The School Board authorizes the establishment of a school advisory council in each District school to assist in an advisory capacity to the principal in the preparation and evaluation of the schoolwide improvement plan required pursuant to Florida Statutes. The Superintendent shall develop guidelines pursuant to Florida Statutes to assist school advisory councils in order to ensure their active role in school site decision making. School advisory councils shall not assume any of the powers or duties now reserved by law for the School Board or its professional staff. Nothing contained in the District and/or local school accountability process shall be construed to lessen or otherwise alter the authority of the school principal as provided for in law, rules or regulations.

I. Name of Council - Each school advisory council shall include in its name the words school advisory council.

II. Composition and Selection of Councils - Council members shall include the school principal and an appropriately balanced number of teachers, education support employees, students, parents, and business and community representatives.

A. Members shall be representative of the ethnic, racial, and economic community served by the school.

B. Student representation shall be required for school advisory councils established at the technical college and high schools. Student representation shall not be required for school advisory councils serving middle schools; however it is permitted.

C. The term education support employees as used herein shall refer to any person who is employed by a school for twenty (20) or more hours during a normal working week and who does not meet the definition of instructional or administrative personnel pursuant to Florida Statutes.

D. The term teacher as used herein shall include classroom teachers, certified student services personnel, and media specialists.

E. A majority of members must be persons who are not employed by the school district.

F. Appropriately balanced as used herein shall mean a proportionate number of council members considering each peer group being represented on the council. The size of the school advisory council and the ratio of representatives among the peer groups, excluding the school principal, shall be set forth in the operational guidelines establishing procedures adopted by each school advisory council.

III. Selection of Council Members - New council members shall be elected by their respective peer group, except for business and community representatives and the school principal.

A. The following council members shall be elected in a fair and equitable manner as determined by their respective peer group and as set forth in the operational guidelines of the school advisory council.

1. A teacher(s) shall be elected by teachers;

2. An education support employee(s) shall be elected by education support employees;

3. A student(s), when appropriate, shall be elected by students; and,

4. A parent(s) shall be elected by parents as defined by Florida Statues.

B. The school advisory council shall select business and community member(s) to serve on the school advisory council after reviewing the list of nominees prepared by the school principal.

1. Business and community representatives shall be selected initially through a nomination and selection process facilitated by the school principal of each school advisory council.

a. The school principal shall seek candidates who are interested in making a commitment to participate on the school advisory council by representing businesses and the community.

b. Letters, newsletters, or other media releases shall be used by the school principal to seek candidates.

c. The school principal shall prepare a list of individuals seeking nomination to the school advisory council and shall present the list to the school advisory council for selecting the business and community representative(s).

2. Subsequent to the initial selection as described in section II.B.1. herein, the operational guidelines of the school advisory council shall set forth procedures for nominating business and community representatives to serve on the school advisory council.

C. The principal shall submit the list of council members to the Superintendent or his/her designee for review of each member and a description of how the council represents the ethnic, racial, and economic community served by the school. The membership list shall include the name of each council member, the peer group represented, and a description of how the council membership reflects the ethnic, racial, and economic community served by the school.

D. The principal shall submit nominations to fill school advisory council vacancies as they occur throughout the school year using the process specified above.

IV. Confirmation of the School Advisory Council - The Superintendent shall submit to the School Board for review and approval the membership list for each school advisory council in the District. The School Board shall determine if a school advisory council meets criteria specified in section II. herein; additional members shall be appointed by the School Board when it is required to achieve the proper representation on the school advisory council.

V. Responsibilities of Councils – Each school advisory council shall:

A. Review the results of the comprehensive needs assessments conducted at the school.

B. Assist in the development of the schoolwide improvement plan and provide recommendations on specific components of the plan, such as the goals of the school, indicators of school and student progress, and strategies and evaluation procedures to measure student performance. The school advisory council shall be the final decision-making body at the school relating to school improvement.

C. Notify and request assistance from the School Board when the school fails to make adequate progress on the overall plan.

D. Report progress in meeting the goals of the schoolwide improvement plan. A mid-year review and end-of-year report shall affirm the satisfactory implementation of the plan.

E. Monitor students’ and the school’s progress in attaining goals and evaluate the appropriateness of the indicators of student progress and strategies and evaluation procedures which are selected to measure student performance.

F. Make recommendations on the accumulation and reporting of data that is beneficial to parents.

G. Serve as a resource for the principal and advise the principal in matters pertaining to the school program.

H. Provide input on the school’s annual budget and the use of school funds and shall assist in the preparation of the school budget.

I. Act as a liaison between the school and the community.

J. Assist in the preparation of the feedback report to the Commissioner of Education as required by and pursuant to Florida Statutes.

K. Identify other duties and functions of the school advisory council.

VI. Operation of Council - Operational bylaws shall be established and adopted by members of the school advisory council. The bylaws will state the duties and functions of the council, establish the membership term for each peer group, and specify the proportionate number of council members for each peer group for the purpose of achieving an appropriately balanced council. The District School Board may review all proposed bylaws of a school advisory council.

A. The bylaws shall establish procedures for:

1. Electing council members and the nomination process for selecting business and community representatives.

2. Electing officers, including a chairperson, vice-chairperson, and recording secretary, and determine the term of office for each position.

3. Requiring a quorum to be present before a vote may be taken by the school advisory council. A majority of the membership of the council constitutes a quorum.

4. Requiring at least three (3) days’ advance notice in writing to all members of the advisory council of any matter that is scheduled to come before the council for a vote.

5. Scheduling meetings when parents, students, teachers, businesspersons, and members of the community can attend.

6. Replacing any member who has two unexcused consecutive absences from a school advisory council meeting that is noticed according to the procedures in the bylaws.

7. Recording minutes of meetings.

B. Regular meetings shall be held. The council shall determine the date, time, and place of the meetings.

C. Meeting notification, including the date, time and location, shall be advertised to the school community at least ten days in advance of the scheduled meeting.

D. All meetings shall be open, public, and subject to Chapter 286, Florida Statutes.

E. The school advisory council shall be subject to maintaining records pursuant to Florida law.

F. Schoolwide improvement plans of the terms or conditions in negotiated agreement(s) shall be subject to the approval of the Board.

G. The District School Board shall maintain a record of minutes of council meetings.