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Mohawk Elementary

Site Based Decision Making Committee Members & By-Laws

Committee Members

  • Principal- Denise Newman, Amanda Willett-AP
  • Teachers- Jenny Hermosillo, Wendy Griffin, Allison Baldwin, Melanie Hancock, Donna Valcourt, Natalie Gerhart
  • Paraprofessional- Saundra Foster
  • District Rep- Sara Mooney
  • Parents- Stephanie Tyroch, Darren Durrett
  • Community Members- Kayla Fowler, Kelsey Smith
  • Business Community Members- Julie and John Marshall, Jordan Swim

Campus By-Laws

Article I - Name

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

Article II - Purpose

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

Article III - Membership

Section 1 - Size and Composition

The Mohawk 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.

The election will occur in August. 

The process for nominating parents and for voting will be a google form that will be sent out via mass notifications and newsletters by the Principal. The chairperson will inform the parent nominees prior to voting.

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 election will occur in August. 

The process for nominating parents and for voting will be a google form that will be sent out via mass notifications and newsletters by the Principal. The chairperson will inform the parent nominees prior to voting.

Section 3 - Terms

The length of a term shall be 2 years. 

A member can serve in non-consecutive terms.  

Terms may be staggered, where a few of the team’s members are elected every year. Officers will serve for 2 years and other committee members have the opportunity to serve for 1, if requested.

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

The officers of the Mohawk Elementary SBDM Committee will be:

  • Chair  ~ Amanda Willett
    • Prepares committee meeting agendas with the assistance of the Principal
    • Guides meetings and encourages input from all members
  • Vice-Chair ~ Jenny Hermosillo
    • Performs Chair’s duties in his/her absence
    • Serves as the chair of the Evaluation and Modification Committee
  • Scribe/Recorder/Secretary ~ Wendy Griffin
    • Prepares and maintains minutes of committee meetings
    • Maintains committee membership roster and by-laws
  • Facilitator/Timekeeper ~ Melanie Hancock
    • Monitors committee’s energy and interaction
    • Keeps committee on track and ensures activities are completed in a timely manner

Officers will be selected by the Mohawk Principal. The length of term that an officer serves will be 2 years for officers and 1 year for other committee members if they choose a 1 year commitment.

Section 5 - Attendance

All team members will make their best effort to attend all SBDM meetings.

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 in the Mohawk Library.

Section 2 - Special Meetings

Special meetings may be called with 3 days’ notice.

Section 3 - Submission of Items for the Meeting Agenda

The process for a person, team member, or other stakeholders to bring an issue to the team is to email the principal and chair at least 5 days prior to the meeting. The Chair will also create a Google Form for a shareable link. Decisions will be made regarding items that are placed on the meeting- agenda by the principal and the SBDM chair. They will discuss this with the SBDM team as needed. The principal and the chair will make final decisions on what items will be on the agenda.

Section 4 - Communication of members with the larger school community

Meeting times, agendas, and minutes

Team members and members of the larger school community will be informed of the SBDM team’s work via mass email/newsletters.

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 SBDM team will discuss and share thoughts and insight prior to a vote. A majority vote method will be used for decision making.