The School Board recognizes that the state and local community determine the number of educational programs available and the quality of the educational process in general. Therefore, it is imperative that members of the community work with the School Board and staff in developing sound educational policies, implementing programs and establishing an effective evaluation process for those programs.

School/community relations cannot merely be described as a process of reporting and interpreting, but rather can be characterized as a partnership in pursuit of excellence. It is a partnership in which community members, educators, and other school personnel perform their respective roles in view of the best interests of the schools and, most importantly, the students

The administration is responsible for all public communications except for such matters as the Board may wish to deal with publicly itself.

(cf. 1100 - Communication with the Public)

Legal Reference:

            ALASKA STATUTES

            14.03.120 Education Planning

The School Board perceives that increasing numbers of children live in poverty or neglect. Children who come to school with unmet physical, social, and emotional needs are unable to devote themselves to learning. Our future depends upon these children becoming literate, independent and productive citizens. The Board believes that all aspects of a child’s welfare must become our society’s top priority.

Children have a right to have their physical, emotional and intellectual needs met. The Board supports public policies which respect children by meeting their needs. The Board will advocate for local, state, and national public and private policies, legislation and programs designed to provide or better coordinate services that help children to make the most of their educational opportunities.

The School Board appreciates the importance of community involvement and therefore shall strive to keep the community informed of developments within the school system in timely and understandable ways.

The Superintendent or designee shall use all available means of communication to keep the public aware of the goals, programs, achievements and needs of our schools.  Members of the community shall have opportunities to become involved in the schools and to express their interests and concerns.

(cf. 0420 – School-Based Management/School Advisory Boards)

(cf. 1000 – Concepts & Roles)

(cf. 1340 – Access to District Records)

(cf. 5145.6 – Notifications Required by Law)

(cf. 9320 – Board Meetings)

Legal Reference:

            ALASKA STATUTES

            14.03.120 Education Planning

Meetings of the Board are conducted for the purpose of accomplishing district business. As a matter of district policy and state law, meetings shall ordinarily be open to the public. The Board may conduct closed meeting sessions to discuss certain matters which are confidential.

(cf. 9321 – Closed Meetings)

The Board encourages community involvement in the schools as an essential element of effective schools. The Board and administration shall actively encourage the input of parents/guardians and interested community members on Board agenda items.

Board meetings shall be conducted in accordance with applicable laws and with Board Bylaws adopted by the Board to govern its actions and the actions of individual Board members.

(cf. 9320 – Meetings)

(cf. 9322 – Agenda/Meeting Material)

(cf. 9323 – Meeting Conduct)

(cf. 9323.2 – Actions by Board)

The responsibility of the Board is the management and control of the district’s schools. The Board’s prime functions are the formulation of policies and the judgment of results. Its ultimate goal is the maintenance and upgrading of the educational standards and facilities so that the best possible education will be available to the children of the community.

(cf. 9300 – Governance)

The local school district has been created as a unit of state government. The Board is, therefore, responsible to the local community and to the state government. The Board may take a public position on legislation which will directly affect the education program within the community.

Members of the Board individually will refer compliments, suggestions and constructive criticism about operational matters directly to the Superintendent or designee for appropriate consideration and action. Comments affecting policy will be routed through regular channels to the Board meeting agenda for consideration by the Board as a whole.

(cf. 1312 – Public Complaints Concerning the Schools)

(cf. 9000 – Role of the Board and Members)

(cf. 9010 – Public Statements)

The School Board recognizes that citizen advisory committees enable both citizens and educators to better understand the attitudes and opinions held in the school and community.

As the need arises, the Board may establish citizen advisory committees to consider school problems, needs and issues. Advisory committees shall serve in a strictly advisory capacity and shall not act as policy-making bodies.

(cf. 0420 – School Based Management /Site Councils)

Committee members shall represent a cross section of qualified people throughout the district, except in those cases where a committee is established to address the needs of a particular segment of the school community. With Board approval, the Superintendent or designee may appoint committee members.

When committees are appointed, committee members shall receive a written statement including, but not limited to:

1.                 The committee members’ names.

2.                 The specific charges of the committee, including its topic(s) for study or well-defined area(s) of activity.

3.                 The specific period of time that the committee is expected to serve.

4.                 Legal requirements regarding meeting conduct and public notifications.

5.                 Resources available to help the committee complete its tasks.

6.                 Timelines for progress reports and/or final report.

7.                 Relevant Board policies and administrative regulations.

8.                 The procedure to be used in the selection of the committee chairperson and other committee officers.

The Board shall have the sole power to dissolve any of its advisory committees and may exercise this power at any time.

Citizen advisory committees established by Board action shall provide public notice of their meetings and conduct such meetings in accordance with the state open meetings laws for such committees.  All major conclusions and recommendations made by advisory committees shall be made available to the public in writing.

(cf. 9130 – Board Committees)

Administrative Advisory Committees

The Superintendent or designee may establish citizen advisory committees to advise the administration.

The Superintendent or designee shall inform the Board when such committees are established and shall describe their charges, size, term of office, and membership.  The Superintendent or designee shall inform the Board of the persons appointed to such committees and any changes in committee membership or charge.

The Superintendent or designee shall provide the Board with a final report of each committee’s accomplishments and shall provide summary reports and appraisals of administrative advisory committees as requested by the Board.

(cf. 2230 – Representative and Deliberative Groups)

Expenses, Travel, Reimbursement

The Board may allocate funds for the use of advisory committees.  Within budget allocations, the Superintendent or designee may approve requests for travel associated with the charge of the committee and reimburse committee members for expenses at the same rates and under the same conditions as those provided for district employees.

(cf. 4133/4233 – Travel; Reimbursement)

Legal References:

            ALASKA STATUTES

            14.08.71 Elections; advisory votes

            14.08.115 Advisory school boards in regional educational attendance areas

            14.12.035 Advisory School boards in borough school districts

            14.14.250 – 14.14.310 Involvement of Young People in School Governance

ALASKA ADMINISTRATIVE CODE

            4 AAC 34.060 Parent and community involvement

            4 AAC 51.230 Advisory committee

Community Relation    

The wealth of experience available in the community is a resource that should be used in appropriate ways to enrich the educational program and strengthen our schools’ relationships with homes, businesses, public agencies and private institutions. By their presence, volunteers also can make school environments safer and more closely supervised. The School Board encourages parents/guardians and other members of the community to share their time, knowledge and abilities with our students.

All persons who wish to perform more than 10 hours/week of volunteer service with or around students shall submit evidence that they are free from active tuberculosis and have been fingerprinted for criminal record clearance.

The Superintendent or designee may authorize the use of volunteers. The Superintendent or designee shall establish regulations to protect the safety of both students and volunteers.

Like employees and students, volunteers shall act in accordance with district policies and regulations.

(cf. 0410 – Nondiscrimination in District Programs and Activities)

The School Board encourages parents/guardians and interested members of the community to visit the schools and view the educational program. The Superintendent or designee shall invite parents/guardians and the community to open house activities and other special events.

(cf. 1110 – Media Relations)

The Superintendent or designee shall establish procedures to facilitate visits during regular school days and register all visitors at the school office when entering school grounds.

The Board recognizes the staff time and commitment required by school visits and encourages the staff to accommodate as many requests for visits as possible. To ensure minimum interruption of the instructional program, visits during schools hours should be first arranged with the teacher and Principal or designee. If a conference is desired, an appointment should be set with the teacher during non-instructional time.

(cf. 3515 – School Safety and Security)

(cf. 3515.2 – Intruders on Campus)

The Board recognizes that intelligent, informed support of the schools is dependent upon full knowledge and understanding of and participation in the efforts, goals, problems, and the programs of the school district. The Board is also aware of its responsibility to provide the public with information and opportunities for direct or indirect participation in the establishment of programs and policies.

The ultimate goal of school-public relations is to improve the quality of education for all children. In order to achieve this goal, and to evaluate progress toward it, the Board sets itself the following objectives:

1.       To develop public understanding of all aspects of school operation; to ascertain public attitudes toward issues in education; and to discover the public's aspirations for the education of their children.

2.       To help citizens feel a direct responsibility for the quality of education provided by their schools.

3.       To earn the goodwill, respect, and confidence of the public with regard to school staff and services.

4.       To foster public understanding of the need for constructive change, and solicit public advice on how we can achieve our educational goals.

5.       To involve citizens in the work of the school and the solving of educational problems.

6.       To promote a genuine spirit of cooperation between the school and the community.

7.       To secure adequate financial support for a sound educational program.

Achieving these objectives requires that the Board and staff, individually and collectively:

1.    Express positive attitudes toward the school in their daily contact with parents, people of the community, and one another.

2.    Make systematic, honest, and continuing efforts to discover what the public thinks and what citizens want to know.

3.         Develop an active partnership with the community in working toward improvement of the educational program.

4.          Take an active interest in the needs of the total community to find ways to make the community a better place in which to live.

Adoption Date:                January 1983

The Board will do its best to keep the community informed of the affairs of the District. To achieve its goals for good school‑community relations and maintenance of open two‑way channels of communication with the public, the Board authorizes the Superintendent to:

1.       Prepare or guide the preparation of informational materials including newsletters, articles, newspaper, radio and TV releases, special pamphlets, and other materials;

2.       Provide staff members with assistance and supplies for preparation of materials for community and staff consumption (handbooks, information leaflets, etc.); and

3.       Assist in coordinating work with civic and other groups which contribute to school system values.

Adoption Date:             January 1983

The School Board believes that the quality of the educational program can improve when the district listens to complaints, considers differences of opinion, and resolves disagreements through an established, objective process.

The Board encourages complaints to resolve problems early and informally whenever possible.  If a problem remains unresolved, the individual should submit a formal complaint as early as possible in accordance with appropriate district procedures.  District procedures shall be readily accessible to the public.

Individual Board members do not have authority to resolve complaints. If approached directly with a complaint, however, Board members should listen to the complaint and show their concern by referring the complainant to the Superintendent or designee so that the problem may receive proper consideration.

(cf. 1312.1 – Complaints Concerning School Personnel)

(cf. 1312.2 – Public Complaints Concerning Instructional Materials)

(cf. 1312.3 -  Public Complaints Concerning Discrimination)

  Legal References:

            ALASKA STATUTES

            14.18.1000 Remedies (Sex or Race Discrimination)

            ALASKA ADMINISTRATIVE CODE

            4 ACC 06.560 – 06.580 Violations; Prohibition Against sex Discrimination

4AAC 52.500 – 52.629 Procedural Safeguards; Education for Exceptional  Children

            TITLE VI, CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964

            TITLE VII, CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000 et. Seq. (Ch. 21)

            TITLE IX, EDUCATION AMENDMENTS OF 1972

            SECTION 504, REHABILITATION ACT OF 1973

            34 CODE OF REDERAL REGULATIONS

            200.74 and Part 300

GENERAL EDUCAITON PROVISIONS ACT, 20 U.S.C. 1221 et seq., especially:

            FAMILY EDUCATION AND PRIVACY ACT, 20 U.S.C. 1232g

The School Board places trust in its employees and desires to support their actions in such manner that employees are freed from unwarranted, spiteful or negative criticism and complaints. The Superintendent or designee shall develop procedures which will permit the public to lodge criticism against staff members and the district. Verbal complaints against an employee initially made to a Board member or at a Board meeting will be referred to the Superintendent or designee for appropriate consideration and action.

The complainant will be advised of the proper channeling of complaints which is as follows: 1) employee, 2) supervision or Principal, 3) District office administrator and 4) School Board.

(cf. 1250 – Visits to the School)

(cf. 1312 – Public Complaints Concerning the Schools)

(cf. 4112.6 – Personnel Records)

(cf. 9323 – Meeting Conduct)

This policy shall not apply when a public complaint involves accusations of child abuse. When a school employee is accused of child abuse, it shall be investigated by proper authorities in accordance with child abuse laws.

(cf. 5141.4 – Child Abuse and Neglect (Reporting Procedures))

Legal Reference:

            ALASKA STATUTES

            44.62.310 Government meetings public