Site Based Decision Making Committee Members & By-Laws
Committee Members
- Michele Zupa, Principal
- Grant Bortnem, Assistant Principal
- Quinton Blevins, Councilor
- Cari Nasrallah, Teacher
- Lauren Bonner, Teacher
- Alicia Salazar, Teacher
- Alison Castaneda, Teacher
- Rachel Berros, Teacher
- Liz Press, Teacher
- Hayley Medina, Teacher
- Billy Johnson, Paraprofessional
- (Vacant), District Rep
- Desiree May, Parent
- Summer Huie, Parent
- Claudia Behm, Parent
- Jackson Roderick, Community Member
- Lauren LaRocca, Community Member
- (Vacant), Business Community Member
Campus By-Laws
Article I - Name
The campus‐level team shall be known as the Terrace Elementary Site‐Based Decision-Making Team.
Article II - Purpose
The purpose of the Terrace Elementary Site‐Based Decision‐Making Team is to improve the level of student achievement for all students at Terrace Elementary School.
Article III - Membership
Section 1 - Size and Composition
The Terrace 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.
Parents are invited to self-nominate by submitting their name to the principal. Information was presented to parents in the Tiger Times Newsletter and during Meet the Teacher Night in September.
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.
Teachers and paras were asked to indicate their interest in being on the committee at the end of the ‘21-’22 school year. The vote for representatives will be held at the beginning of each school year.
Section 3 - Terms
SBDM committee members are given an opportunity to continue their participation on the committee each year.
Section 4 - Officers (Co-Chaired by the Principal)
Chair – Michele Zupa, Principal
- Prepares committee meeting agendas with the assistance of the Principal
- Guides meetings and encourages input from all members
Vice-Chair – Dalaina Sims, Instructional Coach
- Performs Chair’s duties in his/her absence
- Serves as the chair of the Evaluation and Modification Committee
Scribe/Recorder/Secretary – Grant Bortnem, Assistant Principal
- Prepares and maintains minutes of committee meetings
- Maintains committee membership roster and by-laws
Facilitator/Timekeeper – Bryan Pineda
- Monitors committee’s energy and interaction
- Keeps committee on track and ensures activities are completed in a timely manner
Section 5 - Attendance
Participants are encouraged to attend as many meetings as possible.
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 each quarter.
Section 2 - Special Meetings
Special meetings may be called with 7 days’ notice.
Section 3 - Submission of Items for the Meeting Agenda
SBDM committee members can submit items to be considered on the upcoming agenda. Submissions are to be submitted 10 days prior to the meeting.
Section 4 - Communication of members with the larger school community
Meeting times, agendas, and minutes
Meeting agendas and minutes will be shared the week following the meeting.
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
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 SBDM committee 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 SBDM 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
SBDM ELECTION GUIDELINES
(1) ELECTION OF SIX TEACHER REPRESENTATIVES
- The Principal and members of the SBDM committee coordinate the nomination and election process of the teacher representatives.
(2) ELECTION OF ONE CAMPUS‐BASED NON‐TEACHING PROFESSIONAL STAFF MEMBER
- The campus‐based non‐teaching professional staff nominates their representative, with the process supervised by the Principal. Campus-based non‐teaching professional staff members are those with professional certificates who do not teach four hours a day.
- ELECTION OF SBDM and DSBDM REPRESENTATIVES
Campus grade level teams and departments will elect the representatives for the SBDM committee from among the faculty nominated to serve on the SBDM team, which includes the elected campus‐based non‐teaching professional.
(3) ELECTION OF ONE DISTRICT‐LEVEL PROFESSIONAL STAFF MEMBER
- The professional staff on the campus nominates and elects the district‐level professional staff member, with the process supervised by the Principal and members of the SBDMteam. District‐level professional staff are those who serve multiple campuses.
(4) ELECTION OF PARENT REPRESENTATIVES
- Nomination of candidates:
○ The predominant parent group can send out a request for nominations but may not select the candidates for the slate.
○ Candidates may nominate themselves.
- The Election Process:
- The parents have an opportunity to volunteer to serve on the SBDM committee.
Legal and Local Policy
Sec. 11.202. PRINCIPALS. (a) The Principal of a school is the instructional leader of the school and shall be provided with adequate training and personnel assistance to assume that role.
(b) Each Principal shall:
(1) except as provided by Subsection (d), approve all teacher and staff appointments for that Principal’s campus from a pool of applicants selected by the district or of applicants who meet the hiring requirements established by the district, based on criteria developed by the Principal after informal consultation with the faculty.
(2) set specific education objectives for the Principal’s campus, through the planning process under Section 11.253.
(3) develop budgets for the Principal’s campus.
(4) assume the administrative responsibility and instructional leadership, under the supervision of the Superintendent, for discipline at the campus.
(5) assign, evaluate, and promote personnel assigned to the campus;
(6) recommend to the Superintendent the termination or suspension of an employee assigned to the campus or the nonrenewal of the term contract of an employee assigned to the campus; and
(7) perform other duties assigned by the Superintendent pursuant to the policy of the board of trustees.
(c) The board of trustees of a school district shall adopt a policy for the selection of a campus
principal that includes qualifications required for that position.
(d) The Superintendent or the person designated by the Superintendent has final placement
authority for a teacher transferred because of enrollment shifts or program changes in the district.
SUBCHAPTER F. DISTRICT-LEVEL AND SITE-BASED DECISION-MAKING
Sec. 11.251. PLANNING AND DECISION-MAKING PROCESS. (a) The board of trustees of each
independent school district shall ensure that a district improvement plan and improvement plans for each campus are developed, reviewed, and revised annually for the purpose of improving the performance of all students. The board shall annually approve district and campus performance objectives and shall ensure that the district and campus plans:
(1) are mutually supportive to accomplish the identified objectives; and
