School districts are governed by their policies and procedures from the student, to the administration and the School Board. One of these policies is the Grievance Policy. If a student or parent has a concern or complaint it’s first taken to the teacher. If the teacher can’t resolve the situation it moves up to the principal. If there is no resolution there, the Superintendent then tries to do what he can. Most issues get resolved before they go this far. Occasionally if every step is followed and there is still no resolution to the problem the school board then can be informed about the situation in an executive session of the School Board.
The board is purposely left out of the loop as these issues work their way up the channels. It’s better if the board can remain unbiased through this process.
As an example, if a student violates a school policy and is suspended by the administration, the student has the right to appeal the decision to the School Board. The Superintendent does not give the board details so that if the student comes before the board in executive session, the student will get a fair unbiased hearing. If not, that could result in a legal challenge against the school district. So the Superintendent is always very careful not to give very many details, just in case the issue may come before the board.
I have heard it said that someone within the administration has encouraged some students to consider dropping out of school, or go to the alternative school. It would be irresponsible for any administrator to encourage a student to drop out. If this actually happened, the Grievance Policy wasn’t pursued through to the board. No complaint by anyone about this has ever been brought to the board.
There are also many reasons why students attend the alternative school. It’s not always discipline or school performance related. This school can be a great benefit to students to help them through whatever their issues may be. As a board we never hear any details about who, how many, or why students attend it. It’s private information that we have no business knowing.
The board really doesn’t just write policies from scratch. There is an opportunity to update and change some things, but every change has to be legal. As an example.
There was one policy that was discussed extensively, for months. It is Policy 3080, dealing with open enrollment. Every proposed change required a review by legal council. I think it ended up being a good well balanced policy, but the board rarely has the ability to change policies very much, if at all, from what’s given to us by the Idaho School Board Association.
The teachers are evaluated twice a year by their principal, using a set procedure. Everyone is evaluated using the same standards. If a teacher has any deficiencies they are provided guidance to help them improve. The Superintendent evaluates the principals using basically the same set guidelines. Lastly the Superintendent is evaluated by the School Board, also with a preset similar set of guidelines. The School Board receives an annual report from the principals about their evaluation of the teachers under their jurisdiction. The Board never interacts directly with the teachers, or principals about anything to do with their job performance. We only critic the job performance of the Superintendent directly. We are informed if there are concerns with the job performance of individual teachers, but it’s entirely up to the administration to provide whatever professional development that may be needed. The Superintendent also informs us of any concerns he might have with the principals. However, like the Grievance Policy for students, teachers can go to the Superintendent to resolve an issue. If necessary a teacher then can come before the board in an executive session. This is the way district policies are required to be followed.
If you have any questions or comments please let me know. You can email me at besplin@d59.k12.id.us, or give me a call 208-521-6217
Thank you,
Brian Esplin
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