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Administrative Procedure 104: Administrative Procedures Manual - Framework for Development

Legal References

Education Act: Section 283 Chief Executive Officer; Education Act: Section 286 Duties of Supervisory Officers

Related References

This administrative procedure has been developed to provide guidelines for the effective operation of the school system and a framework for consistent decision-making by staff members. The Director of Education and/or designates will develop and monitor a comprehensive series of administrative procedures to allow for the fair and reasonably uniform application of the procedures by those staff members responsible for their implementation.

The Director recognizes that a number of groups have an interest in and may provide valuable contributions in the development and revision of administrative procedures. The Director encourages ideas for new procedures, or modifications of existing procedures from all interest groups including members of the system administrative team, school administrators, teachers, support staff, students, school councils, parents, community groups, and members of the board. The Director recognizes that procedures, to be effective, must be reviewed regularly and changed in keeping with existing circumstances. This administrative procedure recognizes the importance of a regular review of all existing procedures.

1. Definitions

1.1 For purposes of this procedure, the term “procedure” shall mean regulations and guidelines to assist administrators and all staff members in making consistent decisions about the day-to-day operations of the district.

1.2 The term “procedure area” shall mean a logical division of the administrative procedures according to subject matter and responsibilities.

1.3 Five divisions of administrative procedures are described in Section 2.2 below.

2. Procedures Manual and Format

2.1 The Administrative Procedures Manual for Avon Maitland District School Board shall contain all of the procedures governing the operation of education within the
system.

2.2 The procedures manual shall be organized into five sections. Each section shall contain all of the procedures relating to a subject area. There are five such divisions:
    1. General Administration;
    2. Educational Programs and Materials;
    3. Students;
    4. Personnel and Staff Relations; and
    5. Business Administration.
2.3 Each procedure shall contain an opening statement, which outlines the intent of the procedure.

2.4 Each procedure will describe the manner in which the procedure is to be implemented.

2.5 All procedures shall be presented to the system in a standard format as illustrated by this procedure. Procedures shall be organized in a way that permits each clause to be identified by section or sub-section.

2.6 Once a procedure has been approved or amended by the Director, any former procedure addressing the same issue shall be considered revoked.

3. Procedure Development

3.1 The development of administrative procedures is solely the responsibility of the Director of Education.

3.2 To ensure effective implementation of procedures, the Director or designate(s) will inform groups affected by proposed procedures, or amendments to existing
procedures, prior to finalizing any changes.

3.3 Upon the identification of a new issue requiring a new procedure or the amendment of an existing procedure, the Director or designate(s) will review:
    1. The current status of administrative direction on that issue;
    2. An indication of the present or anticipated issues which will be addressed by the formulation of a new procedure or the amendment of an existing procedure;
    3. The need for changes to the present procedure(s) to deal with the present or anticipated issues;
    4. Suggestions for revisions to the existing procedure; and
    5. The estimated cost implications of the proposed changes.
3.4 Upon receipt of a request for a new procedure or amendment, the Director or designate(s) will examine the request and shall determine priorities by addressing the following questions:
    1. Is an administrative procedure required by an act or regulation?
    2. Is the development of a procedure the appropriate response to an issue or circumstance?
    3. Is there a health and safety issue?
    4. Is there a program need?
    5. Is there an operational need?
    6. Is there an equity issue?
    7. Is there a community issue?
    8. Are there financial implications?
    9. Is there urgency?
    10. What are the implications of continuing with the status quo?
    11. What is the practicality or feasibility of developing a particular administrative procedure?
    12. Is there an existing procedure that should be revised to address the need?
3.5 The Director will then take one of the following actions:
    1. Designate an individual or team to conduct further research, make comments or draft alternate proposals as may be required;
    2. Adopt the request for a new procedure or amendment and delegate the task to a writing team; or
    3. Reject the request.

4. Procedure Implementation

4.1 The implementation of administrative procedures is the responsibility of the Director of Education.

4.2 Upon a procedure being adopted or amended by the Director, it will be numbered for insertion in the appropriate section of the Administrative Procedures Manual.

4.3 The Director of Education will ensure that responsibility for the implementation of the procedure is delegated to the appropriate person(s) or group(s) and that the contents of the procedure are communicated effectively.

5. Procedure Review

5.1 All administrative procedures shall be reviewed regularly to ensure that they continue to adequately meet the needs of the system.

5.2 In addition to the review of procedures provided for in Section 3.3, the Director and/or designates shall conduct a regular review of the Administrative Procedures Manual to identify procedures which may require amendment.

5.3 Those procedures identified by the Director as requiring review will be addressed in a timely manner.

6. Exclusionary Language

All administrative procedures in the Administrative Procedures Manual, which refer to persons, shall be worded to refer equally to members of both sexes, except where the references apply exclusively to males or females.

7. Model for the Development of Procedures

The chart below describes the means by which issues for potential procedures are identified and the process through which procedure development then occurs. According to the model, the identified stakeholders can propose issues for study or procedure development, and, as appropriate, can be consulted as the draft procedure is formed. In most instances, a member of the senior staff will take responsibility for conducting the research needed (e.g., procedures used in other boards, existing administrative procedures and practices, legal and contractual obligations) and will present a draft to the Program Council.

When the Director approves the draft, the Director will ensure that the final document is placed in the Administrative Procedures Manual, is communicated to the system and is placed on the board website.
 

Model for Development and Approval of Administrative Procedures

Stakeholders
- employee groups
- students
- administrators
- school councils
- trustees
- community
- Ministry of Education
Director of Education
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Superintendent
- research
- draft(s)
 
 
 
 
 
Program Council checks:
- if achieves goal,
- is legal, contractual, consistent
 
 
 
 
 
Director of Education
- final admin. check
- approves procedure
 
 
 
 
 
- system communication
- implementation
- ongoing monitoring
- regular review
 
 
 
 
 
Step 1: Identification of potential procedural issue by stakeholders
Step 2: Initiation of procedure development or revision
Step 3: Development of procedure (including consultation as appropriate)
Step 4: Approval of administrative procedure by the Director of education
Step 5: Communication to all stakeholders of implementation requirements
 
Issued 2006