06-24-2014 Minutes Board Retreat

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Dr. Charles J. Shackett, Superintendent Marjean McConnell, Deputy Superintendent 3497 North Ammon Road, Idaho Falls, Idaho, 83401  (208) 525-4400  Fax (208) 529-0104  www.d93schools.org Board of Trustees  Annette Winchester  Kip Nelson  Amy Landers  Brian McBride  Jeff Bird Bonneville Joint School District No. 93 is an Equal Opportunity Employer Board Retreat June 24, 2014 Boy’s House, Harriman State Park Breakfast at Trails Inn in Ashton 8:00 a.m. As a result of traffic delays, Chairperson Winchester called the meeting to order at 10:29 a.m. Roll Call Those Board members in attendance were Chairperson Annette Winchester, Vice-chairperson Kip Nelson, Treasurer Amy Landers, Trustee Brian McBride, and Trustee Jeff Bird. Others in attendance were, Superintendent Chuck Shackett , Deputy Superintendent Marjean McConnell, Director of School Improvement and Technology Scott Woolstenhulme, Director of Human Resources Shalene French, Chief Financial/Operations Officer April Burton, District Legal Counsel Doug Nelson, and Board Clerk Valerie Messick. I. Ethics and Governance/Conflict of Interest - Doug Nelson Chairperson Winchester asked Mr. Nelson to speak to the board regarding ethics and governance and conflicts of interest. Mr. Nelson stated that we will take a bird’s eye view of how to avoid disharmony. That comes with proper board governance and the ethical rules that apply to all of us. There are statutes that apply to board service as it relates to administrative staff and teaching staff. Not following policy can cause major issues. Each Board member and administrator has a fiduciary duty or are trusted with acting on behalf of another for the benefit and interest of those who trust. This is the highest legal standard of care. A fiduciary duty is a very express and powerful duty. Board members have the fiduciary duties of care, loyalty, and obedience. These three concepts permeate the statutes that apply. The duty to Care. Members should exercise the same level of care as with your own business affairs. This is fulfilled by attendance at Board meeting (statutory requirement), being knowledgeable about matters before the Board, and using independent judgment to make objective decisions in the best interest of the District. Notice that this is not your interest or necessarily those who elected you. The duty of Loyalty. Members should act in the best interests of the organization and not for personal advantage. Members should avoid conflicts of interest, disclose and resolve conflicts as they arise, and give the organization the advantage in any deal over your own private interests. The duty of Obedience. Board members must take actions consistent with statutes, board policies, and District Mission and purposes. They should follow the law and have transparency in their actions. A single interest person causes the most problems with obedience issues. They often ignore or challenge policies and only prepare for their issues. You should serve consistent with statutes, policy, and agreed upon purpose, goals, and mission because they have one axe to grind and will do so regardless of the rules or how the Board has determined to govern itself. They become disruptive and fight the procedures and customs, challenge policies, ignore policy, not prepare for anything except their issue. That can be an awkward and unfortunate thing. All actions that board members take need to be consistent with the statutes, your own board policy, and the agreed upon mission of the District. Board members must follow the law and do nothing in secret and always have transparency in your actions. Email does not have an expectation of privacy. You could be given a notice to preserve all communications. Once a notice like that is served, you can find yourself violating state and federal law with possible criminal sanctions if your try to sanitize your emails. You can’t sanitize your computer. Communications regarding business and policy is not protected. You need to write and communicate in civil ways. You need to understand that people and those who don’t agree with you may have the opportunity to read these communications. Things like client to attorney privileges in communication do not extend to individual to individual communication. Whatever you retain as a district for email is up to the district. There is no requirement to archive email. If an email deals with an employee issue and it is used in deliberations, it needs to become part of the employment or disciplinary record. The email can be deleted but the record needs to be preserved. Characteristics of Effective Boards include oversight and accountability among members, clear consistent policies, adherence to the law and policies (even if you have a disagreement with a policy) strategic planning, and training. Once a