District 70 Board & Its Role

In Illinois, public education is the state’s constitutional responsibility. The state delegates the authority to govern school districts to local school boards. So, although the board is politically responsible to district voters, it is legally responsible to the state.

The seven members of the board of education are locally elected officials who serve without pay for a four-year term of office and work in concert with the administration to deliver education. The board members work as one body and individuals on the board have no power by themselves. They are responsible for the educational programs in our community for grades pre-kindergarten through eighth. They are required to conduct the schools following the Constitution of the State of Illinois, the Illinois School Code, rules and regulations set down by the Illinois State Board of Education, and the rules and regulations which have been developed and adopted by the District 70 Board of Education.

The board of education is a policy-making body. It has delegated the administration of the school district to the professional administrative staff under the leadership and direction of the superintendent. The superintendent is a professional educator hired by the board to carry out its goals and oversee the day-to-day operation of the district.

Individual board members may not act alone or make decisions binding on the board or the district.

Adopt goals and policies that meet state requirements and reflect community needs, provide the resources necessary to pursue its goals according to its policies, and monitor District 70’s performance to see that results are consistent with goals and policies.

It is the job of the Board of Education to select and hire the superintendent of schools. 

Hiring necessary personnel and setting their salaries; providing and maintaining school buildings; letting all contracts and paying all bills, and arranging for the revenue necessary to operate the district.

Meetings follow an agenda that establishes a sequence of events for the meetings. The meeting is conducted by the board president based on a combination of Robert’s Rules of Order, common sense, and common courtesy. Meetings can last up to several hours, depending on the contents of the agenda.

Board meetings are not public meetings; they are meetings held in public. By law, board discussion and deliberation must be conducted in public, except for certain specific matters, such as personnel, union negotiations, security, purchase of property, student disciplinary cases, and litigation, which may be discussed in closed sessions. However, all official board action -voting- must be taken in public.

The public is welcome to attend ALL Board of Education meetings and committee meetings. Notice of all Board of Education meetings, including committee meetings,  must be published on the district website (calendar on the website), as well as posted publicly, 48 hours before a meeting is set to be held. 

The District 70 board regularly meets at 6 p.m. on the fourth Monday night of each month. Typically the board meets. the the Board Room at the Educational Resource Center, 1331 Lake St., Libertyville. Special board meetings may be called on an as-needed basis. The dates of board meetings are posted on the website, d70schools.org, under “Board.”

Closed sessions are typically held by the board the night of a monthly meeting, before the established 6 p.m. start time. 

In District 70, Board of Education Policy 2:230, Public Participation at Board of Education Meetings and Petitions to the Board, there are specific times provided on the agenda when public comments are received. Guests may speak at those times specifically set aside for Public Comments. Groups attending board meetings are requested to appoint a spokesperson they want to address the board. The board president is responsible for recognizing guests for comments, maintaining calm and order during the meeting, and calling an end to comments when appropriate.

No interviews may be conducted in the meeting room while the board is in session. If members of the press/audience want to conduct an interview, they may wait until the conclusion of the meeting, or conduct the interview in a hallway or another room.

The board rarely acts immediately on an issue brought before it for the first time. Even with more familiar issues, the board takes action only after it thoroughly has examined all aspects of a matter. You may expect the board to act as promptly as circumstances allow and notify you when it arrives at a decision. The board also may direct the superintendent to reply to a question at a later date or will take the matter under advisement.