Policy 1.036

School Board Member Constituents' Service

1. Purpose:

   The purpose of the policy is to outline a process for tracking, documenting, and responding to Board member constituents.

2. System for Constituent Service:

   1. Recognizing the need to provide quality service to constituents, the Palm Beach County School Board and Superintendent will utilize the Constituent ticketing system for tracking and responding to constituent inquiries.

   2. The goal of the District is to respond promptly and professionally to questions or concerns of the public. To this end, the public is invited to use published telephone numbers to contact the appropriate District personnel regarding issues or questions. Another valuable resource is the District website www. palmbeachschools.org which contains District policies, procedures, and the status of various ongoing programs that will often answer many questions. Constituents may get in touch with the respective Board member directly by contacting the Board Office. If a Board Member receives a direct inquiry from a constituent, the member is encouraged to forward the request to the Board office for use of the tracking system.

   3. A Board office contact person will serve as the Board Liaison for such constituent inquiries, as appropriate. These inquiries will be tracked using the Constituent Tracking System with the following features:

      1. A protocol for handling constituent requests for information or assistance;

      2. A primary contact person, the Board Liaison, will, as needed, enter and document constituent request received;

      3. The Board Liaison will enter and track the resolution of requests and the system will notify all Board Member(s);

      4. The Constituent Tracking System will be searchable and will store, track, categorize, and analyze requests;

      5. The system will be accessible by all Board Members via its secure web based interface;

      6. Periodic reports will be provided to the Superintendent and Board Members on the overall usage of the tracking system to show numbers of requests, types of requests, and overall summary of usage. Confidential or exempt information will not be disclosed or tracked in the system; and,

      7. Oversight of the system by the Superintendent's designee.

   4. The attached flowchart tracks the process flow for constituent service requests.

3. Protocol for Managing Constituent Requests:

   1. Protocol is based on a reliable information network between the Board Office and the Senior Leadership for referring, tracking and resolving constituent inquiries. Normally, electronic management of these requests will be done via email or other electronic means as the preferred method of communication and recordkeeping in the system. The Board Liaison(s) will manage inquiries using the tracking system and coordinate responses with appropriate District staff. Requests will be tracked in the Constituent Tracking System by category type of request, priority of request, the person assigned the lead for responding, the date of inquiry and the date of response. This information will be maintained in a consolidated database until reviewed by the Superintendent or the Board, but no less than three years or any additional time per the District's records retention schedule or a records hold. The District response will be forwarded to the Board Liaison for response to the constituent. The Board Liaison is responsible for ensuring that the Board Members are advised of action on the constituent requests.

   2. As appropriate, and when requested by the Board Office, the Superintendent's Office or appropriate District staff member may respond directly to the constituent and copy the Board Office on the response. This shall be noted in the tracking system maintained by the Board Office.

4. Guidelines for Responding to Constituent Requests:

   Response to constituent requests will be managed on a priority basis. Board Liaison and District staff will set priorities considering all requests. The priority in which requests are answered is based on the urgency of the specific issue and not the importance of each request. The Board considers all requests to be important and warranting an expedited response. In cases where extensive staff work is required to collect data or research information to respond, an interim response will be provided to the constituent by the Board office.

5. Central Database Management:

   Constituent request data will be managed by the Board Liaison(s). As described in the section of this policy titled “Protocol for Managing Constituent Requests”, statistics will be collated for further review by the Superintendent.  Constituent responses shall be maintained in an electronic database for three years or any additional time per the District's records retention schedule or a records hold.

6. Reporting and System Improvement:

   On a regular schedule, or as directed by the Board Chair, the Superintendent will present a summary to the Board, which will include constituent request data, category trends, priority ranking and meantime measures of response. The Superintendent's report to the Board will be in a suitable electronic document and will include data and graphs portraying the results and processes involved. This report will contain the most current information, and will also include comparative data and trend analyses.