St Vrain Valley School District

Policies

The policies developed by the Board of Education outline a course of action for the District. Board of Education policies are typically passed in a three reading process with final adoption following. All such readings are done at Board meetings that are open to the public.

Policy Search

Search the St. Vrain Valley School District Policies by title or keyword. Search results are provided by Google.

Table of Contents

The District's Policies are organized according to the National Educatioal Policy Network/National School Boards Association (NEPN/NSBA) classification system. There are twelve separate groups:

Section A Foundation and Basic Commitments
Section B School Board Governance and Operations
Section C General School Administration
Section D Fiscal Management
Section E Support Services
Section F Facility Planning and Development
Section G Personnel
Section H Negotiations
Section I Instruction
Section J Students
Section K School-Community-Home Relations
Section L Education Agency Relations

Policy Development System

The Board endorses for use in the District the policy development and codification system of the National Education Policy Network/National School Boards Association (NEPN/NSBA), as recommended by the Colorado Association of School Boards.

This system, while it may be modified to meet needs, is to serve as a general guideline for such tasks as policy research, drafting of preliminary policy proposals, reviewing policy drafts with concerned groups, presenting new and revised policies to the Board for consideration and action, policy dissemination, policy evaluation and the continuous maintenance of Board policies.

Policy development in a modern, forward-looking school system is a dynamic on-going process. New problems, issues and needs give rise to the continuing need to develop new policies or to revise existing ones.

St. Vrain Valley School District RE-1J operates according to policies established by the Board of Education. The Board, which represents the state and local community, develops policies after careful deliberation, and the school administration implements them through specific regulations and procedures. The Board then appraises the effects of its policies and makes revisions as necessary.

In the interests of harmony, efficiency, uniformity of interpretation, coordination of effort, and in fairness to all concerned, the Board makes these policies available to all who are affected by them.

About Policies and Regulations

Generally the role of a board of education is to set policy and the role of the administration is to implement it through regulations. Here are definitions set forth by the National School Boards Association which provide a distinction between these two types of statements:

Policies are principles adopted by the Board to chart a course of action. They tell what is wanted and may include why and how much. They are broad enough to indicate a line of action to be taken by the administration in meeting a number of day after day problems; they need to be narrow enough to give the administration clear guidance.

Regulations are detailed directions developed by the administration to put policy into practice. They tell how, by whom, where and when things are to be done.

These definitions are serviceable some of the time. They reflect sound theory of governance and administration. But the real world does not always conform. For example:

State and federal governments require boards of education to make or officially approve detailed regulations and procedures in certain areas.

A board signs contracts and agreements which may contain and interweave policies, regulations and procedural detail.

The public, staff or board members may demand that the Board itself, not the administration, establish specific regulations and procedures in certain sensitive areas.

It is the intermingling of policy and regulations in law, in contracts, in adopted statements of the Board that causes confusion. Sometimes they are not easily separated. Therefore the separation of policies and regulations follows several �rules of thumb� in addition to �basic theory�:

When the school district�s practice in a particular area is established by law, any informational statement covering the practice is presented as �policy�. (A law, of course, may be quoted or referred to in a regulation.)
When the district�s practice in a particular area has been established through a negotiated agreement, any statement pertaining to that practice is presented as �policy�.
Where the Board has interwoven regulations with policy and where separation would do harm to the meaning of both, the entire statement is presented as policy.
Where the Board has adopted rules and by-laws concerning its own organizational and operating procedures, these statements appear as policy.

As a general operating procedure, all new regulations to policies or changes to existing regulations will be brought for one reading to a regular Board of Education meeting for approval.

Notes on Use of On-line Policies

Dates: Where possible the original date of adoption/approval/issuance appears immediately following each policy/regulation. In other instances, an approximate date or revision date is used.

Legal references: Pertinent legal references are given to tell the reader where in state or federal law he may find certain statutes that relate to a policy. Unless otherwise noted, all references direct the reader to the Colorado Revised Statutes, as revised through the last session of the legislature. Most of the statutes are included in Colorado School Laws published by the Colorado Department of Education. It is important to mention here that other laws and/or court decisions also may be applicable to a particular policy.

Cross references: Certain policies/regulations relate to others. Cross references are provided following many statements to help the reader find all of the related information.

Contract references: When policies and regulations have been negotiated by the Board with district personnel, the appropriate contract reference is listed.

Notes: Supplemental information pertaining to the policy.

Order of precedence: Board of Education policies and regulations must be read and interpreted in the light of Colorado Revised Statutes and state regulations. Wherever inconsistencies of interpretation arise, the law and state regulations prevail.