CalSTRS governance committee seeks policy for public contacts, proposes board-chair spokesperson role

The California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) Governance Committee directed staff to draft a formal stakeholder and external-party contact procedure and to tee up a board communications policy for a first reading in September.

The committee’s discussion centered on two linked tasks: a policy that clarifies who speaks for the board and a separate procedure that explains how staff will receive, track and respond to external inquiries. Brian (staff member) summarized the approach and said the policy would add a board-chair spokesperson role; the procedure would outline how staff logs and responds to contacts. The committee did not vote on the item; it provided direction for staff to continue drafting and return to the committee for review.

Why it matters: trustees expressed concern about duplicate inquiries routed through multiple channels and the operational burden of “form shopping” — when members of the public use several entry points to seek the same response. Trustee Suarez asked whether staff had asked Diane Stanton if she wanted to handle all incoming inquiries; the transcript shows staff had discussed the question with Stanton and indicated she would not be expected to take every contact. The planned procedure aims to reduce duplicated work and clarify roles.

Committee members and staff described how the two pieces fit together: the policy would sit in the board governance manual as a board-facing document, assigning public-spokesperson responsibilities (including to the board chair), while the procedure would be a staff-facing flowchart or operational guide describing intake, assignment and reporting cadence. Brian said staff and consultants are drafting a “button” staff can press to acknowledge receipt of an inquiry and to show the public what follow-up to expect.

Trustees asked for practical tracking measures. Trustee Suarez and other committee members asked staff to build a way to log repeated inquiries so staff avoid duplicating work. Brian said staff will work with Amy and Saba and bring the procedure back to the Governance Committee as an information item (not for formal committee vote) to get further input before operational rollout.

Next steps: staff will finalize draft language for the board communications policy for a first reading in September and continue developing the staff procedure; the procedure will be presented to the Governance Committee for input and information only. The committee did not adopt any formal policy at this meeting.