What is School Site Council?
This council is comprised of school employees, parents, and
community members. The belief is people involved with schools and
students on a day-to-day basis–that is, the teachers, parents
and other school employees–can make some of the best decisions
regarding school improvement. Therefore this group meets on a
regular basis to discuss and make decisions about school
improvement.
What does the School Site Council do?
The School Site Council is an elected group of teachers, parents,
classified employees, and students (at the high school level) who
work with the principal to develop, review, evaluate and allocate
funds for school improvement programs.
The councils are formed to make decisions about how
state-allocated school improvement funds will be spent. Some
councils, for instance, might use funds to develop a new math
program, while others may want to hire a reading specialist. The
idea behind the creation of the councils in the 1970s was that
those most closely involved with the schools and students on a
day-to-day basis could often make the best decisions about how
schools needed to improve. How the councils actually operate
varies greatly from school to school, but in general the School
Site Council deals more with school policy and budgets than the
school PTA or PTO does.
