The Franklin News-Post
P. O. Box 250
310 Main Street, SW
Rocky Mount, Virginia 24151
540-483-5113
Fax: 540-483-8013
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Monday, October 15, 2012
By K.A. WAGONER - Staff Writer
The Franklin County School Board is seeking public input as members consider updated language in the school division's vision and mission statements and code of conduct and ethics.
The proposed drafts for each document are written below. To comment on either or both, contact the Franklin County School Board office at 540-483-5138 or contact your school board representative.
FCPS School Board Vision Statement
Franklin County Public Schools will ensure an orderly and safe environment, pursue excellence in education, provide for equality of opportunity, create an environment in which human dignity is valued and inspire between the division and our community a united effort to secure the best possible future in academic, vocational, physical, and social education for our children.
FCPS Mission Statement
The mission of Franklin County Public Schools is to prepare each student to be lifelong learners, to be fulfilled, to be inspired, and to be self-reliant, productive citizens who can successfully compete in the global community.
Our Values and Beliefs
•Every child is unique and is capable of learning.
•Our schools must be safe, inviting, clean, and conducive to learning.
•We value our employees as they are critical to the accomplishments and future of our children.
•Active parent engagement in their child's education is critical and must be encouraged.
•We use evaluation and measurement as tools for continuous improvement.
•We must efficiently use the limited resources available and be fiscally responsible to the Franklin County community.
Code of Conduct and Ethics for Franklin County School Board Members
Board members can demonstrate personal commitment to the Code by signing this document, signifying agreement to uphold the principles of the Code, both, in letter and in spirit.
As citizens of the United States, board members have certain Constitutional rights, including freedom of speech that cannot be taken away, whether or not he/she chooses to sign this document. The only sections of this Code that require legal compliance are the "conflict of interest" and "act only as a member of the board" clauses. All other sections represent effective practice.
As members of the Franklin County Virginia School board, we pledge and affirm the following:
We, individually and collectively,
•Will perform our duties in accordance with the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the policies and procedures which govern Franklin County Public Schools to the best of our ability.
•Will make informed decisions insuring that the educational welfare of the children is met, and that Franklin County Public Schools meets the individual needs of all children regardless of their ability, race, creed, sex or social standing; effectiveness will be monitored through student growth and achievement.
•Will model responsible governance and leadership by staying current with changing needs, requirements, and safety of our students by regularly reviewing and revising board policy as necessary.
•Will regularly seek input from community members and staff, delegating to the superintendent responsibility for implementation of board policy.
•Will evaluate policy implementation, performance and impact regularly.
•Will respect taxpayer interests by working to insure prudent and accountable use of financial resources.
•Will share, encourage and respect the free expression of opinions by fellow board members, and will respect the majority decision of the board.
•Will seek to appoint the best qualified personnel available after consideration of the recommendation of the superintendent or his designee.
•Will ensure strong management of the school system by hiring, by setting performance standards and goals for, and by evaluating the superintendent regularly.
•Will take no private action that might compromise the board or the administration, disrespect the confidentiality of privileged information or as a means of making private profit or gaining personal advantage of any kind.
•Will recuse ourselves, if necessary, from board deliberation and voting to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest.
•Will refuse to offer our independent judgment to special interests or partisan political groups, and will be open, fair, just and impartial in all our decisions and actions.
•Will ensure the integrity of the actions of the School Board by avoiding discrimination through granting special favors or unfair privileges to anyone, whether for remuneration or not.
•Will not accept for ourselves or for family members favors or special benefits that might jeopardize our impartiality and fair decision-making.
•Will carry out our responsibilities, not to administer the schools, but together with fellow board members, to monitor and to ensure that they are managed effectively and that policies and procedures are followed.
•Will engage and promote open communication with the public and work toward increasing community involvement in our schools, and be responsive to the community concerns and questions.
•Will adhere to the principle that the public's business should be conducted in public view by observing and following the letter and spirit of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, and only using closed meetings to deal with sensitive personnel, student, legal, contractual and other issues as provided by the Code of Virginia.
•Will make every effort to attend and to participate in an annual school board retreat to review and evaluate our effectiveness as a board, board relations, policymaking, procedures, and evaluation processes. |
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