Lyme School Board

Policy: BDE
School Board Committees and Representation

School Board Representation:

The School Board may authorize one or more of its members to serve on special or advisory committees or to act as a Board representative to other groups or committees on any matter pertaining to the business or policies of the school.

Standing Committees

The School Board shall establish standing committees of Board members, Lyme citizens, and Lyme School employees to accomplish specific tasks on behalf of the Board. These committees shall include the following:

Membership on standing committees shall be assigned by the Board Chair after consulting with the School Board. The School Board Chair is a voting, ex-officio member and the Superintendent is a non-voting, ex-officio member of all committees of the Board. Additionally, any Board member may attend and participate in the discussion of any meeting of any Board committee, whether said member is appointed or not; however, only appointed Board members shall vote on committee consensus decisions.

The existence of School Board committees and representation should be reviewed by the Board annually at its organizational meeting to determine if continuation is desired or necessary.

Advisory, Special, or Community Committees

In addition to the standing committees above, the Chair may appoint representatives to various special, advisory, or community committees. These committees may include, but are not limited to, the Thetford Academy Advisory Committee, the Library Committee, and the Lyme Budget Committee.

While board members representing the School Board at advisory, special, or community committees are expected to fully participate in meeting activities, individual members may not speak for the School Board or commit the Board to any action without prior approval of the majority of the Board.

ADOPTED: 8 September 1977

REVISED: 14 October 1993
13 July 1995
12 November 1998
20 November 2008

Procedures for Policy BDE
School Board Committees

Role of Board Chair

The Chair of the Board appoints Board committee members and committee chairs. Annually, at the organizational meeting, the Chair will review the charge for each of the committees.

Determination/Formation

The need for committees or Board representation shall be determined by the Board as a whole. The Board shall:

A. determine need by consensus,
B. clarify reason and charge for committee or representation,
C. designate interval at which the Board will receive reports,
D. provide guidelines regarding encumbrance/expenditure of funds, decision-making, timelines, report requirements, etc.,
E. clarify need for support, i.e., space to meet, postage, etc.

Member Responsibility

Any Board member appointed as a Board committee member or representative shall:

A. if chair, make sure that meeting is properly warned,
B. become informed regarding specific topic or responsibility to which assigned,
C. establish schedule, providing advance notice to Board and school office of meeting dates,
D. keep minutes of meetings,
E. provide leadership on topic or assignment at School Board meetings,
F. ensure no opinion, decision, or commitment on behalf of the School Board as a whole is given unless specifically authorized to do so, and seek such clarification when needed,
G. ensure any announcement or press release is cleared with the Board.

Dissolution:

1. Committees appointed to accomplish a specific goal shall be dissolved upon
2. accomplishment of the goal.
3. Committees appointed for the school year shall be dissolved at the close of school year.
4. Committees may be dissolved for good cause at any time by majority vote of the Board.
5. If requested, the dissolving committee will provide a summary of activities or task-completion report for the Board.