The board and superintendent should work together to set priorities for the district. Priorities can establish goals for the budget, determine new educational programs, and ensure adequate services are available to students. The board and superintendent should set aside time to define their proper roles within each of these areas. The superintendent acts as an adviser to the board in establishing its priorities. He or she identifies the current needs of the district, suggests a process, supplies information to the board, makes recommendations and develops strategies for implementing the priorities.
Boards make the final determination of priorities for the schools.
Board Policies Developing its policies is the board's major responsibility. By adopting policies aimed at specific priorities, the board clearly defines its vision for the district while it leaves room for the administration to use judgment in selecting an approach to implementing them. Neither the board nor superintendent can work alone in this process. The board reviews, evaluates and adopts policies that define its intent for the superintendent and what is needed to implement the policies. The superintendent suggests policies to the board, provides information and drafts written policies, develops regulations, and collects information on the impact specific policies have on the district.