Series 9000: Bylaws of the Board

9160 Student Representation on the Board of Education

The Thomaston Board of Education acknowledges the importance of maintaining open communication with the student body. Accordingly, the Board will welcome two students from Thomaston High School to serve in a nonvoting capacity on the Thomaston Board of Education. 

Student opinion will be solicited to give an added dimension to the Board’s decision-making process. The student representatives will not attend executive sessions of the Board, nor will they have access to associated back-up material, nor will they be able to cast an official vote on any  motion or resolution. 

The following procedures will be adhered to for the seating of the student representatives: 

1. Student representatives will come from the general student body at Thomaston High School. One student should be a member of the senior class and one student  should be a member of the junior class. 

2. Any junior or senior, through a letter of intent and the fulfillment of academic  requirements, will be considered eligible. The Principal shall recommend one  junior and one senior to the Board before the June regular meeting. The Board  shall approve the recommendation by two-thirds vote. 

3. Students selected to be representatives will be given an orientation session by the Superintendent of Schools and an officer of the Board or designee. 

4. Student representatives may be removed from their position of nonvoting members of the Board of Education by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the  Board of Education.

5. At least one student representative should be present at each regular meeting of the Board of Education. If this is not possible, the representatives must advise the  Principal and the Superintendent’s office in advance of the meeting. 

6. The Board of Education reserves the right to dismiss a student representative due to poor attendance and call for the selection of a new member. 

7. The student representatives will report to the student body, through their student council representatives, on the deliberations of the Board of Education. 

8. The student representatives should be available for attendance at Board of Education meetings beginning with the start of the school year. 

9. The term of office for the two representatives shall be for one school year.

10. A student representative shall: 

A. Be able to attend and sit on all regular meetings of the Board of Education.

B. During said meetings, be able to speak on any issue on the agenda or motion before the Board unless deemed inappropriate by the Board. 

C. Be able to recommend resolutions to the Chairperson prior to a meeting or the Board’s consideration. 

D. Receive copies of all regular meeting agendas, minutes and other pertinent publications, excluding executive session minutes and associated  materials, when made available to the Board members. 

E. Be expected to attend all the Board of Education meetings and be accountable to the student body via the student organizations.

F. Be eligible to sit on appropriate committees of the Board of Education.

11. A student representative shall not: 

A. Be able to cast an official vote on any motion or resolution. 

B. Be allowed to attend executive sessions, negotiation sessions, or personnel  portions of the regular meetings of the Board of Education. 

Legal Reference:

Connecticut General Statues 

9-203 Number and term of members of boards of education. 

Bylaw adopted by the Board: December 8, 2014 THOMASTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS Thomaston, Connecticut