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Dartmouth Elementary

Site Based Decision Making Committee Members & By-Laws

Committee Members

  • Principal:  Kristin Pernici
  • Assistant Principal: Tasha Anthony 
  • SBDM Coordinator: Dia Thao
  • Title 1 Representative: Katherine Johnstone
  • Teacher:  Keegan Bissell
  • Teacher: Haley Villaruel
  • Teacher: Torie Parsons
  • Teacher: Emily Popoca
  • Teacher: Moriah Georges
  • Teacher: Mariana Rivero
  • Staff Member:  Abigail Peterson
  • District Rep: Morgen Crowder
  • Parent Rep: Kristen Paine
  • Parent Rep: Katie Smith
  • Community Member: Clay Yearsley
  • Community Member: Kathy Hammontree
  • Business Community Member: Jessica Nickerson
  • Business Community Member: Howie Le

Campus By-Laws

Article I - Name

The campus‐level team shall be known as the Dartmouth Elementary Site‐Based Decision-Making Team.

Article II - Purpose

The purpose of the Dartmouth Elementary Site‐Based Decision‐Making Team is to improve the level of student achievement for all students at Dartmouth Elementary School.

Article III - Membership

Section 1 - Size and Composition

The Dartmouth Elementary 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.

Parent representatives were nominated and voted on at the beginning of the school year. 

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.

Staff members were nominated by and voted on by staff in the beginning of the school year. 

Section 3 - Terms

Half of the campus staff members will serve a 2 year term and half of the staff members will serve a 3 year term.  Half of the parent, community, and business partners will serve a 2 year term and half will serve a 3 year term.

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

Chair:  Dia Thao (3-year term)

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

Vice-Chair: Tasha Anthony (2-year term)

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

Scribe/Recorder/Secretary:  Neema Abdu (3-year term)

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

Facilitator/Timekeeper:  Morgen Crowder (2-year term)

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

Section 5 - Attendance

The Dartmouth Site Based Decision Making Committee will meet 4 times per school year:  twice in the Fall semester and twice in the Spring semester. 

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 team members.

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 twice in the fall semester and twice in the spring semester.

Section 2 - Special Meetings

Special meetings may be called with 5 days’ notice.

Section 3 - Submission of Items for the Meeting Agenda

The Chair will send out a meeting invitation 10 days prior to the meeting date.  The meeting invitation will include an opportunity to suggest meeting agenda items.  The Chair and the Principal will approve all added agenda items. 

Section 4 - Communication of members with the larger school community

Meeting times, agendas, and minutes

A summary of the meeting minutes will be included in the campus weekly newsletter. 

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 Site‐Based Decision-Making committee is the representative body through which the faculty may bring forth questions, concerns, and recommendations for the Site‐Based Decision-Making 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 Site Based Meeting Committee will use the majority voting system when making decisions.