Policy Governance

Leadership Governance Policies and Board Expectations

 Introduction

Leadership or policy governance is a model designed by the Board of Trustees of the Uinta County 1 School District in conjunction with the Wyoming School Board Association that provides a clear set of expectations for school district performance and provides a clear differentiation between governance and management responsibilities in the district.

Policy Governance begins with a clear definition of governance as "Seeing to it that the organization achieves what it should and avoids unacceptable situations." The foundation of policy governance is the Board's primary relationship with its "ownership" or the community. Policy governance redefines the board, as a single entity, as the link between ownership and the operations of the organization. The board exists to exercise their defined responsibilities and to properly empower others in the organization to act on defined expectations.

In Policy Governance, the Board has three primary responsibilities: to set end expectations, to develop and monitor policies around the work of the board or governance policies, and to develop and monitor policies around roles and responsibilities for functions in the school district. These responsibilities do not negate the other legal requirements of the board, but ultimately, the board's focus is at the broadest level of policy development and monitoring that is informed by the ownership's values.

This philosophy and set of accompanying policies was developed during the summer of 2010 in a series of four retreats with guidance from the Wyoming School Board Association. This guide contains the agreed upon governance policies, roles and responsibilities policies and end expectations set forth through the district’s vision, mission and core values.