Governance Workshop
On January 11th the SDUHSD Board met to participate in a corporate governance workshop. The objective of the meeting was to discuss the rules we would agree to follow as a Board.
Over the course of a four and one-half hour meeting we only got through one item of substance, but it is an important one – the Board Agenda process-- specifically, how the agenda is prepared, how a Trustee can add an item to the agenda, and how a Trustee can share information with other Trustees and/or the public before or during a Board meeting.
Specific language will be brought to the Board for our January 31st meeting, but the essence of what we agreed can be summarized as follows.
1. A three-person Agenda Committee consisting of the Board President, a second Board Member (that will rotate among the other four Trustees for each consecutive board meeting), and the Superintendent will meet and confer to discuss the specific construction of the Board Agenda. Notwithstanding this discussion, the Board President will have the final say as to the construction and publication of the final meeting agenda.
2. If a Trustee wishes to place an item on the agenda for potential action or discussion, they may either email the Superintendent and the Board President with the specifics of the proposed agenda item, or they may bring the item forward during a Board Meeting when the Board Agenda item “Future Agenda Items” is called.
Irrespective of the method used to request an agenda item, the Board President will place the proposed item on the Agenda for the next Board Meeting where the deadline for proposing agenda items has not yet passed, and in the form requested by the Trustee, and include any materials submitted by the Trustee as supporting materials, unless, at the discretion of the Board President, either 1) The Board President concludes that the next Board Meeting may run past the District’s agreed meeting closing time (currently 10pm), or 2) The Board President concludes, after consultation with the Superintendent, that the Superintendent will have insufficient time to be adequately prepared to discuss the proposed agenda item.
If the proposed agenda item is not placed on the Agenda of the next meeting, then it will be placed on the Agenda of the following Board Meeting.
3. If a Trustee places an item on the Agenda, any supporting materials provided by the Trustee will be added as part of the Agenda if the materials are provided before the agenda is published.
The Board President or the rotating Trustee who is part of the Agenda Committee may also add any supporting materials to any agenda item, and these will be published as part of the agenda if they are provided before the agenda is published.
Note that a Trustee who is not part of the Agenda Committee cannot participate in the agenda setting process for that meeting.
4. Any Trustee who wishes to provide information to the Board and the public about an agenda item after the agenda has been published but before the Board Meeting, may do so by emailing the Superintendent and their assistant, taking care not to copy any Board Member. The Superintendent will ensure that these materials are provided to all the Trustees and the public as soon as practical using proper legal methods, including posting the materials on the District’s website.
5. Any Trustee who wishes to provide information to the Board and the public during a Board Meeting may email the information to the Superintendent and their meeting assistant at any time during or before the Board Meeting, stating that they may want to reference the attached material during the Board Meeting. If during the Board Meeting the Trustee asks for the information to be disclosed, the Superintendent will ensure that the information is disclosed via the meeting live stream.
In my opinion this is significant progress and goes a long way to ensure that the voice of elected Trustees will not be silenced.
In addition to the agenda setting process, it was agreed that Trustee Smith and I will be on a committee of the Board to review other governance processes and recommend any changes to the full Board at a future meeting. I’m sure there is a lot more to come.