Policy Type: Executive Limitations
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Sample Executive
Limitations Policies
2.0 Global Executive Constraint
2.1 Treatment of Students and Parents/Guardians
2.2 Treatment of Staff
2.3 Financial Condition and Activities
2.4 Financial Planning and Budgeting
2.5 Emergency Superintendent Succession
2.6 Asset Protection
2.7 Compensation and Benefits
2.8 Communication and Support to the Board
Policy Title: 2.0. Global Executive Constraint
The
Superintendent shall not cause or allow any practice, activity, decision, or organizational
circumstance that is unlawful, unsafe, imprudent, or in violation of commonly
accepted educational and professional ethics and practices.
Note:
This policy is the broadest of all policies in the Executive Limitations policy
category and therefore the most open to interpretation. Any further Executive
Limitations policies will merely be a narrowing of the provisions of this
policy. The examples that follow demonstrate such further narrowing. Remember
that the Superintendent is granted the authority to use any reasonable
interpretation of the board’s words.
Policy Title: 2.1. Treatment of Students and
Parents/Guardians
With
respect to interactions with Students and Parents/Guardians or those applying
to be Students or Parents/Guardians, the Superintendent shall not cause or
allow conditions, procedures, or decisions that are untimely, unclear,
undignified, or unnecessarily intrusive.
Further, without limiting the scope of the
foregoing by this enumeration, the Superintendent shall not
1. Elicit
information for which there is no clear necessity
2. Use
methods of collecting, reviewing, transmitting, or storing student/family
information that fail to protect against improper access to the material
elicited
3. Fail
to operate facilities with appropriate accessibility and privacy
4. Fail
to establish with Students and Parents/Guardians a clear understanding of what
may be expected and what may not be expected from the service offered
5. Fail
to inform Students and Parents/Guardians of this policy or to provide a way to
be heard for persons who believe they have not been accorded a reasonable
interpretation of their protections under this policy
Policy Title: 2.2. Treatment of Staff
With
respect to the treatment of paid and volunteer staff, the Superintendent shall
not cause or allow conditions that are unfair, undignified, disorganized, or
unclear.
Further, without limiting the scope of the
foregoing by this enumeration, the Superintendent shall not
1. Operate
without written personnel rules that (a) clarify rules for staff, (b) provide
for effective handling of grievances, and (c) protect against wrongful
conditions, such as nepotism and grossly preferential treatment for personal
reasons
2. Discriminate
against any staff member for nondisruptive expression of dissent
3. Fail
to acquaint staff with the Superintendent’s interpretation of their protections
under this policy
4. Allow
staff to be unprepared to deal with emergency situations
Policy Title: 2.3. Financial Condition and Activities
With
respect to the actual, ongoing financial condition and activities, the
Superintendent shall not cause or allow the development of financial jeopardy
or material deviation of actual expenditures from board priorities established
in Ends policies.
Further, without limiting the scope of the
foregoing by this enumeration, the Superintendent shall not
1. Expend
more funds than have been received in the fiscal year to date unless the debt
guideline (below) is met
2. Incur
debt in an amount greater than can be repaid by certain otherwise unencumbered
revenues within sixty days
3. Use
any long-term reserves
4. Conduct
interfund shifting in amounts greater than can be restored to a condition of
discrete fund balances by certain otherwise unencumbered revenues within thirty
days
5. Fail
to settle payroll and debts in a timely manner
6. Allow
tax payments or other government-ordered payments or filings to be overdue or
inaccurately filed
7. Make
a single unbudgeted purchase or commitment of greater than $ _________. Splitting
orders to avoid this limit is not acceptable.
8. Acquire,
encumber, or dispose of real property
9. Fail
to aggressively pursue receivables after a reasonable grace period
Policy Title: 2.4. Financial Planning and Budgeting
The
Superintendent shall not cause or allow financial planning for any fiscal year
or the remaining part of any fiscal year to deviate materially from the board’s
Ends priorities, risk financial jeopardy, or fail to be derived from a
multiyear plan.
Further, without limiting the scope of the
foregoing by this enumeration, there will be no financial plans that
1. Risk
incurring those situations or conditions described as unacceptable in the board
policy “Financial Condition and Activities”
2. Omit
credible projection of revenues and expenses, separation of capital and
operational items, cash flow, and disclosure of planning assumptions
3. Provide
less for board prerogatives during the year than is set forth in the Governance
Investment Policy
Policy Title: 2.5. Emergency CEO Succession
To
protect the board from sudden loss of Superintendent services, the
Superintendent shall not permit there to be fewer than two other executives
sufficiently familiar with board and Superintendent issues and processes to
enable either or both in combination to take over with reasonable proficiency
as an interim successor.
Policy Title: 2.6. Asset Protection
The
Superintendent shall not cause or allow district assets to be unprotected,
inadequately maintained, or unnecessarily risked.
Further, without limiting the scope of the
foregoing by this enumeration, the Superintendent shall not
1. Fail to
insure against theft and casualty losses to at least 80 percent of replacement
value and against liability losses to board members, staff, and the
organization itself in an amount greater than the average for comparable
organizations
2. Allow unbonded personnel access to
material amounts of funds
3. Subject
facilities and equipment to improper wear and tear or insufficient maintenance
4. Unnecessarily
expose the organization, its board, or its staff to claims of liability
5. Make any
purchase (a) wherein normally prudent protection has not been given against
conflict of interest; (b) of over $ _______ without having obtained comparative
prices and quality; (c) of over $ _______ without a stringent method of
ensuring the balance of long-term quality and cost. Orders shall not be split
to avoid these criteria.
6. Fail to
protect intellectual property, information, and files from loss or significant
damage
7. Receive,
process, or disburse funds under controls that are insufficient to meet the
board-appointed auditor's standards
8. Compromise
the independence of the board’s audit or other external monitoring or advice,
such as by engaging parties already chosen by the board as consultants or
advisers
9. Invest or
hold operating capital in insecure instruments, including uninsured checking
accounts and bonds of less than AA rating at any time, or in
non-interest-bearing accounts except where necessary to facilitate ease in
operational transactions
10. Endanger
the organization's public image, its credibility, or its ability to accomplish
Ends
11. Change the
organization’s name or substantially alter its identity in the community
Policy Title: 2.7. Compensation and Benefits
With
respect to employment, compensation, and benefits to employees, consultants,
contract workers, the Superintendent shall not cause or allow jeopardy to
financial integrity or to public image.
Further, without limiting the scope of the
foregoing by this enumeration, the Superintendent shall not
1. Change
the Superintendent’s own compensation and benefits, except as his or her
benefits are consistent with a package for all other employees
2. Promise
or imply permanent or guaranteed employment
3. Establish
or change compensation and benefits that deviate materially from the
geographical or professional market median for the skills employed
4. Create
obligations over a longer term than revenues can be safely projected, in no
event longer than one year and in all events subject to losses in revenue
5. Establish
or change pension benefits so as to cause unpredictable or inequitable
situations, including those that
A. Incur
unfunded liabilities
B. Provide
less than some basic level of benefits to all full time employees, though
differential benefits to encourage longevity are not prohibited
C. Allow
any employee to lose benefits already accrued from any previous plan
Policy Title: 2.8. Communication and Support to the Board
The
Superintendent shall not cause or allow the board to be uninformed or
unsupported in its work.
Further, without limiting the scope of the
foregoing by this enumeration, the Superintendent shall not
1. Neglect
to submit monitoring data required by the board (see policy 3.4 on monitoring
Superintendent performance) in a timely, accurate, and understandable fashion,
directly addressing the provisions of board policies being monitored
2. Fail
to report in a timely manner any actual or anticipated noncompliance with any
policy of the board
3. Neglect
to submit unbiased decision information required periodically by the board or
let the board be unaware of relevant trends
4. Let
the board be unaware of any significant incidental information it requires,
including anticipated media coverage, threatened or pending lawsuits, and
material internal and external changes
5. Fail
to advise the board if, in the Superintendent's opinion, the board is not in
compliance with its own policies on Governance Process and Board-Management
Delegation, particularly in the case of board behavior that is detrimental to
the work relationship between the board and the Superintendent
6. Present
information in unnecessarily complex or lengthy form or in a form that fails to
differentiate among information of three types: monitoring, decision
preparation, and incidental.
7. Fail
to provide a workable mechanism for official board, officer, or committee
communications
8. Fail,
when addressing official business, to deal with the board as a whole except
when responding to officers or committees duly charged by the board
9. Fail
to supply for the board’s consent agenda, along with applicable monitoring
information, all decisions delegated to the Superintendent yet required by law,
regulation, or contract to be board-approved