The Chairperson shall appoint members and chair people of the standing committees of the Board of Education, subject to board approval.  Each Board member will assume committee responsibilities in order to share in the Board's work and to assure that each Board member is given opportunities for representation.  A member of the Board committee unable to attend a meeting of that committee shall notify the Clerk of the Board and/or the Chairperson of the committee.

These committees will meet in public session, except where matters of personnel, negotiations, legal or security are involved, at a place and time announced through posting of a meeting notice and agenda. The Chairperson of the Board of Education shall be an ex officio (non-voting) member of each standing committee.

The committees of the Board have the duty of receiving proposals from the administration and developing plans and programs for recommendation to the Board of Education. The action of each committee will be to recommend final action to be taken by the full Board of Education.

Committee meetings provide an opportunity to receive information and have more thorough dialogue during the formulation of programs and plans of action. All people attending such committee meetings are encouraged to participate in the discussion as appropriate.

All committees of the Board of Education shall follow the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act as required by statute.

(cf. 9121 Chairperson)

(cf. 9130 Committees)

(cf. 9133 Ad Hoc Committees)

Legal References:       
Connecticut General Statutes

1-7 through 1-21k Freedom of Information Act.

1-18a Definitions.

1-21 Meetings of government agencies to be public.

Bylaw revised:	March 10, 2020
Bylaw adopted by the Board:	October 14, 1997		HAMDEN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
			Hamden, Connecticut

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Standing Committees

 Guidelines for Committee Operation

The standing committees of the Board of Education are:

Curriculum	Operations/Athletics
Equity	Personnel
Evaluation/Goals	Policy
Finance

 

 

 

The committee meeting is the most appropriate forum for public discussion of issues, and an opportunity is provided for everyone present to participate.

The Superintendent will assign an administrator the responsibility for each committee.

 

Preparation For Committee Meetings

1. The committee chairperson, in consultation with committee members and the administration, will set the date of each committee meeting. In general, committee meetings will be scheduled at a board meeting, and major agenda items will be mentioned at that time.
2. The administrator assigned to a committee will make the necessary arrangements to hold the meeting on the assigned date.
3. The chairperson is responsible for consulting with the administrator about the agenda as appropriate.
4. The administrator is responsible for preparing the agenda and accompanying materials and their delivery to Board members.  Parts of the back-up material will be a brief description of each agenda item and what the committee is being asked to do with it.  All meetings will be publicly posted per the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act.
5. The administrator will invite staff members and others to attend committee meetings as appropriate.

 

Committee Meetings

1. The chairperson will conduct the committee meeting and ask the administration to present agenda items as appropriate.
2. The administration will specify what action the committee is being asked to take with each item.
3. Whenever appropriate, the administration will recommend specific wording for motions to be made by the committee.
4. The chairperson is considered an active committee member and is expected to participate fully in committee deliberations and to cast a vote on all motions.
5. The agenda for each committee meeting will present items for information only separately from those items requiring committee action.
6. The chairperson may first ask the administration to make its presentation of an agenda item, involving staff and others as appropriate. The chairperson will then request questions and comments from those attending in the following order:
   1. committee members;
   2. other board members; and
   3. all others attending the meeting.

 

Committee Presentation to the Board of Education

1. The administrator is responsible for preparing the notes of the committee meeting and arranging for their delivery to Board members.
2. At the appropriate point in the agenda of the Board of Education meeting, the committee will present for full Board action any motions requiring a vote.
3. The Board will deal with each committee motion according to the following procedure;
   1. The committee presents the proposed motion to the Board with a second not being required.
   2. If any Board member requests, the committee will summarize its deliberations which led to the present motion.
   3. The Board members discuss the proposed motion without repeating the entire committee meeting at which it was developed.
   4. The motion is acted on in accordance with Robert's Rules of Order.
   5. If the motion is defeated, any Board member may offer another motion on the same item.