School Board Academy

The below video workshops are free and available in Windows Media. If you do not currently have Windows Media player on your computer you may download (PC or Apple) it free at

or

6 minutes
This video session includes information regarding what detail level the school board should receive in their monthly financial reports from the school district.

11 minutes
This video session includes information regarding school board members and administrators presenting their budget to their communities. It gives suggestions for data and terminology to use the in the discussions with your communities.

12 minutes
Bob Johnson from the Vermont Principals' Association and Winton Goodrich discuss the need and use of policies in athletics and cocurricular activities. The handouts include sample policies from the VPA.

20 minutes
This session discusses some information for community members to learn what school boards do, if anyone can attend board meetings, what is executive session, what are board members doing when they pass around bills for payment authorization, how is the board agenda developed, how does a parent get on the agenda, etc.

10 minutes
This presentation is an snippet of the Real World Graduates DVD. It contains pieces of the 35 minute DVD available through VSBA available in your School Board DVD Library (in the supervisory union office) or to order visit: http://199.73.12.194/develop/dvd.html

12 minutes
This presentation is an snippet of the Planning Agendas and Managing Meeting DVD. It contains pieces of the 40 minute DVD available through VSBA.
To order visit: http://199.73.12.194/develop/dvd.html

14 minutes
This presentation is an overview of the policy process. It contains pieces of the 40 minute DVD available through VSBA.

11 minutes
This presentation explains the process involved in the first meeting after the school board elections.

5 minutes
This is a basic description of VSBIT and how it is relevant to school boards.

11 minutes
This presentation explains Act 82 (the two vote law) and how it impacts your school budget.

11 minutes
This presentation discusses communication between the school board, the school and the community. Winton gives suggestions and advice given by tenured school board members. The goal is the keep the public informed about your school all through the year. He also gives tips on speaking with the media.

16 minutes
Who is Robert and why does he make the rules? This presentation explains some basic information regarding Robert's Rules of Order. The presentation covers school board quorum requirements, motions required to begin discussions, amendments made only to refine or improve motions and under discussions, characteristics of motions to amend, concensus, reconsideration, rescision, abstentions, ending debates and Robert's Rules for small boards.

9 minutes
A brief presentation with the handouts describing a model of a description the best practice for school board members. This Code of Conduct has been developed by the Vermont School Boards Association to help school boards carry out the important education decision making role while maintaining effective relationships with school administrators, staff, and community members. Given the complexity of Vermont’s education governance structure, nothing is more important than clarifying appropriate roles and responsibilities for the school board, superintendent, and principal(s).

7 minutes
Executive sessions are portions of meetings not open to the public. Executive sessions may be conducted only for specific purposes described in 1V.S.A. 313, and only following specific procedures. Executive sessions are attended by board members and at the board’s discretion, staff, legal counsel and persons who are subjects of the discussion or whose information is needed.

4 minutes
Experienced school board members can attest to a need for assistance in wading through mountains of information while conducting the business of the board. Board members don’t work full-time at this job (although there are certain times of the year that one might question that premise), so understanding where information resources can be readily found is important. Below is a list of resources (most of which should be available in your local school or supervisory union office) you will find helpful in understanding how your district works.

5 minutes
Board members often receive complaints from staff, parents, and/or community members. It is important to have a structure in place to formally respond to these complaints. The steps outlined in this Complaints Resolution Process diagram will help the board deal with dissatisfied individuals.

9 minutes
In the opinion of one veteran negotiator for school districts, "Successful negotiating is one part face-to-face discussion and nine parts homework." Collective bargaining requires preparation that is lengthy, detailed, logical, and thoughtful. Long before the process of negotiating begins, the board must provide clear sense of the direction it intends to take in negotiating and how it intends to reach the objective of securing a reasonable contract.

In preparing for negotiations, boards should account for local variables. Although your board may have consulted other districts, private consultants, or state and national organizations, questions of dynamics can substantially alter the standard steps for preparing to negotiate.

7 minutes
The Vermont law changed in 2007 to allow school boards to fill their own vacancies. This brief video workshop helps to explain the process.

5 minutes
One of the most commonly asked questions by the public regarding school system operations is “Why can’t school districts operate like private industry?”

Once the school budget has been adopted, the board takes on an oversight responsibility, monitoring expenditures to ensure that the money is used for the goals the board has specified and is within the spirit and intent of the authorizations. In Vermont, school boards are authorized to determine how budgeted funds will be spent once the electorate has approved a budget.

6 minutes 5 seconds
Effective school boards are critical to the success of our public schools. Yet what does an effective board look like? The VSBA Board of Directors developed the following Vermont Standards for School Boards based upon the work of the National School Boards Association, other state school board associations, and research in the area of governance. The standards were adopted by the VSBA Board at its August Meeting.

The VSBA board believes that having a clear set of standards for school boards will allow our organization to better support boards in their ongoing efforts to successfully lead systems focused on student learning. The standards will provide the foundation for VSBA programs and services. In addition, the standards encourage boards to reflect on their current practice and engage in discussions to increase their effectiveness as a board.

7 minutes
All school board meetings, and meetings of school board subcommittees, must be open to the public, and must give reasonable opportunity for public participation.

A meeting is defined as a quorum of the members of a school board gathered for the purpose of discussing the business of the board or for the purpose of taking action.

7 minutes
The communication channels and relationships you maintain with your board are critically important to the board's effectiveness and efficiency. No individual board member has any personal authority; it is only when a majority of board members agree and take action at a legal meeting that the work of the board gets done. As a board, you can take steps to nurture board relationships and repair potential splits before they become dangerous.

An excellent way to work on board relationships - and brainstorm ideas - is the board retreat. It's a bit like busy parents going out to dinner together and leaving the kids at home. A comfortable atmosphere away from home, where the telephone doesn't ring and where someone else cooks and washes the dishes can do wonders for a relationship. At a board retreat, you leave the kids at home but you do talk about them. And you do talk with each other.

5 minutes
This short streaming video shows examples of the chapters on the one hour and 33 minute Policy Governance Board Role for the Board Chair DVD available through the VSBA. The DVD may be purchased on the VSBA website.

11 minutes
This short streaming video shows examples of the chapters on the 38 minute Policy Governance Board Role in Communication DVD available through the VSBA. The chapters of the full DVD are: Explaining Policy Governance to the Community, Community Input, Grievance Path to the Board, Monitoring, Interpretation of a Policy, Informing the Board, Superintendent Evaluation. The DVD may be purchased on the VSBA website.

9 minutes
This short streaming video shows examples of the chapters on the 48 minute Policy Governance Board Role in Communication DVD available through the VSBA. The chapters of the full DVD are: Explaining Policy Governance to the Community, Community Input, Grievance Path to the Board, Monitoring, Interpretation of a Policy, Informing the Board, Superintendent Evaluation. The DVD may be purchased on the VSBA website.

	Overview
	Policy
	Ends Policies
	Executive Limitations Policies
	Governance Process Policies
	Board Superintendent Delegation Policies
	Monitoring
	Community Ownership
	Board Agendas & Board Meetings