SAFFORD
SAFFORD ELEMENTARY MISSION STATEMENT
The purpose of
Students will furthermore be provided with the educational opportunities and
experiences to prepare them for successful participation in the engineering and
technology curriculum of
curriculum to meet this goal.
SAFFORD ELEMENTARY PHILOSOPHY Our beliefs
are that:
* All students can learn, bringing with them both the ability to use
language as well as unique experiences.
* All teachers will provide organized daily opportunities for language and
literacy,
mathematical problem solving and higher-level math skills, and social
interactions. Teachers are viewed as facilitators of learning, providing
instruction at the appropriate developmental and linguistic level.
* All parents can share and participate in the learning opportunities of their
children.
Safford Elementary and Safford Engineering and
Safford is a middle/magnet school consisting of students from diverse
socio-economic and multicultural backgrounds. Staff, parents, community
partnerships and students work together to provide a variety of educational
opportunities. Students are encouraged to be active participants in this
ongoing learning process that fosters high expectations for all and quality
instructional experiences that recognize, support, and accept cultural
diversity. Our goals are to instill a desire to create a positive learning climate, based upon a caring atmosphere and respect
for all, modeled by the faculty. The
Safford curriculum is developed to provide a balance in the presentation of
intellectual, emotional, social, and individual differences of students.
Through staff and parent cooperation and communication, we promote and
encourage student desire for continuing education.
ARTICLE I
A) MEMBERSHIP:
The Council shall include
representatives from the business community, parents, teachers, and non-certified staff. Principal and Assistant Principal
shall be permanent members. The Administration and Site Council will implement
recommendations and decisions of the site council that follow state statutes
and district agreements.
Parents: To
include some parents selected by the Parent-Teacher Organization
Representatives, if applicable, and a representative from each neighborhood
community for the school. Open
membership will be advertised in the parent newsletter, registration, and open
house. The number of parent
representatives shall equal the number of teachers (6) on the team. These are voting
members but Site Council meetings are open to all parents for attendance.
Teachers: To include one primary (K-3), one
intermediate (4-5) representative, and four middle (6-8)
school teachers.
Non-certified Staff: To include at least
one member of the, support staff which includes office staff, custodians,
computer lad technician, teaching assistants, food service personnel, monitors
or other non-teaching staff. ,
Community Member: To include at least one
and no more than two members of the business or neighborhood community. Eligible parent
members may not be employed by TUSD.
B) TERMS:
Terms for elected members will be for two
years, staggered
terms.
Each year, one-half of the Site council certified membership would
remain to ensure stability for the next school year. The first election will be held within 2 weeks
of ratification of this constitution. Thereafter, elections will be held in
April with the terms beginning May 1 of each year. The Principal and Assistant
Principal shall be a permanent member of the School Council. The initial
representatives shall be selected at public meetings held at the school site
and, therefore, their groups in the matter determined by the school council
shall select representatives. Schools
shall give notice of the public meeting where the initial representative of the
groups shall be selected, clearly stating its purpose, time and place. The
notice shall be posted in at least two different
locations at the school site. Members may serve unlimited
terms. Every year membership will
be open to new members who will be selected to replace no less than half of the
School Council.
c) VACANCIES FOR SITE COUNCIL:
If a vacancy occurs during the school year, that
position will be filled based upon a nomination made by the school principal,
pending majority approval by the remaining site council members. The newly appointed member will serve the
remainder of the term for which they were appointed.
ARTICLE II
COUNCIL MEMBER’S DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
* Attend scheduled
meetings and keep a notebook of all meeting minutes and
decisions made by the council. as outlined in Article
III, Section I, “School Council Record Keeping”.
*Communicate frequently by sharing with the groups they represent
.
*Make decisions and/or recommendations as outlined in the TUSD/TEA Consensus agreement titled
“Standards for Accrediting School Councils”, Category I, Standard I.E, “ School Council
Decisions/Responsibilities”.
*Administration and Site
Council shall implement decisions
SCHOOL COUNCILS ARE SUBJECT TO:
*Principles
of ethics and equity
*State and Federal Education Laws
*Governing
Board Laws and Consensus Agreements
ARTICLE III
A) CONDUCT OF MEETINGS:
All meetings are open to any interested party from the
community. All School Council members will have an opportunity to
express ideas and opinions freely. Guest comments will be part of each meeting
agenda. The agenda, meeting date, and time will be posted.
48 hours prior to the meeting. The posted agenda will be adhered to during the
meeting according to State Law. Meetings shall be
conducted in accordance with the Arizona Open Meeting Law, and all other
applicable state laws, as well as R7-2-101 of the State Board Rules.
B) LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY:
The Council shall have the authority to decide changes in school policies and
procedures. Upon approval of policy, the Council shall present the initiative
to the affected community by means of faculty meetings, newsletters or
meetings. The appropriate Council members from each group shall present the
referendum to their corresponding group by whatever means deemed appropriate by
such members at faculty meetings and School Council meeting minutes printed in
school newsletter.
C) QUORUM:
A simple majority of the Council
must be present to conduct business.
D) VOTING:
Any action on the agenda may be passed by a simple majority of the School
Council in attendance. Each School Council member shall have one vote. A
referendum will be passed by 2/3 vote of constituency group.
E) APPEAL:
Individuals in the affected community reserve the right to appeal
initiatives adopted by the Council. If 40% of the members of the affected
community disagree with an initiative adopted by the Council, they have the
right to appeal and put the initiative to a majority vote of the affected
community. The vote shall be taken at a meeting or by ballot.
F) SCHEDULE
The Council will meet at least once a month or such
other date selected by the Council. All meeting will be announced to the
community at least 48 hours in advance. Additional meetings will be scheduled
as needed to bring closure to a project or issue.
G) AGENDA :
Any Council member may place an item on the agenda by notifying the Principal
or Facilitator in writing 5 business days to the scheduled meeting date. A
School Council mailbox and the form will be placed in the school office and can
be used by persons from the affected community to recommend topic for
discussion at Council meetings. The form must be signed and filled out with the
person name to be considered; unsigned forms will not be considered. The
Principal and Facilitator will review and consider the recommendations and
place the issue on the agenda for the next meeting.
H) FACILITATOR:
The School Council, at the first
meeting each year, will elect the role of the facilitator.
I) SCHOOL COUNCIL RECORD KEEPING:
A member of the School Council will be responsible for the calendar year to
maintain Minutes of each meeting and keep records for the year. Minutes will
include: attendance, topic discussed and decisions made. The responsibility for
taking minutes of each meeting will be held by one member at each meeting with
rotating at each meeting for the calendar year. Minutes from the meeting will
be available to all staff, placed in mailboxes and a brief summary will be
included in the monthly parent newsletter. All policy adopted by the council will be
kept in a Site Council Policy Notebook.
A copy of the notebook will be kept by the facilitator, the principal,
secretary, and on the school server.
ARTICLE IV
COMMITTEES
Special Subject Committees may be established by the Council to develop, research or study specific topics. At least one
committee member shall make recommendations to the School Council.
The constitution and /or the by-laws of School Council
shall be subject to alteration by amendment.
Amendments must be approved by a two thirds (2/3) vote of the
staff and parents present provided that notice of the meeting and the
proposed changes are set forth in the writing at least one week prior to
voting. Any member of the school community may propose an amendment.