School Accountability Committees
Composition of Committees
Each school is responsible for establishing a School Accountability Committee (SAC), which should consist of at least the following seven members:
• The principal of the school or the principal’s designee
• At least one teacher who provides instruction in the school
• At least three parents of students enrolled in the school
• At least one adult member of an organization of parents, teachers, and students recognized by the school
• At least one person from the community.
The local school board will determine the actual number of persons on the SAC and the method for selecting members. If the local schoolboard chooses to increase the number of persons on the SAC, it must ensure that the number of parents appointed or elected exceeds the number of representatives from the group with the next highest representation. A person may not be appointed or elected to fill more than one of these required member positions in a single term.
4Note: Generally, a parent who is an employee of the school or who is a spouse, son, daughter, sister, brother, mother or father of a person who is an employee of the school is not eligible to serve on a SAC. However, if, after making good-faith efforts, a principal or organization of parents, teachers and students is unable to find a sufficient number of persons who are willing to serve on the SAC, the principal, with advice from the organization of parents, teachers and students, may establish an alternative membership plan for the SAC that reflects the membership specified above as much as possible.
If the local school board determines that members are to be appointed, the appointing authority must, to the extent practicable, ensure that the parents who are appointed reflect the student populations that are significantly represented within the school. If the local school board determines that the members are to be elected, the school principal must encourage persons who reflect the student populations that are significantly represented within the school to seek election. Such student populations might include, for example, students who are members of non-Caucasian races, students who are eligible for free or reduced-cost lunch, students whose dominant language is not English, students who are migrant children, students who are identified as children with disabilities and students who are identified as gifted children.
SACs must select one of their parent representatives to serve as chair or co-chair of the committee. If a vacancy arises on a SAC because of a member’s resignation or for any other reason, the remaining members of the SAC will fill the vacancy by majority action.
The members of the governing board of a charter school may serve as members of the SAC. In a district with 500 or fewer enrolled students, members of the local school board may serve on a SAC, and the DAC may serve as a SAC.
Committee Responsibilities
Each SAC is responsible for the following:
• Making recommendations to the principal on the school priorities for spending school moneys, including federal funds, where applicable;
• Making recommendations to the principal of the school and the superintendent concerning preparation of a school Performance or Improvement plan, if either type of plan is required;
• Publicizing and holding a SAC meeting to discuss strategies to include in a school Priority Improvement or Turnaround plan, if either type of plan is required, and using this input to make recommendations to the local school board concerning preparation of the school Priority Improvement or Turnaround plan prior to the plan being written;
• Publicizing the district’s public hearing to review a written school Priority Improvement or Turnaround plan;
• Meeting at least quarterly to discuss whether school leadership, personnel, and infrastructure are advancing or impeding implementation of the school’s Performance, Improvement, Priority Improvement, or Turnaround plan, whichever is applicable, and other progress pertinent to the school’s accreditation contract;
• Providing input and recommendations to the DAC and district administration, on an advisory basis, concerning principal development plans and principal evaluations. (Note that this should not in any way interfere with a district’s compliance with the statutory requirements of the Teacher Employment, Compensation and Dismissal Act.); and
• Publicizing opportunities to serve and soliciting parents to serve on the SAC (per HB 15-1321, small rural districts may waive out of this requirement);
• Assisting the district in implementing at the school level the district’s family engagement policy (per HB 15-1321, small rural districts may waive out of this requirement); and
• Assisting school personnel to increase families’ engagement with teachers, including families’ engagement in creating students’ READ plans, Individual Career and Academic Plans, and plans to address habitual truancy (per HB 15-1321, small rural districts may waive out of this requirement).