Bylaws of Building Leadership Team
Laurelhurst Elementary School

According to the guidelines for building leadership teams adopted by the Seattle School District (the “District”) and pursuant to terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the District and its teachers and staff, the following Bylaws of the Laurelhurst Building Leadership Team (“Laurelhurst BLT”) are hereby adopted as of September 2016  

Purpose

Purpose of the Bylaws.

These Bylaws establish a set of rules and procedures approved by the Laurelhurst School community to guide the governance functions of the Laurelhurst BLT.

Purpose of the Building Leadership Team.

The Laurelhurst BLT serves as one of the governing bodies of Laurelhurst, and works to advance school goals for academic achievement, financial stewardship of discretionary funds, and professional development for Laurelhurst staff. The BLT aims to ensure Laurelhurst has the highest standards of educational excellence and an inclusive, supportive school community. In addition, the BLT proactively communicates with the Laurelhurst School community and serves as an advocate on behalf of the school’s parents, staff, and students.

In carrying out its duties and responsibilities, the BLT promotes and facilitates collaborative decision-making. All decisions are made in accordance with the Decision-Making Matrix in Appendix A.

II. Duties and Responsibilities

The Laurelhurst BLT shall participate in school governance activities related to the following:

 Annual Strategic Planning

To oversee the development of a Continuous School Improvement Plan (CSIP), including the establishment of annual strategic objectives and related performance indicators.

To monitor progress towards annual performance objectives, to the extent possible, and work to establish accountability across the school.

Financial Stewardship

To oversee the development of the Laurelhurst school budget, with specific emphasis on allocation of discretionary funding received from the District.

To actively seek ways to attract additional funding and resources to the school including the development of a school funding proposal to the Laurelhurst PTA.

Professional Development

To oversee the development of a school-wide professional development plan to support the annual objectives in the CSIP and identified staff professional development priorities.

Communication and Advocacy

To proactively communicate and solicit feedback on Laurelhurst BLT activities and decisions with member constituencies and the school community.

To function as a forum for discussion and resolution of issues and work toward consensus in the school community.

To work cooperatively with the PTA in furthering the goals and mission of Laurelhurst.

To advocate for the interest of Laurelhurst with the District and larger community.

In considering matters brought before the BLT, members shall have as their primary focus the best interests of Laurelhurst students. District policies, collective bargaining and other agreements to which Laurelhurst or the District may be a party will be recognized and observed when formulating plans for Laurelhurst.

Membership

Expectations of BLT Members.

Members of the Laurelhurst BLT represent and are expected to communicate with their constituency, and represent the best interests of the school as a whole. No non-staff member of the BLT shall be compensated for his or her service on the BLT.

Laurelhurst School Community.

The Laurelhurst School community shall consist of the school leadership; all certificated and classified staff, all in-building program staff, all parents or legal guardians of the students enrolled at Laurelhurst, and all of the enrolled students.

On the BLT.

The Laurelhurst BLT shall consist of at least 5 individuals.

Efforts will be made to recruit members who are representative of the entire school population, especially with regard to ethnic and economic diversity. The membership of the BLT will be determined as follows:

Staff Members. The Laurelhurst BLT shall include at least 4 staff members consisting of (a) the Laurelhurst school principal; (b) one certificated staff member for each grade band. K-2 and 3-5 (c) one specialist. If a classified, SPED or SAEOP staff member wishes to join the BLT, a 5th staff position will be added.

Parent/Guardian Members. The Laurelhurst BLT shall include at least one parent/guardian representative of the Laurelhurst parent/guardian community.

At-Large Members. The Laurelhurst BLT at-large member is designed to strengthen the linkage with organizations actively involved in the Laurelhurst School community. Because of the high-level of involvement and desire for a strong collaborative partnership with the PTA, this position is designated for the PTA President or his or her designee. It also designates a position for LASER our before and after school program. The PTA member and Laser member will be non-voting members.

General Criteria for Membership. BLT members must be willing to participate in the Laurelhurst decision-making process and to give the BLT a satisfactory level of priority and commitment. They must be fair and objective and able to subordinate personal interests to the interests and well-being of the students and the school community. Any person seeking to run for a BLT voting position will not be discriminated against on the basis of creed, color, national origin, race, gender, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or economic status.

Election of BLT Members.

Parent/Guardian Positions.

 Solicitation of Candidates. The parent/guardian representatives will solicit, through the weekly PTA e-newsletter and other means, parents/guardians and community members who are interested in volunteering to serve on the BLT. To the maximum extent possible, the solicitation will be translated into the different languages spoken by members of the Laurelhurst School community. The parent/guardian representatives also may form a nominating committee to identify qualified candidates. The nominating committee will include only parents/guardians. Individuals who are interested in serving on the BLT will respond with a short written form that includes a description of their interest in and qualifications for the position. The parent/guardian representatives will review the submissions against membership needs.

Voting. If there are more candidates than positions available on the BLT, then the current BLT members will vote and the candidates with the greatest number of votes will be elected to serve on the BLT.

 No Voting Required. In the event that there are no applications for open BLT positions, members of the BLT will recruit nominees representing the school’s diversity. Current BLT members may be nominated for re-election. The new members shall be approved by a majority vote of the existing BLT members (other than those who have been nominated for re-election).

2. PTA Representative. The PTA President may attend or appoint a representative to attend Laurelhurst BLT meetings.

3. Staff Selection Process. Subject to Section III.F and except for the Laurelhurst Principal, the Laurelhurst staff members on the BLT will be selected as required by this subsection 3. Nominations for open positions in the categories described in Section III.C will be sought at a staff meeting. Interested candidates will submit in writing or state orally why they want the position. Voting for the staff positions will take place at a staff meeting called for that purpose, after all staff members entitled to vote are advised of the candidates. In the event that there is only one candidate for a particular category, no vote by the staff will be required and that candidate will be deemed elected to the open position in that category. If there is more than one candidate for a particular category, the candidate with the greatest number of votes in his or her category will be elected to represent that category on the BLT.

BLT Membership Terms.

Members of the Laurelhurst BLT will serve for two years with the option of a third if a replacement can’t be found. Terms will be staggered such that some positions of each type will be elected each year. This will put the BLT into a cycle of always having approximately one-half of its composition remaining in the next year for the sake of stability and continuity. The BLT will conduct an annual review of its membership needs to determine if the number and/or constituencies of members needs to be altered or improved. The BLT shall conduct the voting processes described above to assure that all open BLT positions are filled by the first BLT meeting of a new school year.

Vacancies on the BLT.

In the event of an unexpected vacancy on the BLT of the PTA-designated position the PTA President should appoint a new PTA representative. In the event of a vacancy of a staff position on the BLT or any position held by a parentguardian, the BLT may appoint, by majority vote, an individual to fill the vacant position until the next general election of BLT members.

Attendance and Removal.

Laurelhurst BLT members will strive to attend all meetings. A voting member may be removed for cause (including the failure to attend regularly scheduled meetings) by a two-thirds majority of the full BLT voting membership. If the child of a BLT parent/guardian member leaves Laurelhurst, the BLT will reevaluate the eligibility of that member. If the majority of the remaining members of the BLT believe that parent/guardian should no longer be on the BLT, they may deem that position vacant and appoint a new member in accordance with Section III.F above.

BLT Roles

Facilitator sends out agenda to all BLT members 1 week before meeting and leads meeting.

Note taker will take notes during meeting, make sure notes are posted to Laurelhurst website, and email the link to notes (posted on Laurelhurst website) to all staff. 

Timekeeper keeps time during meeting. Jobs rotate each month.

 Parent Rep will forward the following to PTA newsletter editor and website updater: 1. Meeting notes from most recent meeting; 2. Any additional meeting scheduled beyond the regular monthly meeting; and 3. Updates to relevant documents that need to be uploaded to website or published in newsletter.

Set­up: Last 5 minutes of each BLT meeting to discuss nuts and bolts (next meeting date and time, agenda items, roles for next meeting).

Communication: BLT tab on Laurelhurst website with meeting dates, agenda items, notes from meetings, bylaws, decision making matrix and process. Agenda will also be posted in outlook calendar. 

Quorum: Need 2/3 of members for voting purposes.

General Provisions.      

Meetings

Laurelhurst BLT meetings will be open to all interested persons. BLT members should encourage the larger Laurelhurst School community to provide input to the BLT and to be involved in the business of the BLT.

The BLT will schedule regular meetings from September through June. The schedule of meetings will be determined at the first regularly conducted BLT meeting at the beginning of the school year then provided in writing to all Laurelhurst community members. The meeting schedule will also be posted on the Laurelhurst website. Meeting reminders will be published in the weekly PTA e-newsletter preceding each meeting. Emergency meetings will require at least 24 hours advance notice.

 Meeting Agendas.

The BLT will solicit agenda items at least 7 days in advance of the upcoming meeting. Any community member can bring business before the Laurelhurst BLT through a BLT member, in writing or via email. 

Decision making process

• Step One: BLT or committee studies an issue and brings information, options, ideas, and timelines to constituent groups (the groups each BLT representative represents).  Constituent groups discuss the issue and make a recommendation in writing, including a list of negotiable and non-negotiable components of the recommendation. 
• Step Two: BLT or committee reconvenes to discuss input.  If there is a consensus recommendation – that is, if BLT or the committee sees that the recommendations are close enough, and any differences are negotiable differences, and BLT or the committee negotiates those differences successfully, the decision is made.  The decision will be included in BLT notes for all staff to read.

  If no decision is reached, BLT crafts a recommendation to go back to constituent groups, and steps one and two can be repeated one time in order

  to get additional input and consider compromises.  If in the second round, BLT or the committee can successfully address concerns, they may come to a decision.
• Step Three:  If after two rounds of discussion in BLT or committees and constituent groups, no decision is reached because there is no consensus, a decision can be made with a vote.  A passing vote is 2/3 of those casting votes.  To validate a vote, a quorum of 2/3 of eligible voting staff (SEA represented and PASS represented staff) must cast a vote.  Abstentions are counted for the purpose of establishing a quorum, but DO NOT count as a vote for or against the passage of a recommendation. An SEA representative and a PASS representative will count votes to validate the quorum.  Paper ballots will be turned in within 2 school days after the meeting in order to allow time for staff to digest the information and options.
• Step Four: If a 2/3 majority vote cannot be achieved, then the principal may select from among the options voted upon. The principal will give rationale for the choice made.

All staff members agree to support final decisions in both attitude and action.

Restrictions.

No decision made by the Laurelhurst BLT will be in violation of applicable laws and regulations, School District policy, collective bargaining or other legally binding agreements, or these bylaws. In the event that a decision might be in violation of the above, the Principal will ask the Chairperson to table the decision and refer it to an ad hoc subcommittee for review and comment.

Amendments to ByLaws

Proposed amendments to the bylaws will be presented to the Laurelhurst BLT in writing at a scheduled meeting. Copies of the proposed amendment(s), together with copies of the existing provisions to be amended, will be distributed for consideration. Adoption of changes or amendments to the bylaws will be made by the consensus decision-making process outlined in Section IV.D of this document. Changes to the BLT bylaws must be approved by the staff.

Evaluation

Prior to the end of each school year, the Laurelhurst BLT shall consider at one of its regularly scheduled meetings a review of its operations for the year and suggestions for improvement. Any suggestions for improvement shall be noted in the minutes of the meeting and reported to the members of the BLT the next succeeding school year.