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BAB - School Board Governance

BOARD POLICY Descriptor Code: BAB

School Board Governance

The Cherokee County Board of Education establishes the School Board’s central components of governance - Core Beliefs, Cohesive System of Teaching & Learning, and Clear Accountability.  The School Board believes Cherokee County School District (“CCSD”) students should have access to a high-quality education, and the employees of CCSD should have the clarity, consistency, resources and support needed to reach the student achievement goals that reflect the excellence expected by our families and community. 

The School Board values consistency across all schools in what is taught and the resources available to teach while fostering and honoring the distinctive character, spirit, and traditions unique to each local school.

The School Board has high expectations for the potential of every student and staff member and as such, has set ambitious goals for student performance.  These high expectations and ambitious goals are coupled with a collective School Board commitment to align resources and effective School District support to achieve these goals. The Governance Model that the School Board has crafted is Balanced Autonomy with Supported Accountability.

Core Beliefs

Core Beliefs are essential to unify members of a Board of Education and provide clarity to the superintendent and staff.  Collectively, the School Board believes that:

  1. All students are highly engaged in their education and capable of reaching their full learning potential.
  2. Employees are trusted and supported as professionals and provided with resources to elevate student outcomes.
  3. Families and our community are involved partners in student success and can expect all students to receive the best education possible.
  4. Schools are positive and welcoming environments with clear expectations and accountability in all academic and operational areas.

Cohesive System of Teaching & Learning

The School Board collectively asserts that the individuals best positioned to ensure high quality instruction for students are classroom teachers.  The School Board values clarity and consistency across the School District specifically about what teachers are to teach in each grade level and content area.  The School Board equally values the creativity, skill, and professional expertise every teacher brings to the collaborative development of how to plan instruction, incorporate appropriate resources, and the strategies of how to teach that lead to improved student learning. 

As such, the School Board has outlined the following consistent components of CCSD’s Cohesive System of Teaching & Learning Systems.

Standards – Teachers develop effective instruction to teach the CCSD Teaching & Learning Standards aligned to the Georgia Standards of Excellence and customized when necessary to incorporate locally-developed and School Board-approved standards.  CCSD Teaching & Learning Standards will be made available on the School District’s website.

Instructional Resources – The School Board commits to consistent availability of district-acquired, standards-aligned print and digital resources (core, supplemental, intervention, assessment) to support but not limit the teaching and learning of the standards. The availability of such resources does not limit teachers’ ability to select and use additional standards-aligned resources based on their professional judgement.  CCSD district-acquired resources will be made available on the School District website.

Monitor Student Learning – The School Board sees value in ensuring that students are learning at the level of the standard throughout the school year and expects a balanced system of assessment including ways to formatively and summatively gauge learning in core content areas.

While the School Board expects a foundation for a cohesive system of teaching and learning that includes clarity and consistency in: what teachers teach, the availability of standards-aligned resources, in monitoring that students are learning, and in having high expectations for all students; the School Board also recognizes that each student has unique learning needs and school leaders, classroom teachers, and support staff operating as a team are the most capable and skilled at building on the established foundation by incorporating a variety of strategies in order to meet the needs of all students.

Accountability & Support

The School Board is committed to high expectations, clear student achievement goals, and consistent accountability coupled with the support needed for principals, teachers, staff, and students to be successful. 

Performance is defined as:  the process of improving so that students are learning more, growing more, and achieving more as defined by achievement goals established by the School Board.

Accountability is defined as:  having clear goals and when we achieve those goals we celebrate; and when we fall short of achieving those goals, we adjust our processes and practices to yield better outcomes for students.

Accountability starts with the School Board establishing student achievement goals in multiple categories. The School Board-established goals serve as the basis for the Superintendent’s evaluation instrument that will be made available on the School District’s website. 

The Superintendent is to align Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each Division of the School District and School Improvement Goals for each school to the student achievement goals established by the School Board and the evaluation instrument it establishes for the Superintendent.  The principal is the key instructional leader in the organization that is critical to supporting teacher effectiveness and overall school improvement.  District departments are designed to work in coordination to build effective systems that support school leaders, support staff, and classroom teachers in school improvement.

Accountability coupled with support is defined by the School Board as clear expectations, aligned resources, defined monitoring structures, customized support structures for schools informed by student achievement, and annual reporting to the public on progress toward attaining the School Board-established student achievement goals.

The Superintendent will establish and maintain guidelines as necessary for administration of this Board Policy.

APPROVED:             December 12, 2024

 Cherokee County Board of Education