Board of Trustees
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Board of Trustees

Board of Trustees About the Board

About the Board

The Board’s job is to represent, lead and serve Calgarians and to govern the Calgary Board of Education, one of the largest school boards in Canada. Citizens of Calgary elect trustees through the municipal election every four years.  

Role of the Board

The Board of Trustees has one employee - the chief superintendent. The Board delegates responsibility for day-to-day operational decisions to the chief superintendent. 

As trustees, it is our job to set and provide overall direction to the CBE through Governance Culture Policies, Results Policies and Operational Expectations. We establish these expectations and then monitor actual performance against those expectations. We also define the organization's Mission, Values​ and Priorities.

The Board provides governance in three areas: fiduciary, strategic and organizational leadership.

When fulfilling its fiduciary leadership the school board focuses on its legal responsibilities to ensure:

  • Each student has the opportunity to achieve their potential
  • Children are safe at school
  • The jurisdiction’s financial and capital resources are well managed
  • Its business is conducted in a legal and ethical manner

When acting in its strategic leadership role the Board plans for the future.  We work on the school division’s mission, values and priorities.  The Board provides direction through its policies.  We make decisions about resources, programs and services that reflect our long-term priorities.

Organizational leadership reflects the belief that “it takes a whole village to raise a child”.  In this role, the Board talks to the community about the community’s needs, its youth and the future.

Organizational Chart


Advocacy

The CBE Board of Trustees is an advocate for public education, for our local school system and student success.  In this capacity, the Board of Trustees consults with Calgarians and shares information with MLAs and government – as an individual board – and collectively through the Alberta School Board Association.  

Board Priorities

Decision Making

The Board of Trustees gathers information from many sources; processes that information, evaluates it and makes a decision to reflect its Mission, Values​ and priorities.  Trustees consider the interests of all the students the CBE serves – not just the interests of a particular school or area.

The Board of Trustees exercises its decision-making authority by passing motions.  The motions must be passed by the board at a properly constituted meeting.  No individual trustee, not even the board chair, can make decisions for the board without the board’s permission.

Accountability

The Board of Trustees sets expectations through policy for the desired results and creates a system to monitor and evaluate achievement of those results. The Board reports system and school performance to the public and to the provincial government.​

Specifically, the Board of Trustees:

  • Ensures the Results are the dominant focus of CBE’s performance
  • Advocates for the CBE and its students
  • Engages stakeholders in the work of the Board and the CBE
  • Develops governing policies that address:
  • Monitors the Board’s policies to ensure acceptable performance of the Board and the Chief Superintendent
  • Approves the Education Plan, Annual Education Results Report, Budget and Financial Statements​ and other key reports
  • Appoints an independent auditor to conduct an annual external review of the CBE’s financial condition
  • Na​​mes or renames ​the organization, schools, portions of schools, school grounds and other CBE facilities
  • Approves the bargaining mandate and ratify all collective agreements for unionized employees
  • Approves the total compensation packages for all exempt employees
  • Performs other duties required by law or not otherwise delegated to the Chief Superintendent​​​




 
Last modified: 3/24/2023 2:45 PM
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