Bylaws of the Board - Methods of Operation
The Newington Board of Education shall concern itself only with broad questions of policy and not with administrative details. The Board shall rely upon the Superintendent of Schools to recommend policies for adoption and to administer policies enacted by the Board. Such policies shall be broad enough to indicate a line of action to be taken by the Superintendent in the development of administrative regulations. Application of such policies and regulations is an administrative function. The Superintendent is responsible for the formulation, issuance, amendment, and deletion of administrative regulations to implement the policies of the Board. The Superintendent shall determine the need to bring to the attention of the Board any new, revised or deleted administrative regulations.
The Board of Education and Town Government work cooperatively and efficiently through numerous shared service agreements. Although services are shared the roles of the two bodies are very often misunderstood by local residents when attempts to compare the operations of local government to those of the Board of Education (BOE) are made. The two are separate entities that operate independently of each other. Each municipality operates under a charter. Boards of Education coexist in harmony under the rules of that charter unless it prohibits or restricts the Board of Education from carrying out its duty to the State. In these cases, the local municipal charter does not apply to the Board of Education as it must carry out its responsibilities to the State. Conflict over finances is common among the elected bodies as they each perform different roles. There are checks and balances to be sure each elected body carries out its individual responsibilities. The local Board of Finance has final authority over the budget allocation for the local Board of Education. The Board of Education has complete authority to operate as it sees fit and cannot be restricted by other locally elected bodies.
The following highlights the roles and responsibilities of a Board of Education:
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Each town maintains control of its public schools through its Board of Education (CGS §10-240).
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Boards of Education are responsible for implementing the educational interests of the state (CGS §10-220).
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Boards of Education provide educational activities which, in its judgment, best serve the interests of the school district (CGS §10-220).
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A Board of Education serves as a board of directors for the school district.
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A board of Education acts through its Superintendent of Schools, who is the “Chief Executive Officer” of the school district (CGS §10-157(a)).
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A Board of Education is a “collective” body; authority resides with the Board and not with the individual members.