Policy Code BG

Section B: Board Governance and Operations

Policy Title: Board Policy Process
Policy Code: BG

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Creating policy is a crucial school board role in our system of education governance. Like Congress, state legislatures, and city or county councils, school boards establish the direction and structure of their school districts by adopting policies through the authority granted by the state legislature. School board policies have the force of law equal to statutes or ordinances.

Policies establish directions for the district; they set the goals, assign authority, and establish controls that make school governance and management possible. Policies are the means by which educators are accountable to the public.

Any new or revised policy will be considered to ensure compliance with Policy A - District Mission, Vision and Values.

Development of Policies

Suggestions regarding the content of policies may originate with a member of the the state legislature, a member of the Board, the Superintendent, a staff member, a parent, a student, a consultant, a civic group, or any resident of the District.

The attached chart (Exhibit BG-E1 - Policy Development Process Flowchart) illustrates the default process that shall be followed in the development of policies, or revisions of existing policies, to be recommended to the Governing Board for adoption. The Governing Board may take action after hearing the Superintendent's recommendations or, in its discretion, at any time.  The Governing Board may send a policy back to any step or skip any step in the process. The Governing Board reserves the authority to take action at any time to adopt, revise or repeal a policy.

During discussion of a policy proposal, the views of the public, staff members, and the Board may result in changes. A change shall not require that the policy go through an additional review except as the Board determines that the change requires further study and that an additional review would be desirable.

Policy Implementation

The Superintendent has the responsibility for carrying out, through administrative regulations, the policies established by the Board. The administrative regulations shall specify required actions and reflect the detailed arrangement under which the District will be operated.

Before issuance, regulations shall be properly titled and coded in conformance with the policy classification system as defined by the Arizona School Boards Association (ASBA).

The Board reserves the right to review all administrative regulations. The Superintendent shall provide a copy of each District regulation to each Board member at the time of distribution.

Policy Review

The policies and regulations shall be reviewed at least every two years by the Superintendent or designee. If no changes are made, the review date appears in the policy, but a revision date remains the same and all previous revision dates should be included.

Adopted: May 11, 2004
Revised: July 27, 2010
Reviewed: April 23, 2013
Revised: December 10, 2013
Revised: April 5, 2016
Revised: November 29, 2022

LEGAL REF.: A.R.S. 15-321
15-341

Cross Ref: BGF – Suspension/Repeal of Policy