Parameters
The District 186 Communications Council (1998) of Springfield Public School District 186, Springfield, Illinois, has developed a manual titled Dreaming the School: A Process for Shared Decision-Making to guide the efforts to move decision-making power to the schools. The following excerpt lists the parameters within which the schools will work when developing their plans to implement site-based management.
"ParametersThe goal of shared decision-making is to improve the teaching and learning in District 186 schools. The Communications Council proposes the following parameters to guide our schools in the development and implementation of shared decision-making.
Shared decision-making will not replace the school board, the superintendent, the building principal, unions, or collective bargaining agreements. Schools must work within the following parameters:
- Federal laws and regulations.
- State laws and regulations.
- School board policy and regulations.
- Collective bargaining agreements and memoranda of understanding.
- District desegregation order.
Decisions that will remain at the district level will include:
- Determining the District's budget and raising revenues.
- Establishing educational standards and benchmarks for students at each grade level.
- Assessment of districtwide standards.
- Establishing school boundaries and utilization.
- Collective bargaining.
- District auxiliary services, such as maintenance, transportation, and food service.
- Assurance of quality education." (p. 10)
