Site Council?  What is that?

The role of the school site council

The school site council plays an important role in decision-making at many schools. Who is best qualified to make decisions about a school? Policymakers in states across the country agree that those who are involved with schools and students on a day-to-day basis — teachers, parents, and other school employees — can make some of the best decisions. This belief led to the creation of the school site council.

What the school site council does

The school site council is a group of teachers, parents, classified employees, and students (at the high school level) that works with the principal to develop, review and evaluate school improvement programs.  The exact duties of school site councils vary from state to state and even between districts in the same state, but site councils generally either make decisions or advise the principal on the academic or school improvement plan. In addition to academic planning, many site councils are also responsible for making decisions about parent engagement, safety and discipline.  Over the course of a year, a typical council might consider the goals of the school or district and then work with the principal to evaluate the school’s progress toward those goals. In this evaluation, the council might consider school test scores, attendance and discipline records, parent surveys and input from students. The site council merely advises the principal and does not have any authority to make decisions.  Even at schools where the official duties are the same, some site councils generally defer to the principal’s judgments, while others are actively involved in developing new programs or overseeing major school change.  Successful school site councils, regardless of their specific agendas, are more than a “rubber stamp” committee, and always ask thoughtful and challenging questions. School site council members don’t just represent their own interests. They have an obligation to make decisions that will best serve the whole school community. In fact, many site councils are specifically charged with finding ways to close gaps in achievement between groups of students.

Some questions school site councils can ask:

• What are the goals and priorities of our school?
• What data do we have that shows how well we are achieving those goals?
• Are we progressing toward our goals?
• Are there particular groups of students who are not doing as well as others?
• What supports could we put in place to help struggling students?
• Do we have programs that are ineffective or unrelated to our goals?
• Is it possible to eliminate those programs?
• How will we know if our new programs are effective?