RATIONALE
A. REPRESENTATION
1 Boards of Trustees are bodies created by the Education Act, 1989 to ensure the direction of the College complies with Parliament's statutes and MOE's directives.
2 The Board has power to co-opt persons with particular expertise or experience to advise or add judgement to the Board.
3 Trustees are elected by different stakeholder groups, but have a wider responsibility to the College and its community.
4 Trustees may agree to act beyond, but not contrary to, a statute or MOE directive.
B. RESPONSIBILITY
5 The Board may divide itself into (sub-)committees, the better to focus on specific areas of responsibility.
6 Any Trustee who believes, or who is made aware, that they have an actual or potential perceived conflict of interest in any matter shall declare that conflict. Whether that representative can then vote on that matter or abstain, shall be decided on evaluation of the declared conflict. The meeting minutes should record both the declaration and decision about the conflict.
7 Every Trustee, whether or not a member of a (sub-)committee, remains individually responsible for each decision embodied in any Board motion voted on. That is, no Trustee can delegate their responsibility on any issue, to members of a (sub-)committee.
C. COLLEGIALITY & CONSENSUS
8 The Board of Trustees is charged with governance of its school. Effective governance is a successful blend of professional expertise and community involvement. Effective relationships within the Board are vital to the successful operation of the school.
D. CONFIDENTIALITY
9 Board meetings are open to the public, including the media, but are not Public Meetings.
10 There is a presumption that all Board business (including that at sub-committee meetings) is to be transacted in open meeting, except only for matters which are confidential for personal reasons (Privacy Act 1993), or are contractually agreed to be confidential between parties, typically permanently or sometimes for a specified period of time or upon some other condition.
E. NOTICES & NOTIFICATION
11 For the efficiency of the Board, notices of dates, times, places, and agenda of Board Meetings shall be distributed to Board members in sufficient time for all potentially interested persons to become aware of the details of the meeting.
GUIDELINES:
A. REPRESENTATION
1 Stakeholder representatives shall identify their authority to represent their group at the first Board meeting which they attend.
2 The Board Chair may grant speaking rights at the Board meeting however the topic and who is speaking shall be advised to the Board of Trustees Secretary by the Wednesday prior to the meeting date advertised. No visitor shall vote.
B. RESPONSIBILITY
3 Each report by a (sub-)committee back to the Board on each matter, shall:
3.1 State its recommendation, and reason/s for that;
3.2 State the major alternatives to the recommendation, and summarize fairly the arguments for and against each of those alternatives.
C. COLLEGIALITY & CONSENSUS
4 Trustees shall strive to maintain a collegial attitude towards each other, and the Chair shall ensure that discussions are subject-focused.
5 Trustees shall strive to reach a decision by consensus; but, failing that, a simple majority shall suffice to pass a motion. Neither the Chair of the Board nor a Convenor of a Sub-Committee shall have a casting vote.
6 In the event of a motion not being passed unanimously, the numbers and names of persons voting against or abstaining may on request also be minuted, along with a brief outline of their contrary view/s and reason/s.
D. CONFIDENTIALITY
7 If the Board or any sub-committee believes that a matter is sufficiently sensitive that some or all of its details should remain confidential to the parties, either for a specified period or permanently, the Board or the sub-committee shall move ‘into committee’ for discussion and subsequent decision on the matter.
8 The Board may decide or any of its sub-committees may recommend to the Board that a matter shall remain confidential to the parties and the minute of that shall not be publicly available, either for a specified period or permanently.
E. NOTICES & NOTIFICATION
9 Notice of dates, times, places, and agenda of Board, and Sub-Committee, Meetings shall be distributed to Trustees by the Friday proceeding the meeting date.