9000-Role of Board Members (Powers, Purposes, Duties)

The Board of Education is a legal body created by the statutes of the State of Connecticut. As an agency of the state with powers delegated to it by the legislature and the State Board of Education, the Newtown Board of Education is responsible to carry out mandatory laws, and to consider and accept or reject the provisions of all permissive laws. In those cases where the state laws do not provide or prohibit, the Board shall consider itself the agent in establishing and appraising the educational activities of the district.

The Newtown Board of Education views its required functions in these broad areas:

1. Legislative and policymaking. The Board is responsible for the development of policy as guides for administrative action and for employing a superintendent to implement its policies.
2. Appraisal. The Board is responsible for evaluating the effectiveness of its policies and their implementation. It shall evaluate how policies have been executed by the school staff, and weigh the results. The Board shall rely on the school staff, students, and the community to provide evidence of the effect of policies.
3. Provision of financial resources. The Board is responsible for adoption of a budget which will enable the school system to carry out the Board's policies.
4. Public relations. The Board is responsible for providing adequate and direct means for keeping the local citizenry informed about the schools and for keeping itself and the school staff informed about the needs and wishes of the public.
5. Educational planning and evaluation. The Board is responsible for establishing educational goals which will guide both the board and the staff in working together toward the continuing improvement of the educational program. It is responsible for the approval of student standards which relate directly to the goals which identify specific expectations for students in terms of skills, knowledge and competence. It is responsible for providing for the ongoing evaluation of the school program against the curriculum goals and standards set forth by the Board and by the State Board of Education.
6. Superintendent. The Board is responsible for the hiring, supervision, evaluation and/or termination of the superintendent.
7. Personnel. The Board delegates to the superintendent the responsibility for the hiring of all non-certified staff and all certified staff with the exception of administrators. The superintendent is responsible for accepting staff resignations and initiating termination proceedings, if necessary. The Board will receive reports of retirements and resignations at each Regular Board meeting and will act on terminations when required by statue or contract.
8. School Facilities/Transportation. The Board is responsible for working with the Superintendent to properly maintain good public elementary and secondary facilities. It is responsible for providing for the transportation of children to schools within Newtown and to those schools outside of Newtown required by law.
9. Pupil Identification. The Board is responsible for determining the number, age and qualification of the pupils to be admitted into each school and to designate the schools which are to be attended by the various children within the district. It is responsible for requiring each child five to eighteen years of age, living in the school district, to attend school unless parents/guardians of five to six-year-old students choose not to send their children to school or parents/guardians of sixteen and seventeen-year-old students consent to withdraw their children from school.
10. Cooperative Arrangements. The Board is responsible for establishing cooperative relationships with other educational agencies and institutions, including the sharing or exchange of services or the instruction of students.
11.  Board-Superintendent Relations

Delegation of executive powers by the Board provides fredom for the Superintendent to manage the schools within the Board's established policies. The Superintendent shall be responsible to the Board for the outcomes of these delegated responsibilities. (cf. 5111 – Admission/Placement)

Legal Reference: Connecticut General Statutes1-200 Definitions
10-186 Duties of local and regional boards of education 10-220 Duties of boards of education
10-221 Boards of education to prescribe rules 10-240 Control of schools
10-241 Powers of school districts

Bylaw revised: October 15, 2019