A. The Cobb County Board of Education’s
(Board) sole connection to the operational
organization will be through a Chief Executive Officer,
titled Superintendent. Only
decisions of the Board acting as a body are binding on its
Superintendent. Accordingly:
1. Decisions or instructions of individual Board members,
officers, or committees are not
binding on the Superintendent.
2. Board member or Board committee requests for information
and/or reports from any
division of the Cobb County School
District (District) will be directed to the
Superintendent’s Office so that the
Superintendent can direct the appropriate staff to
fulfill the request.
3. In the case of Board members or Board appointed committees
requesting information
or assistance without full Board
authorization, the Superintendent may refuse such
requests that require, in the
Superintendent’s opinion, an excessive amount of staff
time or funds, or are disruptive. In
the event of such refusal, the issue will be brought
before the full Board for discussion
and resolution. Responses to requests for
information submitted by any Board
member will be provided to the full Board.
B. The Superintendent is the Board’s only link
to operational achievement and conduct, so
that all authority and accountability of staff, as far as the
Board is concerned, is
considered the authority and accountability of the
Superintendent. Therefore:
1. The Board and/or individual Board members will never
direct or suggest the activities,
give instructions, or exert undue
influence to persons who report directly or indirectly
to the Superintendent.
2. Members of the Board will not work directly with staff in
the performance of normal
staff duties unless authorized by
action of the Board with the agreement of the
Superintendent.
3. The Superintendent will inform the Board or one of its
officers whenever in his/her
judgment the Board or a Board member
is not in compliance with its own policies
regarding Governance and
Board-Superintendent Linkage, especially in any
circumstances in which the
Superintendent believes that Board behavior is detrimental
to the working relationship between
the Board and the Superintendent or interferes
with the operations of the District
or the duties of District staff.
4. The Board will view the Superintendent’s performance as
identical to organizational
performance, so that organizational
accomplishment of Board-stated “ends” and
avoidance of Board-proscribed “means”
will be viewed as the measures of success of
Superintendent performance.
Nothing in the above shall be construed as
restricting discussions between Board members and staff which are not in
violation of this Policy.
C. The Superintendent is authorized to
establish administrative practices and procedures,
make decisions, take actions, and develop activities
necessary to further the District
Strategic Plan that are consistent with Board Policies. If
the Board feels that an
administrative decision is not consistent with Board Policy,
it may clarify or amend such
Policy at any time.
D. The Superintendent will keep the Board
informed and will provide for such staff and other
support as the Board shall require for its work. In
particular, the Superintendent shall
regularly provide the Board with the following categories of
information in a timely,
accurate, and understandable fashion:
1. That which is necessary to monitor the achievement of the
Board’s goals and
objectives.
2. That which the Board requests as part of an overall
“Management Information
Reporting System” designed to keep
the Board informed of District operations
generally, even though action on such
matters has been delegated to the
Superintendent.
3. As much external and internal data, research, staff and
other opinions and findings as
may be reasonably required for fully
informed Board deliberations and choices.
4. Any additional information that in his/her judgment
relates to relevant District trends,
anticipated adverse media coverage,
pertinent external or internal changes
(particularly those that affect the
assumptions on which current Board policies have
been established).
5. Superintendent shall notify the Board of sensitive or
emergency situations as shall be
required to prepare the Board to
answer inquiries from citizens or the media. Status
reports regarding ongoing crisis
situations shall be provided to the Board as soon as is
consistent with the Superintendent’s
other responsibilities at the time.
Adopted: 8/23/01
Confirmed: 5/9/07 |
BOARD
OF EDUCATION
POLICY