Site Based Decision Making Committee Members & By-Laws
Committee Members
- Principal: Stacey Marx
- Counselor: Stacey Taggart
- Teachers: Moriah Wood, Ashley Hillebrand, Bethany Lavallais, Abby Pennell
- Parents: Amy Greenway, Crystal Passley, Laura McConnell
- Community Member: Veronica Bradley
Campus By-Laws
Article I - Name
The campus‐level team shall be known as the Merriman Park Site‐Based Decision-Making Team.
Article II - Purpose
The purpose of the Merriman Park Site‐Based Decision‐Making Team is to improve the level of student achievement for all students at Merriman Park School.
Article III - Membership
Section 1 - Size and Composition
The Merriman Park Site-Based Decision-Making 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.
Elections will occur in the spring semester the year before next school year. The principal will communicate with the parents and ask for nominations and or volunteers via parent newsletter communication. The principal will share information with the committee and the committee will vote on members for the next school year in May.
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 principal will communicate with the staff and ask for nominations via staff weekly communication. The breakdown of staff member needs will be shared. The principal will share information with the committee and the committee will vote on staff members for the next school year in May.
Section 3 - Terms
A term is one school year. It begins in August and ends in May. There is no limit to the number of terms a member can serve as long as those who want to be considered are nominated.
Section 4 - Officers (Co-Chaired by the Principal)
Officers are selected by the committee members before the first meeting of the year. The members nominate people for the officer positions by contacting the principal. If more than one person is nominated, the committee votes. Each officer is in that position/role for one year.
- Chair
- Prepares committee meeting agendas with the assistance of the Principal
- Guides meetings and encourages input from all members
- Vice-Chair
- Performs Chair’s duties in his/her absence
- Serves as the chair of the Evaluation and Modification Committee
- Scribe/Recorder/Secretary
- Prepares and maintains minutes of committee meetings
- Maintains committee membership roster and by-laws
- Facilitator/Timekeeper
- Monitors committee’s energy and interaction
- Keeps committee on track and ensures activities are completed in a timely manner
Section 5 - Attendance
All members are encouraged to attend all four meetings. Attendance and meeting notes are kept in our campus Google file.
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 every nine weeks.
Section 2 - Special Meetings
Special meetings may be called with 5 days’ notice.
Section 3 - Submission of Items for the Meeting Agenda
Committee members who want to bring an agenda item to the SBDM committee will contact the principal with their agenda item via phone call, email, or personal contact at least 5 days prior to the meeting. The principal will meet with the committee chair to decide if the agenda item will be discussed or shared at the next meeting.
Section 4 - Communication of members with the larger school community
Meeting times, agendas, and minutes
When appropriate, the principal will communicate the team’s work with the larger school community via the principal’s 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 Principal will bring issues to discuss to the committee as needed. Decisions will be made as a team and the majority vote will be taken.
