Monterey County Grand Jury
• 2017-2018
• Agency Response
Response to:
The Role of Local School Boards
The Honorable Stephanie E. Hulsey*
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 8 findings
F1
Student achievement suffers when school districts are unproductive or dysfunctional. It can be very costly and take years to address problems if the Monterey County Office of Education and/or California Department of Education have to step in to support or save school district The Mission Union School District agrees with this finding
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
School Boards should adopt a policy to commit to all National School Boards Association best practices. The Mission Union School District agrees with this recommendation and will adopt a policy this current school year
F2
There are proactive steps that can be taken by the Monterey County Office of Education in collaboration with school boards to prevent many pitfalls of poor governance The Mission Union School District agrees with this finding
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
School Boards should a adopt bylaw to make initial training and ongoing workshops mandatory The Mission Union School District partially agrees with this recommendation, as it has adopted such practice. The board members attend regular trainings offered by the CSBA and other entities such as the county office of education
F3
The Monterey County Office of education and local school boards can do more to promote effective local governance that is accountable to the community and produces better district outcomes The Mission Union School District agrees with this finding
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
Schools Boards, along with their superintendent and teacher union representatives, should make annual public presentations on school district goals and students achievements. The Mission Union School District agrees with this recommendation. Currently this takes place every year during the September meeting if and when the results of the state testing are ready and available
F4
Promoting effective local governance requires better information, communication, and a strong commitment to board development. The Mission Union School District agrees with this finding
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
Schools Boards should provide clear, concise and easy to find communications on their district's goals and outcomes on their district's website. The Mission Union School District agrees with this recommendation. This shall be reported on the Mission Union School District website by December 2018.
F5
Although each school district has individual priorities, school boards can each make a commitment to adhering to best practices, training, and ongoing professional development when it comes to school board governance. The Mission Union School District agrees with this finding
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
Schools Boards should provide information on their district's website about the role and responsibilities of school board members to educate parents, the public and potential board candidates. The Mission Union School District agrees with this recommendation. This shall be reported on the Mission Union School District website by December 2018.
F6
While the Monterey County Office of Education cannot dictate how school boards govern, they can provide strong leadership in promoting a culture of effective school board governance. The Mission Union School District agrees with this finding
Related Recommendations (1)
R6
Schools Boards should provide access to informational sessions to educate potential school board candidates on the duties and commitment associated with serving on a local school board. The Mission Union School District agrees with this recommendation. This is already taking place informally at Mission Union School District.
F7
Information posted on Monterey County Office of Education and school district websites is insufficient and not user friendly. It does not provide the public with adequate information about what school boards do, how to evaluate school board performance, or how to assess school district outcomes. The Mission Union School District agrees with this finding
Related Recommendations (1)
R7
The Monterey County Office of Education should provide information sessions regarding the depth and breadth of school board service to people running for school board positions The Mission Union School District disagrees with this recommendation, as it is not within the power of the Mission Union to act upon this
F8
School boards can do better in fulfilling their responsibilities to communicate with school district stakeholders. The Mission Union School District agrees with this finding
Related Recommendations (1)
R8
The Monterey County Office of Education and the Monterey County School Boards Association should actively promote and provide the California School Boards Association Masters of Governance training in Monterey county The Mission Union School District agrees with this recommendation. The county office is already providing the training.
* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.