MIG 1: Foundations of Effective Governance and Setting Direction
The board communicates what the district aims to accomplish; this leader directs staff in developing how to accomplish it.
Who is the superintendent?
These written rules govern the board’s own operations and its members’ rights and obligations.
What are board bylaws?
This document puts the district’s spending priorities into dollars and is one of the board’s most important leadership tools.
What is the budget?
These funds come with rules limiting the purposes for which the district may spend them.
What are restricted funds?
Before choosing a new superintendent, the board should revisit these statements describing where the district wants to go and what it hopes to achieve.
What are the district’s vision and goals?
During a crisis, the district should know who will speak with reporters in this designated role.
Who is the spokesperson?
Alongside evaluating the superintendent, the board uses this practice to examine its own alignment and identify ways to improve.
What is board self-evaluation?
This California website lets trustees examine district performance and identify both strengths and areas for growth.
What is the California School Dashboard?
Because this type of revenue will not necessarily arrive again, using it for a permanent salary commitment can create a future budget gap.
What is one-time revenue?
This report uses California’s standardized codes to organize district revenues, expenditures, and fund balances.
What is a SACS report?
Midway through the year, the superintendent discusses progress toward goals with the board rather than waiting for this once-a-year event.
What is the annual formal evaluation?
This district plan should address how information reaches families and the community during a safety emergency.
What is a crisis communication plan?
District goals, actions, and measures of progress are brought together in this plan, which the course describes as a blueprint for student achievement.
What is the LCAP, or Local Control and Accountability Plan?
The board formally records its final decision on a proposed policy at this stage of the policy development cycle.
What is adoption?
These reports give the board checkpoints during the fiscal year to compare the adopted budget with updated revenues and expenditures.
What are interim financial reports?
These projections extend the current budget into future years to show whether today’s commitments remain affordable.
What are multiyear projections?
These meetings allow the board to receive negotiation updates and give its team direction while protecting confidential discussions.
What are closed sessions?
This planning tool identifies individuals, associations, and institutions that can support students—and helps reveal whose voices are missing.
What is community asset mapping?
Agreements about agenda requests, school visits, and handling staff concerns are examples of these procedures for board business.
What are protocols?
This approach sets a goal for every student while tailoring strategies to address disparities among groups.
What is targeted universalism?
A district that expects to meet its financial obligations for the current year and the next two years receives this interim certification.
What is a positive certification?
This interim certification signals that a district may not meet its financial obligations for the current year or the next two years.
What is a qualified certification?
A proposed settlement reached at the bargaining table comes to the board for action as this type of agreement.
What is a tentative agreement?
The board adopts communication and emergency plans and commits resources to them as part of this governance responsibility.
What is establishing the structure?
In the workbook’s Beliefs activity, participants examine statements that could form the district’s guiding principles under this sample policy.
What is Board Policy 0100, Philosophy?
In a student discipline appeal, a trustee who promises a parent support before hearing both sides may jeopardize this requirement of fair treatment.
What is due process?
Salary increases are not the only ongoing compensation cost: movement through these two parts of a salary schedule also raises district costs.
What are step and column increases?
This organization’s indicators help boards identify risks of fiscal distress, including deficit spending, inadequate reserves, and mismanaged bargaining agreements.
What is FCMAT, the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team?
This disclosure allows review of whether the district can afford a proposed bargaining settlement now and in future years.
What is an AB 1200 disclosure?
When someone brings a complaint directly to a trustee, the final two steps of this six-part method send the person to the appropriate district process and notify the superintendent.
What is the Six R method?