San Francisco Unified School District and County Office of Education
Board Rules and Procedures 9200
Limits Of Board Member Authority
This Rule and Procedure applies to the San Francisco Unified School District and the County Office of Education.
The Board of Education recognizes that the Board is the unit of authority over the District and that a Board member has no individual authority. Board members shall hold the education of students above any partisan principle, group interest, or personal interest.
(cf. 1160 – Political Processes)
(cf. 9000 – Role of the Board)
(cf. 9005 – Governance Standards)
(cf. 9270 – Conflict of Interest)
(cf. 9323 – Meeting Conduct)
Unless agreed to by the Board as a whole, individual members of the Board shall not exercise any administrative responsibility with respect to the schools or command the services of any school employee. Individual Board members shall submit requests for information to the Superintendent or Superintendent’s designee.
(cf. 1340 – Access to District Records)
(cf. 4112.6/4212.6/4312.6 – Personnel Files)
(cf. 9011 – Disclosure of Confidential/Privileged Information)
(cf. 9322 – Agenda/Meeting Materials)
Individual Board members do not have the authority to resolve complaints. Any Board member approached directly by a person with a complaint should refer the complainant to the Superintendent or designee so that the problem may receive proper consideration and be handled through the appropriate District process. In the event that Board Members receive a complaint from an employee, Board Members should encourage the employee to follow the steps described in District policy.
In the event a Board Member has a significant personal or financial interest in the subject matter of a complaint, the Board Member shall recuse themselves. A significant personal or financial interest does not include any interest that is the same as that of any other persons generally affected by the outcome of a matter.
(cf. 1312.1 – Complaints Concerning District Employees)
(cf. 1312.2 – Complaints Concerning Instructional Materials)
(cf. 1312.3 – Uniform Complaint Procedures)
(cf. 1312.4 – Williams Uniform Complaint Procedures)
(cf. 3320 – Claims and Actions Against the District)
(cf. 4031 – Complaints Concerning Discrimination in Employment)
(cf. 6159.1 – Procedural Safeguards and Complaints for Special Education)
A Board member whose child is attending a District school should be aware of their role as a Board member when interacting with District employees about their child.
(cf. 1240 – Volunteer Assistance)
(cf. 5020 – Parent Rights and Responsibilities)
(cf. 6020 – Parent Involvement)
Legal Reference:
EDUCATION CODE
200-262.4 Prohibition of discrimination
7054 Use of District property
35010 Control of District; prescription and enforcement of rules
35100-35351 Governing boards, especially:
35160-35184 Powers and duties
35291 Rules
35292 Visits to schools (Board members)
51101 Rights of parents/guardians
GOVERNMENT CODE
54950-54962 The Ralph M. Brown Act, especially:
54952.1 Member of a legislative body of a local agency
54952.7 Copies of chapter to members of legislative body
Management Resources:
CSBA PUBLICATIONS
CSBA Professional Governance Standards, 2000
Maximizing School Board Leadership: Boardsmanship, 1996
WEB SITES
CSBA: http://www.csba.org
Please note that compare references, or “cf”, refer to CSBA model policies and do not necessarily indicate that the San Francisco Unified School District has adopted the referenced policy.