School boards help determine educational policy and administrative procedures in a school district. Their core responsibility is to establish a vision for the community’s schools that reflects the goals of its residents and the district staff. Sometimes school boards share power with other institutions, like the local municipal government or the state and federal departments of education. Some school boards are elected, but some are not.
What you Control
Adopting a budget; adopting the school calendar; negotiating contracts with employees, approving additions to state-mandated curriculum; allocating funding for social services and extra-curricular activities for the school district.