal conduct.
   1. In the event of alleged or suspected illegal conduct, Board Members should confer with the District’s legal counsel about appropriate steps to take.
   2. Steps in this process should be skipped if compliance with the process would create a violation of the Brown Act.

 

2. If, at any time, a Board Member becomes concerned that a Direct Report may have (1) breached any term of the Direct Report’s contract; (2) violated a Board Policy or Operating Procedure; or (3) failed within a reasonable amount of time to address a specific issue identified by the Board, the following process will be used: 
   1. One-on-One Communication: The concerned Board Member will meet privately with the Direct Report to discuss their concerns in order to resolve the issue(s). 
   2. One-on-One, Two-on-One, or Full Board Communication: If the concerned Board Member does not feel that the resolution is satisfactory, the Board Member may take their concern to the Board President. The Board President may choose to meet privately with the Direct Report, meet jointly with the Direct Report, or bring the matter before the full Board at a subsequent closed session Board meeting. 

 

3. No Board Member may speak publicly about concerns with Direct Report performance without first completing the steps above.

 

Board Member Concerns About Board Member Performance

In general, Board Member concerns about the performance of other Members should model the District’s belief in restorative practices by attempting to address the matter in a non-public, healing manner. That is the intention of the following steps that follow a graduated approach to performance concerns. In the event of alleged illegal activity, Board Members should confer with the District’s legal counsel to determine if this process is most appropriate or if an alternative process would be more appropriate.

 

1. One-on-One Conference: If a Board Member believes another Member has violated the Conflict of Interest rules, Board Rules and Procedures, Board Policy, State or Federal law, it is the responsibility of the concerned Board Member to discuss the alleged violation directly with the other Board Member in private prior to taking any other action, unless the nature of the allegation requires immediate escalation to the Board President or legal authorities. Notably, the Board Member should not first go to other Board Members, social media, or anywhere else other than the Board Member who they believe has committed a violation. The Board Member is strongly encouraged to provide a written follow-up to the Board President after the one-on-one communication. If the Board Member declines to meet, the concerned Board Member should document that the other Board Member declined to meet one-on-one (which then allows for immediate escalation to Step 2).

 

2. Two-on-One Conference: If, after the concerned Board Member has privately discussed the alleged violation with the other Board Member, the concerned Board Member remains unsatisfied that the alleged violation has been addressed, the concerned Board Member may submit, in writing, the allegation to the Board President (arbiter). If the Board President is involved in the allegation, the concerned Board Member may instead submit the allegation, in writing, to the Board Vice-President or the next most senior Board Member not involved in the allegation who is then obligated to serve as arbiter instead.  This process cannot involve more than three Members in total in order to comply with open meetings laws.

 

The Board Members involved will conference to discuss the alleged violation. All parties are strongly encouraged not to allow any further escalation of these procedures and the arbiter’s duty is to work to avoid such escalation.

 

3. Full Board Conference: If, after the small group conference, the concerned Board Member remains unsatisfied that the alleged violation has been addressed, the Board President may call a special meeting of the Board to determine whether the allegations are substantiated. The Board President may call upon the District’s General Counsel to develop an investigation plan.  The findings of this investigation will be presented at the special meeting of the Board. During the special meeting, in order for the alleged violation to be considered, one of the following three motions must be made and seconded: a motion to dismiss allegations, a motion substantiate allegations, or a motion to find the allegations are unsubstantiated.

 

Dismissal: A motion to dismiss allegations concludes these procedures and exonerates the accused Board Member. Once a motion to dismiss allegations has passed concerning a given alleged violation, no other motions concerning that alleged violation are in order unless new information comes to light that was previously unavailable. A motion to dismiss allegations requires a majority vote to pass.

 

Substantiated: A motion to substantiate allegations is the Board’s formal assertion that the allegations are founded in evidence. This is an administration finding, not a criminal or civil finding. A motion to substantiate allegations requires a majority vote to pass.

If, after the special meeting of the Board to discuss the alleged violation, the Board determines that the allegations are substantiated, the Board should inform the Board Member in writing that the allegations have been substantiated and that the Board Member is to refrain from any further such behavior.

 

Unsubstantiated: A motion to find the allegations are unsubstantiated is the Board’s formal assertion that the allegations are not founded in evidence. This is an administration finding, not a criminal or civil finding. A motion to find the allegations are unsubstantiated requires a majority vote to pass.

 

4. Full Board Action: If, within the six months after the full Board has substantiated the allegations, the concerned Board Member remains unsatisfied that the substantiated violation has been addressed, the Board President may will call a special meeting of the Board to consider the potential consequences for the violation.  During the special meeting, in order for the alleged violation to be considered, one of the following three motions must be made and seconded: a motion to dismiss allegations, a motion to admonish, or a motion to censure.

 

Dismissal: A motion to dismiss allegations concludes these procedures and exonerates the accused Board Member. Once a motion to dismiss allegations has passed concerning a given alleged violation, no other motions concerning that alleged violation are in order unless new information comes to light that was previously unavailable. A motion to dismiss allegations requires a majority vote to pass.

 

Admonition: An admonition is a one-time punitive action which serves as a penalty imposed for wrongdoing but carries no fine or suspension of the rights of the Board Member as an elected official. A motion to admonish must be presented in writing and must contain the exact language of the alleged violation and the proposed admonition. A copy of the motion to admonish must be provided to the accused Board Member at least seventy-two (72) hours prior to discussion of the motion. A motion to admonish requires a majority vote to pass.

 

Censure: A censure is an action that is a change in Board Member status that is permanent unless and until lifted by the Board via a majority vote of the Board. A censure serves as a penalty imposed for wrongdoing but carries no fine or suspension of the rights of the Board Member as an elected official. A motion to censure must be presented in writing and must contain the exact language of the alleged violation and the proposed censure. A copy of the motion to censure must be provided to the accused Board Member at least seventy-two (72) hours prior to discussion of the motion. A motion to censure requires a 2/3 majority vote to pass. A motion to censure can only be lifted by a motion to dismiss censure that occurs at least one (1) meeting after the motion to censure was passed. If the censure is imposed by the Board, it carries two key enforcement elements:

1. Status: The status of the Board Member shall change to Censured Board Member and, in all official oral or written records and communication, this status must be used when referring to them.
2. Privileges: All privileges that have been extended to the Censured Board Member are immediately revoked and must remain revoked until the censure is lifted. However, statutorily protected rights of elected officials are not revoked.  

 

(cf. 9270 – Conflict of Interest)

 

The Board expects its members to work with each other and the Superintendent to ensure that a high-quality education is provided to each student.  Each individual Board member shall:

 

1.  Keep learning and achievement for all students as the primary focus
    
2. Value, support and advocate for public education

(cf. 9010 – Public Statements)

 

3. Recognize and respect differences of perspective and style on the Board and among staff, students, parents and the community
    
4. Act with dignity, and understand the implications of demeanor and behavior
    
5. Keep confidential matters confidential

(cf. 9011 – Disclosure of Confidential/Privileged Information)

 

6. Participate in professional development and commit the time and energy necessary to be an informed and effective leader

(cf. 9240 – Board Development)

 

7. Understand the distinctions between Board and staff roles, and refrain from performing management functions that are the responsibility of the Superintendent and staff

(cf. 2110 – Superintendent Responsibilities and Duties)

 

8. Understand that authority rests with the Board as a whole and not with individuals

(cf. 9200 – Limits of Board Member Authority)

 

Board members also shall assume collective responsibility for building unity and creating a positive organizational culture. To operate effectively, the Board shall have a unity of purpose and:

 

1. Keep the District focused on learning and achievement for all students
    
2. Communicate a common vision

(cf. 0000 – Vision)

(cf. 0100 – Philosophy)

(cf. 0200 – Goals for the School District)

 

3. Operate openly, with trust and integrity
    
4. Govern in a dignified and professional manner, treating everyone with civility and respect
    
5. Govern within Board-adopted policies and procedures

(cf. 9310 – Board Policies)

 

6. Take collective responsibility for the Board’s performance
    
7. Periodically evaluate its own effectiveness

(cf. 9400 – Board Self-Evaluation)

 

8.  Ensure opportunities for the diverse range of views in the community to inform Board deliberations

 

(cf. 1220 – Citizen Advisory Committees)

(cf. 9323 – Meeting Conduct)

  

Legal Reference:

EDUCATION CODE

35010   Power of governing board to adopt rules for its own governance

35160   Board authority to act in any manner not conflicting with law

35164   Actions by majority vote

GOVERNMENT CODE

1090   Financial interest in contract

1098   Disclosure of confidential information

1125-1129   Incompatible activities

54950-54963   The Ralph M. Brown Act

87300-87313   Conflict of interest code

Management Resources:

CSBA PUBLICATIONS

CSBA Professional Governance Standards, 2000

Maximizing School Board Leadership: Boardsmanship, 1996

WEB SITES

CSBA: http://www.csba.org

 

 

adopted:  February 14, 2012   San Francisco, California

 

revised: September 6, 2022