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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04 Report 11-223 Board Governance Task Force 19 December 2011 Report No. 11-223 to Board Governance Task Force Re: Policy Revisions to Board Governance ORIGINATORS: Jennifer Adams, Director of Education and Secretary of the Board Michèle Giroux, Executive Officer, Corporate Services (ext. 8607) Monica Ceschia, Manager, Board Services PURPOSE: 1. To provide a revised policy document on board governance based on discussions at the 01 November 2011 Task Force meeting and subsequent comments received from trustees for discussion purposes. BACKGROUND: 2. The Board Governance Task Force during its meetings of 21 September 2011 and 01 November reviewed a draft policy document for board governance. 3. The following points were noted at the 01 November 2011 meeting: Title The title is ambiguous and it is unclear as to whether governance refers to the Board of Trustees or the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. § 1.0 Objective It is unclear whether the objective of the policy is to establish a framework to establish the principles and philosophies, or if it should establish the principles and philosophies; the pieces that need to be in place to enable the Board to carry out governance; and The references to student achievement and wellbeing are mission statements and not objective statements. § 2.0 Definitions 2.1 Clarify the use of Board versus board, and District versus district; 2.2 The bulleted list of activities should be moved to section 4.1 or an appended job description and not form part of the definition of governance; and 2.4 Clarify the meaning of uphold. § 4.0 Specific Directives § 4.1b Differentiate between the roles and responsibilities of trustees and those of staff; and Clarify what constitutes a board decision and what is a staff decision. Policy on Board Governance Report 11-223 1 § 4.1c Clarify whether the job description for board members has previously been formally approved by the Board. § 4.1d . Process for Further Development of Draft Policy Trustee Campbell expressed appreciation to staff for their work on the draft policy. He submitted that considerable work remains to be done and a large Task Force of 8-10 members might be too unwieldy to edit the text on a clause by clause basis. He suggested that it may be more effective to task a smaller sub-group of the Task Force with further revisions to the policy; Chair Kavanagh noted that it would have been helpful if Task Force members had provided their proposed changes in writing in advance of the meeting to enable a more thoughtful discussion; Director Adams suggested that the Task Force consider one of the three following methods to continue its development of the governance policy: the Task Force reviews the draft policy clause by clause and staff amends the draft as specifically directed (as was done at the last meeting of the Task Force); or the Task Force reviews and proposes changes and staff interprets the comments and suggestions and produces a third draft; or the Task Force forms a sub-committee to do the work; Trustee McKenzie suggested that the Task Force members outline their concerns with the draft policy and follow up the discussion with a written email to Executive Officer Giroux. She expressed the opinion that a small sub-committee should do the policy writing work; Trustee Scott submitted that all trustees need to provide input and discuss the concepts outlined in the draft policy rather than leave the work to a small group of trustees. She seek input from all trustees and come to agreement about what components (i.e., statements, beliefs, philosophies, commitments, expectations, roles and responsibilities etc.) need to be addressed in the governance policy or other policies. She also noted that the Task Force would need to determine which aspects belong in policy and which are more appropriately les; Executive Officer Giroux noted that policy development is an iterative process and staff has suggestions that the Task Force review governance policies of other school boards, including the Edmonton Public School Board, she agreed to provide examples to assist the Task Force in determining appropriate wording; Trustee Campbell suggested that the Task Force identify the major issues that need definition, clarity, and resolution in order to ensure that the policy provides useful guidance and that the committee structure and reporting requirements are appropriate. He noted that it was important to understand what we want the policy to do and whether or not the policy would ultimately resolve some of the long-standing questions that plague this Board, such as: i. What is the role of the Board vis a vis staff? ii. What is the role of the trustees versus Board members? and iii. What does upholding a decision of the Board mean? Task Force members suggested that the following components may be included in the policy: Purpose including statements about what the policy is intended to clarify and o resolve for the Board Policy on Board Governance Report 11-223 2 Definitions o Specific Directives: o i) Beliefs including: a. determine which beliefs belong in the policy, for example beliefs about board governance and/or beliefs about student learning; b. the role of the Board in setting general direction through policy and monitoring policy implementation; c. address what happens when the Board has not done its work fully or properly or does not have clear policies in areas where it wants work done; d. - appeals, boundary adjustments, program reviews, principal appointments etc. and determine whether policy statements are required or if these areas are outside the jurisdiction of the Board of Trustees; and e. address Board of Trustee involvement when the Board determines that staff has not done its work fully or properly. ii) Guiding principles including: a. differentiate between guiding principles for the district and guiding principles for Board governance. iii) Commitments of the Board, including: a. how the Board would conduct its business and tackle underlying issues; and b. expectations for schools and central services. iv) Job Description for Board Members, including: a. specificity around the roles, responsibilities and jurisdiction for the Board and for staff (i.e., policy setting, budget, strategic plan, implementing and monitoring policies, implementing provincial initiatives, facilities, monitoring OCENET, OSDN, Education Foundation, OSTA, constituency affairs); and b. the relationship between the Board and the Director of Education and delegation of authority. Executive Officer Giroux noted that while the policy can endeavour to address some systemic enforce it. She also noted that this policy should be different from a code of conduct for trustees; The g monitoring function, for example, should the Board amend and edit reports, or are trustees required to participate on selection committees when authority to hire has been delegated to the Director of Education? It would be helpful for new trustees to have examples of what they are expected to monitor and how it should be done; Bill 177 and the job description for board members include the following monitoring functions: monitoring the effectiveness of policies and multi-year plans in achieving the monitoring the performance of the Director of Education; and monitoring the fiscal management of the district; Trustee McKenzie submitted that staff may feel responsible to both the Board of Trustees and the Ministry of Education, and when provincial initiatives such as full-day learning and the extended day program are imposed on school boards, the Board of Trustees may not become involved until the implementation of an initiative becomes an issue. She maintained that - making powers; and Policy on Board Governance Report 11-223 3 With regard to local jurisdiction, clarity is required on policy governance in certain areas, for example, if the Board is requested by staff to make decisions on the location of EFI classes, then why does it not make decisions on the location of special education classes; and why are under what circumstances is the Board, through trustee motion, able to provide direction to staff in areas that are normally within the purview of staff. STATUS: 4. Staff has reviewed the comments made during the 01 November 2011 Board Governance Task Force meeting, as well as submissions received from two members of the Task Force following the last meeting. A revised policy is attached as Appendix A. At this stage, it is presented as a draft for discussion purposes and further refinement is expected by the Board Governance Task Force. The areas in bold have been added based on discussion and include input received since the last Task Force meeting. 5. The draft policy incorporates belief statements and staff has made an effort to structure the language in the belief statements to be more focused and specific. 6. The district has a number of policies which relate to board governance. The guiding principles from Policy P.048.GOV Board Guiding Principles have been incorporated into the draft policy. Other policies have been referred to in the draft policy as reference documents. CONSULTATION: 7. The initial draft of a board governance policy was discussed by the Board Governance Task Force on 21 September 2011, with a review of the second draft at its meeting of 01 November 2011. 8. During its meeting on 01 November 2011 Chair Kavanagh asked Task Force members to submit their belief statements, concerns about the B on the draft policy to Executive Officer Giroux not later than 25 November 2011. 9. On 16 November 2011 the Director of Education sent an e-mail to all trustees seeking input on the draft policy on Board Governance requesting that individual input be received by 25 November 2011. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: 10. There is no financial implication as a result of the recommendation within this report. SUBMITTED FOR DISCUSSION: _____________________________________ _____________________________________ Jennifer Adams Michèle Giroux Director of Education and Secretary of the Board Executive Officer, Corporate Services Policy on Board Governance Report 11-223 4 Appendix A POLICY P.XXX.GOV TITLE: BOARD GOVERNANCE Date issued: December 2011 Revised: Authorization: Board: 1.0 OBJECTIVE the principles for Board governance that encourages and supports To establish effective Board decision-making to enhance student achievement and well-being. 2.0 DEFINITIONS Boarda 2.1 means the Board of Trustees of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, board of education established under the , with power to perform all Education Act of the duties conferred or imposed upon a public school board by that or any other of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario. Act 2.2 Trustee means a member of the Board. Trustees are elected in accordance with the at each municipal election, by the public school tax supporters Education Act residing in the City of Ottawa. The Board also has two student trustees. Board Governance 2.3 means dealing with the leadership, stewardship and oversight of the school district and its resources. It concerns itself with the direction of the district activities. Districtarea of jurisdiction of 2.4 means the the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board or the board. 2.5 Upholdor defend, as against opposition or criticism, means to support, maintain, the decisions made by the Board. 2.6 Monitoring means to determine the extent to which the direction, policies and priorities the Board has set have been met. 2.7 Governance philosophy means the expression of values and beliefs which the Board of Trustees subscribes to in the undertaking of its duties. 2.8 Guiding principle means a brief, value-laden statement that may infuse, direct or support any action, decision or practice to which it is related. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ -1- P.XXX.GOV 3.0 POLICY 3.1 The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board is committed to providing leadership and good governance to benefit public education, student achievement and student well- district being in the . Belief Statements 3.2 The governance philosophy of the Board shall be based on the following belief statements: (a) There is a relationship between effective governance and educational outcomes when decision-making is focused on student achievement and well-being; (b) The Board of Trustees, through adopted policies and applicable legislation, ensures schools and programs meet the diverse educational needs of students in their communities within an approved financial framework. (c) There is a division of responsibility between the Board as the governing body, and the Director of Education as the Chief Executive Officer. The responsibilities are established in the duties provided in the job description of the Board and the job The Director of Education is description of the Director of Education. accountable to the Board, and the Board will instruct the Director of Education through written policies and decisions of the Board of Trustees . In brief, the Board governs and management manages. the community (d) Board members have a responsibility to who elected them to fulfill their duties as a member of the board which is responsible for governing the school district and working within the legislative framework established by the Province of Ontario. (e) Board members must balance their responsibility to their constituents with their collectively duties as members of the board, making decisions in the interests of all students. The Board will deliberate in many voices, and govern in one. (f) An effective board code of conduct encourages and supports a culture of collaboration, respect, trust, candor and open dissent. (g) There is a commitment to transparency in the work of the board and, in compliance with legislative requirements, making every reasonable effort to hold all deliberation and debate in public. Effective (h) governance requires an investment of time on the part of the individual members to be aware of the legislative, policy and operational requirements of the school board, and to be aware of current and emerging issues, to bring forward the concerns of their constituents to the attention of the Board, and to uphold the decisions of the Board. (i) The Board is committed to creating a strong public education system which fosters a culture of creativity and innovation, providing students and staff with the opportunity ___________________________________________________________________________________________ -2- P.XXX.GOV to realize their potential and develop into highly skilled, knowledgeable, caring citizens who contribute to their society. (j) The Board, in its deliberations, will seek input from parents, the public and staff; will respect diversity of opinion; will conduct its business in an orderly transparent manner; and will seek to achieve outcomes that are in the best interests of its students. (k) The Chair of the Board is the chief spokesperson for the Board and once a decision is made it is upheld by the Board. 3.3 The guiding principles of the Board are intended to provide guidance when setting policy direction and decision-making for the educational community. All decisions made by the OCDSB should: (a) Make students the primary focus; (b) Support programs and services which challenge all students to achieve their personal best; (c) Recognize and value the diversity of its community by ensuring equity, accessibility and fairness of learning opportunities; (d) Consider the input of students, parents, staff and the wider community as appropriate through a meaningful consultation process; (e) Make efficient, effective and innovative use of its resources, based on sound planning and best available information; (f) Foster vital and mutually beneficial relationships between schools, the populations they serve and the communities in which they are situated, and (g) Be professional, transparent, made with integrity and with respect for all. 4.0 SPECIFIC DIRECTIVES Roles and Responsibilities 4.1 The Board, in accordance with Section 169.1 of the , is responsible for Education Act the following: 169.1 (1) Board responsibility for student achievement and effective stewardship of resources Every board shall, (a) Promote student achievement and well-being; (b) (c) Deliver effective and appropriate education programs to its pupils; (d) Develop and maintain policies and organizational structures that, i. Promote the goals referred to in clauses (a) to (c), and ii. Encourage pupils to pursue their educational goals; (e) Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of policies developed by the board under clause (d) in achieving implementation of these policies; ___________________________________________________________________________________________ -3- P.XXX.GOV (f) Develop a multi-year plan aimed at achieving the goals referred to in clauses (a) to (c); (g) of educatio education; and (h) in meeting, i. His or her duties under the or any policy, guideline or regulation Act made under this Act, including duties under the plan referred to in clause (f), and ii. Any other duties assigned by the board. (2) Multi-year plan A multi-year plan is a plan for three or more school years. (3) Measures in plan Every board shall ensure that the plan referred to in clause (1) (f) includes measures respecting the allocation of resources to improve student outcomes that fall below the outcomes specified in regulations made under section 11.1. (4) Communication Every board shall take steps to, (a) Bring the plan referred to in clause (1) (f) to the attention of supporters and employees of the board; and (b) Report to supporters and employees of the board about progress in implementing the plan referred to in clause (1) (f). (5) Effective stewardship Every board shall, (a) Effectively use the resources entrusted to it; (b) Use the resources entrusted to it for the purposes of delivering effective and appropriate education; and (c) Manage the resources entrusted to it in a manner that upholds public confidence. 4.2 In addition to the above-noted responsibilities, the Board of Trustees shall also: (a) Represent and protect the public interest; (b) Maintain a strategic focus on the work of the school board; (c) Realize the potential of an effective Board-Director relationship; Delegate authority to the Director; (d) Provide leadership and set overall direction for the district through its policies (e) and priorities ; Monitor the extent to which the direction, policies and priorities it has set have (f) been met; Conduct a regular review of Board policies at least once every five years; (g) Conduct annual performance appraisals of the Board of Trustees and the (h) Director ; (i) Increase Board influence through political advocacy; ___________________________________________________________________________________________ -4- P.XXX.GOV (j) Engage in board development to increase the collective capacity of the Board; (k) Demonstrate fiscal accountability; and (l) Meet legislated requirements. 4.3 The roles and responsibilities of the Director of Education are established in Policy P.051.GOV Evaluation of Director of Education and Secretary of the Board and include: (a) Providing educational leadership to the District; (b) Maintaining a strategic focus and managing policy implementation; (c) Enhancing communications and community relations; (d) Managing human resources and professional development; (e) Demonstrating fiscal accountability; and (f) Demonstrating a strong relationship with provincial officials, including The Committees of the Board 4.4 Board committees exist to assist the Board in fulfilling its responsibilities and are official sub- (a) Encouraging the Board to focus on multi-year planning, communications with the public, policy development, and advocacy; (b) of board responsibilities and of administrative functions; (c) Focusing the work of the Board on district level policy setting and decision- making; and (d) Making more 5.0 REFERENCE DOCUMENTS Policy P.048.GOV Board Guiding Principles (NOTE: rescind P.048 and see new 3.3) Education Act of Ontario and Regulations under the Education Act Bylaws and Standing Rules Policy P.xxx.GOV Board Member Code of Conduct (to be developed Policy P.073.GOV Board Member Code of Ethics Policy P.025.GOV Board Member Conflict of Interest Policy P.130.GOV Evaluation Process for the Board of Trustees Policy P.051.GOV Evaluation of Director of Education and Secretary of the Board Policy P.001.GOV Policy Development and Management ___________________________________________________________________________________________ -5- P.XXX.GOV Policy P.110.GOV Consultation by the Board, Schools and School Councils with Constituent Groups and the Wider Community Policy P.114.GOV Advocacy Policy P.006.HR Delegation of Authority Human Resources Policy P.007.FIN Signing Authority and Spending Controls Job Description for Board Member Job Description for Director of Education and Secretary of the Board ___________________________________________________________________________________________ -6- P.XXX.GOV