Board Policies and Administrative Regulations

Term used to designate the rules, principles, and philosophy governing the District which have been adopted or amended formally by action of the Board of Education. Policies spell out the responsibility of the Board of Education and state or imply a directive to the Superintendent to make all provisions necessary so that the educational program may be effective. Board Policies expressed in this Handbook are those of the Board of Education and are intended to provide the framework within which the School District operates. All policies are under continual review in order to improve the learning opportunities for the children of the Downey Unified School District and to conform to State and Federal laws. The Superintendent is responsible for the execution and administration of the policies for Community, Students, Instruction, Personnel, Administrative Services, and Administration. Unless specifically reserved to the Board, discretion is allowed the Superintendent in order that the spirit of the policy is not reduced in effect, and the Board apprised of any departure from these policies. Policies established for Internal Board Operations and Bylaws of the Board shall be executed and administered by the Board unless otherwise stated therein. All actions of the Board of Education and the Superintendent are intended to be in conformance with the California Education Code and other applicable laws regardless of whether such laws are specifically stated herein.

Term used for the procedure and interpretation of Board Policy as formulated by the Superintendent and his/her staff and approved by the Board of Education. Administrative Regulations establish a standard of operation, spell out specific duties, designate personnel responsible for their accomplishment, and provide organizational or bibliographical references for staff members using the administrative guide. The Board of Education shall review all Administrative Regulations proposed by the Superintendent to ascertain that they are in compliance with adopted Board Policies. Administrative Regulations shall be submitted for review at a meeting of the Board of Education and shall become effective upon approval by the Board of Education at a subsequent meeting (second reading). It is agreed that the Board of Education, by its approval of Administrative Regulations, sanctions and endorses implementation of rules and regulations as administrative operational procedures specifically contained therein, but shall not limit such procedures thereto. However, nothing contained in this paragraph shall be construed to permit operational procedures beyond the Administrative Regulations without the express permission of the Superintendent or designee. Only those Administrative Regulations recorded in the Official Minutes of the Board of Education as having been approved shall be regarded as official.

This set of Board Policies and Administrative Regulations will never be complete. Other statements, identified as Change Notices, will be sent to you following adoption and/or approval by the Board of Education. Some will be new, others will be revised versions of policies/regulations already in the book. All pages will be on uniformly colored sheets (Board Policies on blue; Administrative Regulations on white) and will be numbered and dated. To keep handbooks up to date, change notices should be filed the day received. It is recommended that new Board Policies and Administrative Regulations be listed on the index.