22-7-106—School Advisory Councils
1.)
- Except as provided in subsection (4) of this section, there shall be a school advisory council at each public school in each school district. A school advisory council shall consist of seven members designated, appointed, or elected as follows:
- The principal of the school or the principal's designee;
- One teacher who provides instruction at the school elected by a vote of all licensed professionals who provide instruction at the school or have an office in the school;
- Three parents or legal guardians of students enrolled in the school who are elected by a vote of the parents and legal guardians of students enrolled in the school;
- One adult member designated by an organization of parents, teachers, and students recognized by the school; and
- A person from the community who is involved in business and who is appointed by the principal.
- The principal of the school or the principal's designee;
- One teacher who provides instruction at the school elected by a vote of all licensed professionals who provide instruction at the school or have an office in the school;
- Three parents or legal guardians of students enrolled in the school who are elected by a vote of the parents and legal guardians of students enrolled in the school;
- One adult member designated by an organization of parents, teachers, and students recognized by the school; and
- A person from the community who is involved in business and who is appointed by the principal.
- No more than three members of a school advisory council shall be employed by or relatives of an employee of the school district. If an election would result in more than three school district employees or persons related to school district employees serving on the council, only the number of candidates who receive the highest number of votes that will result in three school district employees or persons related to school district employees serving on the council shall become members of the council and other employees or persons related to employees shall be disqualified.
- Any appointment or designation required by paragraph (a) of this subsection (1) shall be made by September 1, 2001, and by September 1 of every odd-numbered year thereafter. Any election required by paragraph (a) of this subsection (1) shall be conducted on or before October 31, 2001, October 31, 2003, and on or before October 31 of every year thereafter.
2.)
Members of the council shall serve terms of two years; except that, of the members first elected, the member elected pursuant to subparagraph (II) of paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of this section and the two members with the highest number of votes cast in the election conducted pursuant to subparagraph (III) of paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of this section shall serve terms of three years.
3.)
Any vacancies that may arise on the council by reason of a member's resignation or disqualification or for any other reason shall be filled by majority action of the remaining members of the council. Except for the principal, no member of the council shall serve more than two consecutive, full terms, plus any balance remaining on an unexpired term if the initial appointment was to fill a vacancy.
4.)
The school advisory council required by this section shall not be required in any school or school district that demonstrates that prior to January 1, 2000, the school or school district had in place a committee or council that performed at least the duties specified for school advisory councils in this section and section 22-7-107.
5.)
As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires, "related" or "relative" means a person's spouse, son, daughter, sister, or brother.
22-7-107—School Advisory Council Recommendations
1.)
In addition to any other duties and powers provided for by law, the school advisory council of each public school shall make recommendations to the principal of the school regarding the prioritization of expenditures of school moneys. The principal shall consider such recommendations made by the school advisory council regarding the expenditure of any state, federal, local, or private grants and any other discretionary funds.
2.)
Each school advisory council shall meet at least quarterly to discuss:
- Means for determining whether decisions affecting the educational process are advancing or impeding student achievement;
- Reporting to students, parents, boards of education, educators, and the school district board of education on the educational performance of the school and providing data for the appraisal of such performance;
- Recommendations to the principal on the expenditure of all school grants; and
- Safety issues related to the school environment.
From CDE at http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeedserv/account.htm
School Level Process
In Colorado, the focus of accountability is at the school level. The local accountability committees function as follows:
- Set prioritization of expenditures of school money
- Meet at least quarterly
- Work on means for determining whether decisions affecting the educational process are advancing or impeding student achievement
- Report educational performance to the public
- Review safety issues
- By September 1 of each year adopt high, but achievable goals and objectives for improvement of education in its building and adopt a plan to improve educational achievement in the school, to implement methods of maximizing graduation rates in secondary schools of the district and to increase the rating for the school's accreditation category.