Board of Education Policy Manual

RCS Policies

This section is currently under construction, for the full policy manual, please click the link above. Please contact Sue Starr at (518) 756-5200 ext. 6000 or email sstarr@rcscsd.org for current board approved policies.

Foreword

Contained herein are the policy statements formulated by the Board of Education of the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central School District.

Policy is defined as a basic plan of action. It establishes limits within which freedom of judgment can be exercised.

Policy is a governing principle of management. It is a statement that has an effect on the interests of those who come under its jurisdiction. A policy may originate from the constitution, from statute, from local determinations and/or from customary patterns of formal behavior.

Policy should accomplish the following:

a) State a position taken by the District;
b) Grant the authority to act;
c) Be sufficiently detailed to give adequate direction;
d) Be achievable within the real environment of the school and community;
e) Provide for impartial procedures.

In addition to the adopted policies, the operation of the School District is governed by and subject to all applicable Laws, Regulations of the Commissioner of Education, Civil Service requirements, Board of Education Resolutions, School Administrative Regulations and Contracts of Agreement.

If any part of this manual is made invalid by judicial decision or legislative or administrative enactment, all other parts shall remain in full effect unless and until they are amended or repealed by the Board of Education. The official record of the adoption, amendment, or repeal of the by-laws and policies of the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central School District shall be the minutes of the meetings of the Board of Education.

Philosophy Statement

In preparing individuals to develop their fullest potential for living in society of today and tomorrow, the Board of Education and the staff of the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central School District:

I. Recognize their responsibility to help meet the physical, intellectual and emotional needs of children; particularly the needs to inquire, learn, think, and create; to establish aesthetic, moral and ethical values; and to relate satisfactorily to others in social situations involving family, work, government and recreation.

II. Accept primary responsibility for giving students a mastery of the basic skills of learning, thinking and problem-solving; for teaching them to use the various media of self-expression; for instilling in them a knowledge of the social and natural sciences; for acquainting them with the richness of our heritage; and for stimulating them to productive work in the various areas of human endeavor.

III. Acknowledge the importance of their supplemental role to the home and other social agencies in developing habits and attitudes which make for effective personal living, the maintenance of optimum physical and mental health, and the establishment of sound moral, ethical, and aesthetic values.

Realizing that education, as here defined, is a lifelong process, the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central School District seeks to orient its graduates toward various types of post-secondary education and further formal training and study of many types; and to provide educational opportunities particularly suited to the needs of adults, both as individuals and as citizens in a democracy.

By-Laws

1110

SUBJECT: SCHOOL DISTRICT AND BOARD OF EDUCATION LEGAL STATUS

The Constitution of New York State, as amended in 1894, instructs the Legislature to provide for a system of free common schools wherein all children of the State may be educated.
The Legislature of the State has implemented this constitutional mandate through the creation of school districts of various types. The Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central School District is governed by the laws set forth for Central School Districts in Article 37 of the Education Law, and by-laws relating to, or affecting, Union Free School Districts as set forth in Article 35 of the Education Law and Common School Districts as set forth in Article 33 of the Education Law.

The School District constitutes a corporate entity that possesses all the usual powers of a corporation for public purposes, and in that name may sue and be sued, purchase, hold and sell personal property and real estate, and enter into such obligations as are authorized by law.

The Constitution of the State of New York places the responsibility for public education on the State Legislature, and directs the establishment of a State Department of Education for general supervision over the schools and headed by a Commissioner of Education. The New York State Constitution further provides that local public schools under the general supervision of the State Education Department shall be maintained, developed and operated by locally elected boards. Legally, local boards are instruments of the New York State Constitution, the New York Statutes and the regulations of the State Education Department and its Commissioner.
New York State Constitution
Education Law Articles 33, 35, 37, 51 and 53
Adopted 3/6/06

1120

SUBJECT: BOARD OF EDUCATION AUTHORITY

As a body created under the Education Law of New York State, the Board of Education of the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central School District has full authority, within the limitations of federal and state laws and the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education and interpretations of them, to carry out the will of the people of its District in matters of education.

In all cases where laws or regulations of the State Commissioner of Education do not provide, permit, or prohibit, the Board shall consider itself the agent responsible for establishing and appraising educational matters and activities.

Board members have no authority over school affairs as individuals. They have authority only when acting as a body duly called in session.
Education Law Sections 1604, 1701, 1709, 1804, 1805, 2502 and 2503
Adopted:03/6/06

1130

SUBJECT: NUMBER OF MEMBERS AND TERMS OF OFFICE.

The Board of Education of the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central School District shall consist of nine (9) members elected by the qualified voters of the School District at the annual election as prescribed by law.

Members of the Board of Education shall serve for three (3) years beginning July 1 following their election and each term shall expire on the thirtieth day of June of the third year.
Education Law Sections 1602, 1702(1), 1804(1), 2105 and 2502
Adopted 3/6/2006; Revised and Adopted 8/18/2008

1210

SUBJECT: BOARD OF EDUCATION MEMBERS: QUALIFICATIONS

A Board of Education member of the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central School District must meet the following qualifications:
a) A citizen of the United States;
b) Eighteen (18) years of age or older;
c) Able to read and write;
d) A legal resident of the District for a continuous and uninterrupted period of at least one (1) year prior to the election;
e) Cannot be an employee of the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central School District;
f) Not more than one member of a family shall be a member of the board of education in the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central School District;
g) May not simultaneously hold another incompatible public office, including, but not limited to Superintendent, clerk, tax collector, treasurer or librarian, or an employee of the Board.
1. In central school districts, however, a Board member may be appointed clerk of the Board and of the District.
2. A Board member of a BOCES may not be employed by any of that BOCES’ component districts.
h) Must not have been removed from a school district office within one (1) year preceding the date of appointment or election to the Board.
Education Law Sections 1804(1), 1950(9), 2101, 2102;
2103, 2103-a, 2130(1), and 2502(7)
Public Officers Law Section 3
Town Law Section 23(1)
Adopted: 3/6/06