. Name: District Accountability Committee (DAC)

a.     Purpose/Charge:

1) Make recommendations to the Board priorities for spending school district moneys with a focus on improving literacy and numeracy; 

2) Submit recommendations to the Board concerning preparation of the District’s Performance, Improvement, Priority Improvement or Turnaround plan (whichever is applicable);

3) Review any charter school applications received by the Board and upon request of the District and at the DAC’s option, review any charter school renewal application prior to consideration by the Board;

4) At least annually, cooperatively determine with the Board the areas and issues, in addition to budget issues, that the DAC shall study and make recommendations upon;

5) Provide input and recommendations to principals, on an advisory basis, concerning the development and use of new assessment tools to measure and evaluate student academic growth as it relates to teacher evaluations;

6) Publicize opportunities to serve and solicit parents to serve on the DAC;

7) Assist the District in implementing the District’s family engagement policy; and

8) Assist school personnel to increase families’ engagement with educators, including families’ engagement in creating students’ READ plans, Individual Career and Academic Plans, and plans to address habitual truancy.

b.     Membership - minimum (appointed or approved by the Board, with attention to the Districts racial/ethnic proportions):

1) At least three parents of students enrolled in the district;

2) At least one teacher employed by the district;

3) At least one school administrator employed by the district;

4) At least one person involved in business in the community within the district boundaries; and

5) One or two board members ex officio 

c.     Reporting Schedule: Annually in May or as requested by the Board

d.     Term: Members appointed or approved annually by the Board

e.     Authority: Advisory to the Board

Board Committee Members' Code of Conduct Policy: GP-7A

Board committees function to support the Board and to assist in the fulfillment of its stated functions. All board committees report directly to the Board, and committee members serve at the Board’s pleasure. The Board commits itself and expects its committee members to commit to ethical, businesslike and lawful conduct, including proper use of authority and appropriate decorum when acting on behalf of the Board. 

Accordingly: 

1.   Committee members may not attempt to exercise individual authority over the organization.

       a.  Committee members’ interaction with the superintendent and with staff must recognize the lack of authority vested in individual
            committee members except when explicitly authorized by the Board.

       b.  Committee members’ interaction with the public, press or other entities must recognize the same limitation and the inability of
            any committee member to speak for the committee or the Board.

       c.  Committee members will not make individual requests of staff for operational information without specific board authorization.

2.   To build trust among committee members and to ensure an environment conducive to effective governance, committee members will:

1. focus on issues rather than personalities;
2. exercise honesty in all written and interpersonal interaction, never intentionally misleading or misinforming each other;
3. criticize privately, praise publicly;
4. make every reasonable effort to protect the integrity and promote the positive image of the district and one another;
5. never embarrass each other or the district;
6. demonstrate respect for each others’ opinions;
7. assume and practice trust;
8. maintain focus on identified goals;
1. communicate in a timely manner to avoid surprises;
10. withhold judgment on issues until fully informed;
11. maintain confidentiality;
12. follow the chain of command;
13. assume a non-defensive posture, taking the initiative to communicate and ask questions for clarification;
14. publicly support final actions of the committee and the Board.