The School Committee's Role

The Williamsburg School Committee provides oversight and direction to the operation of the Williamsburg Public Schools. The committee's role, responsibilities and high level operating procedures are established in the context of Chapter 71, section 37 of the general laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Our primary responsibilities are to establish the educational vision and goals for the district, approve the budget, establish policies for the district, and hire and evaluate the Superintendent. The implementation and achievement of these goals lies with the Superintendent and the administrative team. More simply stated the role of the School Committee is not to run the schools, but rather to establish the policies by which the schools are run, and to oversee their maintenance in a broad sense.

The Committee conducts its business in regular public meetings under the rules of the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law. Generally, these meetings occur the third Wednesday of every month at 5:30pm in the Anne T. Dunphy cafeteria.

The School Committee must be responsive to its constituencies in governance, sensitive to the diverse needs of all learners, an advocate for students and learning before the people of the community and, as such, a vigorous ambassador for public education before all citizens. The members of the School Committee welcome input from the public. Brief public comments can be made during a designated time at the beginning of each school committee meeting. Please come and find out more about how the School Committee works for our children.

The committee is composed of 5 elected members who are elected to staggered 3 year terms.

Broad Areas of Responsibility

Policy

School Committee (SC) Role

  • A key role is to establish and review educational goals and policies, consistent with the requirements of law, and statewide goals and standards.
  • Policies should reflect that SC has oversight of and responsibility for: the school system, the direction in which the system must go, and the criteria to determine if its goals and policies are being met.

Superintendent Role

  • Develop and inform the SC of administrative procedures required to implement committee policies.
  •  Present policy options along with specific recommendations to the SC when they are adopting new policies or reviewing existing policies.

Governance / Operations

School Committee (SC) Role

  • Establish educational goals and policies (as outlined above).
  • Charge the superintendent with the responsibilities for all administrative functions.
  • Act only as a body as prescribed by law and not as individual members.
  • Responsible for hiring and evaluating the Superintendent.

Superintendent Role

  • Serve as the School Committee's chief executive officer and educational advisor in all efforts of the committee to fulfill its school system governance role.
  • Serve as a leader and catalyst for the school system's administrative leadership team.
  • Propose and initiate a process for long range and strategic planning that will engage the committee and the community in positioning the school system for success in ensuing years.
  • Ensure that the school system provides equal opportunity for all students and staff.
  • Be aware of all aspects of Mass. Educational law and share all changes or amendments with the SC in a timely fashion.