The commissioner of education, State Board of Education (SBOE), and Texas Education Agency (TEA) guide and monitor public education in Texas. SBOE provides leadership and state-level administration as prescribed by law, and the commissioner and TEA staff implement state education policy. Texas has delegated much of the responsibility for education to the local school board. Local school districts are political subdivisions carrying out a state function. Despite increasingly prescriptive state and federal laws and SBOE and commissioner’s rules, locally elected school boards have significant latitude in governing the schools.

The U.S. Supreme Court has said education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments. Our system of local school districts and boards of trustees epitomizes participatory government— citizens elected from their community making decisions about educational programs based on community needs, values, and expectations. School boards are entrusted by the public to translate the needs of students into policies, plans, and goals that will be supported by the community.

Governing the school district is the primary role of a school board. School board members are guardians of the public trust and, through the policies they make, are ultimately responsible for the success or failure of local public education. These policies dictate the standards and philosophy by which schools are run and the criteria used to judge whether they are being run well. The board serves as the advocate for educational excellence for the community’s youth and puts those interests first. This responsibility often entails difficult choices, self-sacrifice, and exposure to public criticism. However, it also brings a great deal of personal satisfaction in sharing with parents, staff, and students their academic successes. This crucial responsibility and the closeness of trustees to the voters make the local school board the purest example of democracy our society presents.

State law emphasizes the school board’s role for overseeing student achievement. Research suggests that school boards can support student achievement when they focus their energy and attention on a few critical activities: 

• Set clear expectations by creating a vision and goals for the district that are focused on student learning.
• Monitor progress toward the goals and hold the system accountable for that progress.
• Create conditions for district success. This includes hiring a superintendent to serve as the chief executive officer of the district, adopting policies to inform district actions, and approving an annual budget consistent with the district’s vision. 
• Create the public will to succeed by engaging the community and communicating the district’s vision and successes.
• Learn as a board-superintendent team. Research suggests that good governance is not intuitive, so a governance team that continually learns together will lead better together as well.

A school board is a local governmental body that can take action only by a majority vote at a legally called public meeting. The individual board member’s major responsibility is to study issues facing the district, evaluate needs and resources, and, after due consideration, vote in the best interest of all students at such a meeting. A trustee who attempts—without board authorization—to speak for the whole board, direct school staff members, or make other individual decisions is exceeding his or her authority.

Regular meetings of the School Board begin at 7 p.m. on a designated Monday of each month in the Hammerlun Center Boardroom at 507 E University Avenue.  Open Session with public audience follows immediately after the Closed Session portion of the meeting.

The agenda is finalized a week before each meeting and delivered to Board members.

The agenda is designed to include public comments, student and staff recognitions, Action items, Consent items, and reports.

Agendas are posted 72 hours before meetings on the front door of the Hammerlun Center and on the Georgetown ISD website.

A Closed Executive Session notice is placed on the agenda to address the following

legally appropriate items:

• Consultation with the Board’s attorney on legal issues
• Real property purchases or economic development decisions
• Personnel matters, including employee complaints
• Student discipline
• Security issues

The Board’s authority is considered to be “body corporate''. As a result, no individual has authority outside of a Board meeting.

Citizens are welcome at all school board meetings, except in a few legally specified circumstances permitting closed meetings.

Individuals may address the Board during the public comment portion of each meeting.

State law does not allow the audience to enter into discussion regarding matters under consideration during the Board meeting.

The Board represents you in determining what is best for the children attending Georgetown ISD schools, and you should feel comfortable expressing your opinions to them.  Your input into the direction of Georgetown ISD is encouraged and will always be considered by the Board.

Interested individuals may request to speak during the Public Comment portion of the meeting by signing up before the Board meeting begins.

Guidelines:

• Speakers should identify themselves and their affiliation, make their presentations, and identify the desired remedies.
• Each speaker is allocated three minutes.
• Delegations of more than five persons addressing the same topic are asked to appoint one person to present their views before the Board.
• Speakers should direct their remarks to the entire Board.

Topics not allowed by state law:

Complaints about  individual District trustees or employees by name.  We ask that those matters be handled through the grievance process or addressed with the administration.  Board deliberation, discussion or any decisions related to items not on that meeting’s agenda.

There are a number of requirements to be eligible for election. Among them, a local school board candidate must be (1) a qualified/registered voter, (2) a resident of the district he or she desires to represent for six months before the filing deadline, and (3) a resident of the state for 12 months before the deadline. 

School Board elections must be held only on the first Saturday in May or first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.  GISD holds School Board elections in May.  Special elections to fill the unexpired term in the event of a board vacancy must also be held on a uniform election day.

GISD School Board Members are elected at large by position and must receive more votes than any other Candidate for the office (plurality voting).  School Board members serve three year terms and serve staggered terms so that not all of the board is up for election at the same time.

Trustees are required by Texas law and SBOE rules to participate in several types of continuing education, including: (1) orientation to local district policy and to the laws affecting public education in Texas, (2) an annual team-building activity completed as a full board-superintendent team, (3) a specified number of hours each year in areas of special need, and (4) training every two years on evaluating student academic performance.