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 volunteers who give freely of their time to govern public schools. Durango School District 9-R is governed by a five member board.

The Durango 9-R School Board chose to use Coherent Governance as its governance model approximately 10 years ago. This model helps to clarify the roles of both the school 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 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.