Roles of the School Board Trustee

It is very important to recognize that the key to success for our school district is the collective skills, leadership, and teamwork of the school board, the superintendent, and the senior staff. I have included the following table in order to give you an understanding of the respective roles and responsibilities of the board trustee and the superintendent within the framework of state and federal law and State Board of Education and commissioner rules.

The table is copied from the 2000 Guide for School Board Candidates, ©1989-2000 by the Texas Association of School Boards.

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School Board	Superintendent
Administration
The board hires the superintendent and delegates responsibility for administrative functions.	The superintendent is responsible for providing administrative leadership and managing district day-to-day operations.
Policymaking
The board establishes policy for the governance of the school system after considering the superintendent's recommendations.	The superintendent is responsible for designing and implementing procedures to effect the requirements of policy.
Hiring and Evaluating Personnel
The board adopts a policy providing for the employment and duties of district personnel. It is a common practice for the board to employ professional personnel in accordance with policy and as recommended by the superintendent and to review and act on other personnel recommendations from the superintendent.	The superintendent recommends personnel to be hired; is responsible for performance evaluations; and makes recommendations for renewal, nonrenewal, and dismissal of personnel, as provided by policy. The superintendent has sole authority to make recommendations to the board regarding the selection of all personnel; the board cannot act independently of these recommendations. Law does give the board authority to delegate its personnel responsibilities to the superintendent.
Program Evaluation
The board approves courses to be offered and requires periodic reports on the status of the educational program offered; by the district, making revisions in policy as they are needed. The board publishes TEA's annual educational performance report on the district and each campus and holds a hearing for its public discussion.	The superintendent serves as educational leader for attainment of student performance objectives and submits to the board reports on the curriculum, keeping the board informed about the evaluation of school programs.
Planning Goals
The board establishes educational goals for the district, based on the input of district staff and community members, through various planning activities.	The superintendent provides administrative leadership and makes recommendations to the board concerning the development and implementation of and progress toward the educational goals approved by the board.
Budget
The board communicates the district's priorities to the superintendent through identified goals, reviews the budget submitted by the superintendent, makes necessary revisions, adopts the budget, and sets tax rates.	The superintendent prepares a budget, makes revisions as requested by the board, and administers the budget and makes purchasing decisions as defined by board policy.
Facilities Planning
The board adopts plans for facilities after considering the recommendations of the superintendent and delegates supervision of the building program to the superintendent.	The superintendent leads the administrative effort to plan for, operate, and evaluate facilities and to supervise improvements.
Community Relations
The board adopts a program of school to community relations and remains responsive to the community.	The superintendent recommends and implements a program of school to community relations and keeps the community informed about district performance, policies, programs, and procedures.