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Board and superintendent roles, communications flagged for clearer procedures in OKCPS training
Summary
Trustees and coaches discussed clarifying the line between governance and management, inbound/outbound communications rules, and how the board should treat staff access to information. Coaches recommended firm operating language so staff do not have to choose between following a board member or the superintendent.
During a governance training session, Oklahoma City Public Schools trustees and coaches examined operating procedures, focusing on where the board draws the line between policy/governance and district management, and how board members should communicate with staff and the public.
Coach AJ told trustees, "The board and the board alone decides where the line between management and governance falls," framing the board's authority to define delegation to the superintendent. Trustees raised several recurring issues from pre-session interviews, including uncertainty over outbound and inbound communications, whether board members may contact staff directly, and how staff should handle requests so that information is shared equitably among trustees.
Board clerk Craig Cates explained a routine technical requirement tied to roll call and voting: calling the roll also prepares the board-docs voting interface so trustees can record votes during the meeting. Trustees discussed existing district policy language; several board members referenced B-08 (board-staff communications) and B-01 (superintendent responsibilities) and asked whether the board should create clearer, written operating procedures that go beyond current policy.
Coaches warned against staff selectively providing information to particular trustees. "If board members are having their own side relationships with staff, and that is allowing some board members to have privileged access to information at the expense of other board members, we would say that is a problematic practice," AJ said. A trustee acknowledged that, in practice, individual members sometimes contact staff directly and that the board should refine expectations for inbound and outbound communications.
Coaches offered to draft sample operating language and a short procedural manual to present options to the board. Trustees did not adopt new rules in the session; coaches said they would return draft language and recommended practices for the board to consider in a follow-up.
