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Berkner High School

Site Based Decision Making Committee Members & By-Laws

Site based decision making committee members and by-laws.

Committee Members

  • Principal: Kristy A. Cage
  • Teacher: Jarred Goodall
  • Teacher: Brian Harper
  • Teacher: Jennifer Price
  • Teacher: Kim Curran
  • Teacher: Bill Mikesell
  • Teacher: Trey Bryant
  • Non-teaching Staff: Veronica Adams
  • Non-teaching Staff: Sharonda Tims
  • District Rep: Lorie Squalls
  • Parent: Jennifer Lopez
  • Parent: Angie Lee
  • Parent: Juanita Armstrong
  • Community Member: Steve Schneider
  • Community Member: Kelly Schneider
  • Business Community Members (2 openings)

Campus By-Laws

Article I - Name

The campus‐level team shall be known as the LV BERKNER HIGH SCHOOL STEM ACADEMY Site‐Based Decision-Making Team.

Article II - Purpose

The purpose of the LV BERKNER HIGH SCHOOL STEM ACADEMY Site‐Based Decision‐Making Team is to improve the level of student achievement for all students at LV BERKNER HIGH SCHOOL.

Article III - Membership

Section 1 - Size and Composition

The LV BERKNER HIGH SCHOOL STEM ACADEMY SBDM team must have a core group of 15 members.

The CORE group of fifteen members shall be established annually, no later than Labor Day of each school year, and will consist of:

  • The campus principal
  • Six classroom teachers (nominated and elected by teachers only to serve on the Site‐Based Decision-Making Team, with the elected supervised by the Principal and members of the Site‐Based Decision-Making Team). Teachers are professional personnel with classroom teaching responsibilities of at least four hours during the instructional day.
  • One campus-based non-teaching professional staff member (nominated and elected by non-teaching professional staff only with the elected supervised by the Principal and members of the Site‐Based Decision-Making Team). Campus-based non-teaching professional staff includes those who hold a professional certificate but do not teach for at least four hours during the instructional day.
  • One district-level professional staff member (nominated and elected by professional staff with the elected supervised by the Principal and members of the Site‐Based Decision-Making Team). A district-level staff member is one who serves multiple campuses.
  • Two parents (elected by parents only with the election to be supervised by the campus parent group; membership in the campus parent group is not required). A parent is a person who is a parent of, or who stands in parental relation to, a student enrolled at the campus.
  • Two community members (selected by the Principal and elected members). Community members must reside in the district and must be at least 18 years of age. [Education Code 11.251(c)(4)]. They must not be a parent or a District employee. They must be representative of the community’s diversity.
  • Two business community members (selected by the Principal and elected members). Business representatives need not reside in nor operate businesses in the district. [Education Code 11.251(b)] They should be representative of the community’s diversity.
  • In addition, individuals, as determined by the fifteen core members, may be added so that all the school’s major constituent groups are adequately represented (i.e. classroom teachers, parents, teacher assistants, other support personnel, community and/or business representatives, and/or students); however, the overall committee shall be balanced with no one constituent group over‐represented on the committee. The core group of fifteen shall ensure that racial and gender diversity is reflected on the team.
  • At least two‐thirds of team members who represent campus-based selected staff must be teachers (professional personnel with classroom teaching responsibilities for at least four hours of the instructional day).

The Principal shall furnish an up‐to‐date list of names and addresses of all members on the Site‐Based Decision-Making Team to the Superintendent or designee no later than 15 working days after Labor Day.

When team members are added or replaced during the school year, the Principal is responsible within 15 working days for sending to the Superintendent or designee an updated list with the names and addresses of new members.

Section 2 - Elections

Parent Representatives

The predominant parent group supervises the election of parent representatives.

The PTA will hold open nominations in February and hold a vote during the March PTA meeting prior to Spring Break.

Teacher Representatives, Campus‐Based Non‐teaching Professional Staff Member, and District‐Level Professional Staff Member.

The election of teacher representatives of the campus‐based professional staff member and the district‐level professional staff member is supervised by the Principal and members of the Site‐Based Decision-Making Team. Teachers vote for teachers, campus-based professional staff members vote for the campus‐based professional staff representative and all professional staff vote for the district‐level professional staff member. The Site‐Based Decision-Making Team shall elect the Site‐Based Decision-Making Team representative among the Site‐Based Decision-Making Team faculty member representatives.

The Berkner High School Staff will hold open nominations utilizing a Google form for teacher and non-teaching staff representatives in March of each year and voting will take place prior to April 1. The district-level professional representative will be the Area Supervisor/Superintendent/Executive Director for the Berkner Learning Community. 

Section 3 - Terms

The length of each term will be a staggered term of 3 years for the 2022-2023 school year and 2 years for every subsequent school year. In the event that a seat opens, that seat will be filled by appointment for the remaining term until the time that nominations and voting shall commence. Teachers and non-instructional staff will hold their position for 3 years. Parents, community members, and business members will hold their position for 2 years. 

Section 4 - Officers (Co-Chaired by the Principal)

Officers needed are Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Parliamentarian, and Timekeeper. Officers will be elected in the first meeting after each vote in April. Officers will be selected through nominations and open vote. The length of term of each officer will be 2 years. 

Chair–Kristy Cage

  • Prepares committee meeting agendas with the assistance of the Principal
  • Guides meetings and encourages input from all members

Vice-Chair–Sharonda Tims

  • Performs Chair’s duties in his/her absence
  • Serves as the chair of the Evaluation and Modification Committee

Scribe/Recorder/Secretary–Jennifer Price

  • Prepares and maintains minutes of committee meetings
  • Maintains committee membership roster and by-laws

Facilitator/Timekeeper–Angie Lee

    • Monitors committee’s energy and interaction
    • Keeps committee on track and ensures activities are completed in a timely manner

Section 5 - Attendance

Each member must attend 70% of meetings to remain a team member.

Section 6 - Vacancies

A vacancy in an elected position must be filled by election. A vacancy in a selected position is filled by selecting the remaining members of the team.

Article IV - Committees

Standing committees, subcommittees, special committees, or task forces may be established or abolished as necessary to examine issues in-depth and develop recommendations to bring to the Site‐Based Decision-Making Team. The Principal shall co-chair all committees and subcommittees.

Article V - Meetings

Section 1 - Regular Meetings

At least four meetings per year outside of the school day are required by policy. The regular meetings of the team shall be held once an academic quarter from 4:30-5:30 pm.

Section 2 - Special Meetings

Special meetings may be called with 5 days’ notice.

Section 3 - Submission of Items for the Meeting Agenda

A Google form will be sent out at least 2 weeks prior to an upcoming meeting for members to bring an issue to the SBDM team. The Chair and Co-Chair of the SBDM team will decide which issues are placed on the meeting agenda to be discussed at the meeting.

Section 4 - Communication of members with the larger school community

Meeting times, agendas, and minutes

The meeting dates and times for the upcoming school year will be decided at the last meeting of the previous school year by the SBDM team. Agenda items will be posted at least 3 days prior to an upcoming meeting. The community will be informed of the SBDM team’s work through posting on the Berkner High School STEM Academy website.

Annual Meeting

A public meeting will be held once a year, after receiving the annual campus rating from the Texas Education Agency, to discuss the performance of the campus and the campus performance objectives.

The SBDM committee is the representative body through which the faculty may bring forth questions, concerns, and recommendations for the SBDM team to consider for the benefit of the school.

Article VI - Meetings

Section 1 - Defined role in Decision Making

The Principal is to consult regularly and receive input from the team in planning, budgeting, curriculum, school organization, staffing patterns, and staff development. The Site‐Based Decision-Making Team must approve the staff development portions of the Campus Improvement Plan (CIP).

The Principal is responsible and accountable for all decisions made at the campus level. The Principal’s responsibility is to ensure that all decisions comply with local and state policy. The Site‐Based Decision-Making Team’s role is advisory, and its input into decision-making is intended to improve the quality of decisions made by the Principal.

Section 2 - Methods for reaching agreement

The Chair/Co-Chair will bring an agenda item/ issue before the team for discussion, questions, answers, and feedback. The method of decision-making will be a majority vote.