Sacajawea BLT – Building Leadership Team

Sacajawea Elementary School BLT Norms and Bylaws

2022-2023

Mission Statement 

The mission of the Sacajawea Elementary Building Leadership Team is to address:

1. Continuous School Improvement Plan (C-SIP)
2. Professional Development based on the C-SIP
3. Budget matters related to the C-SIP
4.  Decision Making Matrix

In keeping with the spirit of mutual cooperation and respect, the Building Leadership Team will consist of teacher representatives from K/1, 2/3 and 4/5 general education classrooms, the Racial Equity Team, specialists, classified staff, special education continuum services, Teacher Leadership Cadre, a preschool representative, a K-2 parent, a 3-5 parent and administration SAEOP representative when available.  When relevant issues arise, the BLT will make an effort to consult with appropriate members of the broader community.

Norms

The Sacajawea Building Leadership Team shall conduct its business based on the issues at hand with a specific focus on student learning and instructional practice following norms of collaboration

• Equity lens
• Actively speak out
• Goal focused
• Let all voices be heard
• Establish and honor time
• Safe space

Membership [from SPS Contract]  

The Building Leadership Team…shall consist of at least:

1. The principal/supervisor and
2. 2) Five (5) elected SEA-represented staff. One of the five (5) elected seats will be designated for and voted upon by classified SEA-represented staff.  If the BLT exceeds 7 SEA members, representation of classified staff should at a minimum be two, ideally one paraprofessional and one SAEOP.
3. To the extent possible, the Building Leadership Team will reflect the [Diverse] composition of the school/program staff and school community.  the Building Leadership Team must be selected by a process that is supported by the SEA-represented staff at the school.  The structure of the BLT will be reviewed with the staff each year.  The documents created will be provided to the SEA and Executive Director of Schools with a copy forwarded to the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources.

It shall be the responsibility of each representative to gather input from constituents and to represent the interests of his/her group as well as his/her own views.  Input from colleagues shall be obtained from colleagues at regularly scheduled meetings, and via e-mail.

Roles/Responsibilities

Members of the Sacajawea Elementary Building Leadership Team shall assume the following roles and responsibilities in order to make meetings more effective.  Members of the BLT shall assume each of these roles for the duration of the school year.

1. Facilitator

Remains neutral to the content; refrains from dominating the meeting

Clarifies role with group

Focuses group energy; Directs processes

Encourages everyone to participate

Protects participants and ideas from attack

Contributes to agenda planning

Elicits clarity regarding meeting follow-up

Ensures use of the Decision Making Matrix

Tests consensus

Keeps group on task

Publishes agenda to all staff and BLT members in advance

• Timekeeper

Monitors the time per discussion

Keeps group on task

• Recorder

Remains neutral while recording content

Supports facilitator

Records basic ideas

Keeps eyes on charts

Clarifies items for recording

After the meeting types the minutes including action steps

• Conscientious Representative (All BLT Members)

Discusses upcoming issues with stakeholders

Represents views of stakeholders in BLT meetings and votes

Uses/Facilitates multiple avenues of communication to keep others informed

Facilitates use of Decision Making Matrix

• Engaged Participant  (All in attendance)

Monitors own adherence to meeting standards

Encourages everyone to participate

Sets and test working agreements

Seeks and provides data

Clarifies decision-making processes and levels of authority

Opens the door for others to speak

Listens for understanding

Is conscious of own assumptions and knowledge

BLT WorkGroups

In 2018, our BLT began organizing ourselves into workgroups in order to accomplish several important tasks. Workgroups can be added or removed as needed with BLT consensus. For 2022-23, our work groups are:

Retreat/Training

Plans Summer retreat and how we will train new members on BLT roles, responsibilities and procedures. This group may attend district BLT trainings.

PD Planning

Annual plan for PD

– Purple Days

– TRI

– Collaborate with Equity Team on Green/EOG

– Job embedded/overall plan

Look at overall plan for coordination and consistency

Would love to see this group in a stronger role farther ahead so we can be planned out several months. Connect PD to building initiatives and needs.

C-SIP

Assist in determining C-SIP goals for proposal to staff and BLT.  Assist in analyzing data to determine our steps and success level.  Assist in revisions for annual C-SIP process.

Budget

Help determine budget priorities and scenarios.  Most active December – March.

Master Schedule

Determine and propose annual master schedule consistent with student needs.

Organization of Meetings

The Sacajawea Building Leadership Team Facilitator shall communicate with the administrator prior to the meeting to identify district or school issues and concerns that need to be discussed at the meeting.  Each representative presents agenda items elicited from their team.  Discussion and recommendations follow the presentation.  A designated note-taker takes minutes of the meeting on a rotating basis and makes the minutes available to all staff and community members.

Meeting Agenda

The Sacajawea BLT has an open-agenda system with items prioritized by members.  The agenda is approved in advance of each meeting and each item is considered according to its importance. Between BLT meetings, members will keep track of agenda items brought to them by their constituents and will communicate them to the principal.  On the Wednesday prior to each meeting, the facilitator will consult with the principal and will publish a draft agenda for members and staff to review.  The Agenda will include an opportunity for summarizing and synthesizing at the end of the meeting, and the agenda format, with an added section to track action items, will provide a framework for the note-taker.

Meeting Schedule      

The Sacajawea Building Leadership Team shall meet 2 times per month.  Meetings are scheduled on the first and third Thursdays of each month from 2:45 – 3:45 PM, unless pre-empted by holidays, district or school events.   Emergency meetings of the BLT may be held, if necessary. All meetings are open to public and are held in the school.  An annual BLT retreat will be held each summer.  This may be held off campus, but is still open to the public.

Decision Making

The BLT will strive for consensus around the recommendations we bring to the staff and will follow the Sacajawea Decision Making Matrix and Flow Chart.  In order for an item/issue or action to be decided upon, a quorum must be present at the Building Leadership Team meeting.  The minimum number of members in attendance must be five (5). 

Record Keeping

It shall be the responsibility of the Sacajawea Building Leadership Team to retain, within the school building, records of its meetings and actions for a period of six (6) years, after which these records shall be forwarded to Seattle School District Archives.  These records will include agendas and minutes of meetings, and any other pertinent business of the BLT.  These will be kept electronically on Sharepoint, and will be updated by the note-taker after each meeting, sent out to all staff,  and posted to our website.

Amendments

Proposed changes to the Sacajawea Building Leadership Team Bylaws must be presented to the BLT for discussion and in writing.  The proposed changes would then be discussed and would be accepted or rejected by consensus or majority decision of the BLT members.