SUPERINTENDENT POWERS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The superintendent of schools shall be the executive officer of the School Committee and shall be directly responsible to it for the execution of its policies; for the faithful and efficient observance of its rules by all employees throughout the system; for the management of the work of the several departments whose duties, he/she shall assign; and for the enforcement of all provisions of the law relating to the operation of the schools or other educational, social and recreational agencies or activities under the charge of the Committee.

He/she shall prepare and submit to the Committee for approval any rules and regulations, statements of policy, programs and additional facilities requiring action by the Committee which he/she believes are needed for the management of the schools.

The superintendent shall assist the Committee in reaching sound judgments, establishing policies and approving those matters which the law or Committee policies require the Committee to approve.

He/she shall be responsible for placing before the Committee necessary and helpful facts, comparisons, investigations, information and reports, and for making available at the proper time the personal advice on special or technical matters, aside from legal questions, of those persons who, in his/her opinion or that of the Committee or the chair, are particularly qualified to furnish it.

He/she shall be responsible for keeping or having kept and for representing to the Committee members in a form that will facilitate and make efficient their deliberations and proceedings, records of problems, conditions and duties requiring action by them.

He/she shall initiate the nomination for election or re-election by the Committee, in each case recommending the salary to be paid, of all employees requiring election by law or these policies. Only the persons who, in the judgment of the superintendent are the best qualified of those available at the time shall be nominated, and no person shall thus be nominated for any position who does not fulfill the requirements of the law and of the Committee.

He/she shall approve the appointment of the other employees not required by the law or by policies to be elected by the Committee, and shall exercise with respect to them the same powers as provided herein for the supervision of those elected by the Committee.

He/she shall be responsible for preparing and submitting to the District School Committee, not later than the first regular meeting in February, a tentative budget for the ensuing fiscal year.

The superintendent shall have power to approve and direct, in accordance with law and the rules of the Committee, purchases and expenditures, within the limits of the detailed budget approved by the Committee.

In the interest of efficient administration, he/she shall have the power to decide all matters of administrative detail concerning which no specific provisions have been made in the law, these policies, or the Committee's policies, reporting at the next regular meeting those decisions which he/she believes should be authorized by appropriate policies enacted or established by the Committee.

The superintendent shall, as frequently as practical and upon the request of the Committee, transmit written or verbal reports on the general condition of the schools, the work of the several departments, measures of progress and the results of the administration of the Committee's policies Where an emergency or weather warrants, the superintendent of schools is authorized to close school totally or shorten the normal school session.

Legal Reference:

TITLE 20-A MRSA, SEC. 1001; 1053; 1055; 1251

Revised:  6-11-1986

Adopted: 12-10-1986; 8-17-1994