Running head: PETERSON AUA BOARD 1

Reflection on Armona Union Academy Board Meeting

Partial Fulfillment of Graded Activity #5

EDAL 560 K-12 Law

Andrews University

By

Dawn Peterson

11/21/2017
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I had the privilege of attending Armona Union Academys (AUA) board meeting on

September, 26, 2017. It was a fairly long agenda and the meeting lasted three hours. After a

short devotional and prayer, the principal gave the finance committee report on the revised

budget for the current school year. He followed that with his principal report and several old

business items were discussed.

According to Pacific Union Conference (PUC) Education Code (2017) the school board

is given the task of running the basic operations of the school (A17-112 A). This includes many

of the functions I observed during the board meeting. Although Seventh-day Adventist (SDA)

school boards function in many of the same ways a public school does, they are not vested by the

state in the same manner. Non the less, they do set guidelines to operate within many of the

same structures as public school boards. As we look at many of the agenda items I will attempt

to show the PUC education code that refers the agenda item references in the responsibilities of

the school board.

The first item of new business was related to school safety concerns. Parents had

expressed concerns of the split campus (a public road splits the elementary and gym from the

Kindergarten, academy campus, and administration) with children needed to be crossing the

campus for music classes etc. Also, concerns were raised about student supervision prior to

school starting for the day. The principal explained the strategies employed to relieve these

concerns with coded gate locks that the students would use wen crossing from one side of

campus to the other and that they would tighten up the responsibilities for before school

supervision.
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Although home school policy was on the agenda, the principal chose to skip that due to

the longevity of the meeting. I was disappointed because I was interested to see what the school

boards policy was on that topic.

Personnel approval was the next item discussed. The board discussed the need for

substitutes and other local-hires and voted to send names to CCC for further employment

documentation and approval. This is in accordance with PUC code that states,

The employment, changes in employment status, or termination, of school personnel are by authority of the
local conference board of education in consultation with the local school board. Thus, the
local conference board of education is the employing organization, referred to hereinafter as the employer.
(Pacific Union Conference, 2017, A17-112 4.a )

Along with Calif. Educ. Code 44237(a), (b), (c) which requires the fingerprinting of any new

non-certified personnel by the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigations

(U.S. Department of Education, 2009, p. 25).

One board member asked if any of these new local-hires could volunteer instead of work

for pay or maybe they could reduce their students tuition. His question brought new

understanding of the California law regarding volunteerism for reduction of tuition fees.

The AUA Handbook previously stated that as a condition of enrollment, each family

agrees to contribute (15) hours of service to AUA. In the alternative, each family will donate

$10.00 per each hour not contributed (Armona Union Academy, 2016-2017). According to the

Central California Conference (CCC) educational associate superintendent present at the

meeting, AUA handbook policy requiring parents to volunteer to save the $150 from being

applied to their tuition account falls outside of conference policy due to California Law. It was

immediately voted to make sure that the current school bulletin was within PUC policy and

complied to CA statutes for volunteers particularly in regards to the volunteerism policy. This
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action falls under the school board responsibilities of general operation and development of

student handbook and board policies (Pacific Union Conference, 2017, A17-112 3a 1 and 4).

The discussion then moved to suggesting that the schools booster club, which is a

separate organization from the school, would be in a better position to attach volunteering at the

school as part of its eligibility for scholarships it offers to students at AUA. Board voted to

research that possibility.

The science teacher presented a proposal for a garden as an educational science

experiment that would constitute a possibly new science curriculum. Because we live in an

agricultural community he thought this might be an interesting experience for his students. There

were numerous questions about the feasibility and costs of the program. It was voted to allow

the teacher to continue research on the possibility of the program and to speak with members at

large that have agricultural experience. This was brought to the board because the board has the

responsibility to approve any pedagogical innovations or means of instruction in cooperation

with CCC and PUC boards (Boring v. Buncombe County Board of Education, 1988; Pacific

Union Conference, 2017, A117-112 C 1).

There were numerous field trip requests for local one day trips that required only the

board approval (Pacific Union Conference, 2017, A24-108 C1) and a couple of international

trips (Seniors to Costa Rica and Mission trip to Honduras) that will need final approval from

conference, union and division prior to departure as per policy (A24-124 A, D).

This was an informative and educational board meeting to observe with the issues

relating to CA law and volunteers. I enjoyed the discussions that surrounded that issue. I also

found myself wanting to be a sponsor for the senior trip that was approved as it looks like it

will be an interesting and relaxing trip!

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References

Armona Union Academy. (2016-2017). Student handbook.

Boring v. Buncombe County Board of Education, 136 F.3d 364 (1988).

Pacific Union Conference. (2017). Education Code. Westlake Village, CA.

U.S. Department of Education. (2009). State regulation of private schools. Retrieved from
https://www2.ed.gov/admins/comm/choice/regprivschl/regprivschl.pdf.
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