Policy Information

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After a first and second reading of a policy has been adopted by the school Board, it will be posted under the policy section to the left. The Allegany County Board of Education has eleven policy sections which are described in greater detail below.

Section A: Foundations and Basic Commitments - This section contains policies on the district’s legal role in providing public education and the basic principles underlying school Board governance. These policies provide a setting for all of the school Board’s other policies and regulations.

Section B: School Board Governance and Operations - This section contains policies on the school Board, specifically how its members are appointed or elected; how it is organized; how it conducts meetings; and how the Board operates. This section also covers bylaws and policies establishing the Board’s internal operating procedures.

Section C: General School Administration - This section contains policies on the management of the school district and its schools, including such areas as line/staff relationships, administrative organization, systemwide reforms, special programs, and policy implementation. It also is the location of personnel policies for the superintendent, senior administrators (management team), and school principals.

Section D: Fiscal Management - This section contains policies on school finances and the management of funds, except for the financing of facility construction or renovation, which is covered in Section F. The sequence of these policies outlines an effective process for budget development and implementation.

Section E: Support Services - This section contains policies on non-instructional services and programs, particularly those on business management such as safety, building and grounds maintenance, office services, transportation, and food services. Some areas might correspond with existing administrative departments; other (e.g. safety program and management of material resources) may be interdepartmental in nature. This section is not intended to correspond with any district’s organization. Its purpose is to establish policy categories for a variety of support activities.

Section F: Facilities Planning and Development - This section contains policies on new construction as well as on related activities such as long-range planning; remodeling and modernizing facilities; leasing, and renting, and closing buildings to meet the needs of growth and change.

Section G: Personnel - This section contains school Board personnel policies. It has two major sections—professional staff and classified/support staff. All school employees except for the superintendent/CB have policies located under General School Administration. In most cases, the category of professional is divided into instructional staff and administrators because of their different responsibilities, working year, salary schedule, etc.

Section H: Negotiations - This section contains policies relating to the process of negotiating with staff units recognized by the school Board.

Section I: Instruction - This section contains policies on the instructional program—goals, basic program, special programs, instructional arrangements and resources, and testing/assessment of individual student achievement as well as the district’s instructional program. But extracurricular/co-curricular activities and guidance services are filed in Section J—Students. The policies in this section, more than in any other, will reflect the school system’s and school Board’s reason for being.

Section J: Students - This section contains statements about students—for whom the schools exist. Section J policies deal with admissions and attendance, rights and responsibilities, conduct and discipline, guidance and counseling, and student activities.

Section K: School/Community/Home Relations - This section contains statements on relations with the general public, community organizations, public agencies, and families. Policies on relations with other educational agencies and groups are located in Section L. Section K includes policies on the school system’s parent involvement efforts; the public information and crisis management programs’ community use of school facilities; advertising and solicitations in schools; and the expression of concerns and resolutions of complaints by the public. Two special sequence of codes are available for recoding operational relationships with various community organizations and governmental agencies. Because school, community, and home relations overlap extensively with other major areas of school operations, there are more than the usual number of policies whose content will be included in other sections of a policy manual.

Section L: Education Agency Relations - This section contains statements that concern the school system’s relationships with other education agencies and organizations—other school systems, regional or service districts, private schools, colleges and universities, educational research organizations, and state and national educational agencies.