Board of Education

Each of Colorado's 178 school districts is governed by a Board of Education comprised of people elected by the residents of the district. It is the Board's responsibility to establish and maintain a system of education in the district, as prescribed by the constitution and laws of the state. School board members are community members who receive a small monthly stipend to govern public schools. Durango School District is governed by a five-member board.

Coherent Governance model

The Durango School District Board of Education chose to use Coherent Governance as its governance model in 2013. This model helps to clarify the roles of both the Board (policy-making and oversight) and the superintendent (academic and management leader).

Under Coherent Governance, the Board is responsible for clearly defining what students should know and be able to do by the time they graduate from high school. The Board consciously stays out of the district's day-to-day management decisions and adopts policies that give the superintendent the authority to select the resources, teachers, and educational programs that he or she believes best serve student-learning needs. The Board also defines expectations for how the superintendent exercises authority in the Superintendent Expectations Policies. These policies give the superintendent wide latitude to make decisions. The Board takes a strong oversight role by holding the superintendent accountable for ensuring that students are making reasonable progress toward meeting the district's educational goals.

The board’s policies also require the superintendent to involve stakeholders in decisions that would result in significant change, and they require the superintendent to provide annual monitoring reports that demonstrate compliance with policies and student learning goals.

Board minutes, agendas, and policies

Visit the BoardDocs website to review information on current and past board meeting agendas, copies of board minutes, and district and board policies.

Other ways to get involved

School Accountability Committees

Parents, teachers, and community members ensure that curriculum, budget, and resources are aligned with district, state, and federal student achievement goals. They also serve as sounding boards for school and district initiatives.

District Accountability Advisory Committee

This community group reviews each school’s assessment data and action plans, conducts parent surveys and, during 2004-05, assisted with the development and implementation of a plan to accredit each school based on student performance. The accreditation informs parents about their school’s success in meeting student achievement goals.

Each year, teachers, parents, and administrators review one or more of the district’s academic programs, compare district practices with the latest research, modify the curricula as needed to improve student achievement, and recommend changes to the Board’s academic goals.

Finance Advisory Committee

The Finance Advisory Committee reviews and monitors the district’s financial operations, acting as an external monitoring committee to help ensure continued financial safety and soundness.

Contact board members

The Durango School District Board of Education welcomes comments and correspondence from district residents. The following guidelines are provided to assist you with your correspondence.

• Please use the e-mail address below. Your correspondence will automatically be forwarded to all Board members.

• Any response will come from the Board President or designee.

• Only the Board President may speak on behalf of the Board as a whole.

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