Clarifying and Improving Program-Wide VISION HCP Governance

Overview: The Board of Stewards for the VISION Home & Community Program has realized, through experience and from the recent site review, that the VISION HCP system of government should be clarified and improved. My role is to facilitate the development of a community-supported proposal for restructuring. …Dev

Summary of the Current DRAFT Proposal
September 12, 2006

Timeline: To approve a restructuring plan by October 2006 and have a new Board of Stewards in place who are following the new policies by January 2007.

Intent: The general intent of this governance proposal is to create a governmental structure that truly serves and is accountable to the membership and to the VISION HCP mission, philosophy and principles. Such a government requires a certain amount of checks and balances to make sure that power serves rather than oppresses. It also requires agreements about decision-making and about definitions of roles that enable the group as a whole to move together efficiently and with common purpose. Finally, the government must be organized in a way that allows the group to legally and effectively negotiate, and make and keep agreements with outside entities.

The proposed model continues to be based in a grassroots model of governance. Parents and students play a significant role in the hiring, evaluation and termination of resource consultants and educators. Resource consultants, in turn, are significant in the hiring, evaluation and termination of directors and staff; while the entire membership is involved directly or indirectly in the hiring, evaluation and removal of stewards. However, the checks and balances of the system often work across the grain, so, for example, although it is the people who work with program directors (staff, resource consultants, other directors) who are generally responsible for hiring, evaluating, and terminating them; it is the stewards who make sure that the process is functioning as it’s supposed to.

Proposal: We start the description of proposed government by discussing the steward role. Under this proposal, the general intent of the Board of Stewards is to serve certain roles and functions that compliment, support and empower the local governments of VISION HCP branches.

The Board of stewards will provide for its member programs the following six services:
1. As a legal, nonprofit entity able to enter into agreements with the school district and other outside entities.
2. As a liaison with the general public and taxpayer.
3. As an accountability check that supports local program branches in maintaining clear integrity to their stated democratic process of hiring and evaluating program directors, and to the process of creating director plans that are in line with the VISOIN HCP mission, philosophy and principles; with existing program-wide agreements; and with the stated one and five year goals of the relevant VISIONHCP branch membership.
4. As an accountability check for the integrity of financial procedures and decisions.
5. As a final ‘court’ for due process within the program, and as guardians of the legal and ethical integrity of due process.
6. As a communication hub for inspiration and for sharing strategies that work.

The Board of Stewards will not make policy decisions and will only enter into agreements that have been negotiated and are supported by member programs (via the directors).
(I am not sure about this sentence…the wording will raise red flags by the district/school board, I think…ABJ)

The proposed key changes and/or clarifications within each of the six steward roles:

1. As a legal, nonprofit entity able to enter into agreements with the school district and other outside entities.
a. The board is a legal, non-profit entity that adheres to open-meeting laws.
b. Meetings are monthly and the agenda determined and published in advance.
c. Each member VISION HCP branch contributes 2-3 stewards to the board. Stewards are not financially-conflicted (not being paid by Vision HCP) and no more than one from each branch can be a parent. Stewards are nominated/elected by a democratic process described in each branch member’s policy handbook. (We will need more on this in order for it to pass muster with the School Board - ABJ)
d. The board elects from its membership a president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer, each of whom have defined roles and responsibilities.
e. Each steward serves for a three-year term, and is responsible for fulfilling the roles described in their steward job agreement.
f. Stewards are volunteers.

2. As a liaison with the general public and taxpayer.
a. Most stewards are members of the general public.
b. Stewards facilitate the general public in participating meaningfully in VISION HCP due process.

3. As an accountability check that supports local program branches in maintaining clear integrity to their stated democratic process of hiring and evaluating program directors, and to the process of creating director plans that are in line with the VISION HCP mission, philosophy and principles; with existing program-wide agreements; and with the stated one and five year goals of the relevant VISION HCP branch membership.
a. Those who work directly with a director (or any employee) are empowered to hire, evaluate and terminate by pre-agreed upon methods.
b. Directors make an action plan and job-agreements in concert with the people they work with. The job of the stewards is to make sure that the system is working as it’s supposed to before signing a job agreement with the directors.
c. Guidelines for director job agreements are created.
d. Director salaries are determined by the people with whom they are in working agreements but approved by the Board of Stewards.

4. As an accountability check for the integrity of financial procedures and decisions.
a. The responsibility of the treasurer on the Board of Stewards is, for each branch program, to be in position to vouch for the integrity of the budget decision-making process and the integrity of any variations from the original budget. The treasurer’s report will be shared with and approved by the entire steward board.

5. As a final ‘court’ for due process within the program. Guardians of the legal and ethical integrity of due process.
a. Due process is clarified and integrated with agreements. Therefore, the ongoing communication of due process becomes a normal and healthy part of an agreement-based Learning Plan and agreement-based employment contracts. When communication breaks down, due process also outlines clear steps for mediation and appeal.
b. Any due process decision brought to the board of stewards must:
i. demonstrate that it has gone through proper preliminary steps
ii. allow both sides to state position in writing and verbally,
iii. be decided promptly by stewards, unless there is a consensus decision to extend to the next meeting. A consensus decision is still the ideal, but, failing that, a board decision will be whichever option gets the most votes by the end of the night.
c. All VISION participants and employees agree to adhere to VISION HCP due process procedures and decisions.
d. The Delta County Board of Education and Superintendent agree to respect the process and outcome of VISION HCP due process and steer any issues that reach them back into VISION HCP due process.

6. As a communication hub for inspiration and for sharing strategies that work.
a. In their steward job agreement, stewards commit to a means to ‘keep-in-touch’ with the personal stories and workings of their representative program.
b. Stewards agree to facilitate on an annual basis the interchange of best practices between VISION HCP branches (for example, an annual two-day fair of best practices).