Administrative Regulation Development and Review

Objective

To create coherency and consistency across all administrative regulations by articulating the Superintendent of Schools’ requirements for the development and review of administrative regulations.

Definitions

Administrative Regulations are the written directives, procedures and assignment of responsibilities established and approved by the Superintendent of Schools that direct the implementation of and achievement of desired outcomes of board policy, our Vision and Mission, and the effective operation of the Division.

Policy Sponsor is the District Support Team member assigned by the Superintendent of Schools with the overall responsibility for development, review or revision of a policy. The District Support Team is comprised of the Superintendent of Schools, Assistant Superintendents, Executive Directors and Directors reporting directly to the Superintendent of Schools.

Manager Policy Developmentis an individual designated to oversee the implementation of Board Policy CH.BP – Framework for Policy Development and Review. The Manager also provides oversight for the development of administrative regulations on behalf of the Superintendent of Schools.

Administrative Regulation Development Lead is an individual assigned through the Sponsor to lead the development, review or revision of a specific administrative regulation.

Administrative Regulation Development, in the context of this regulation, refers to both new administrative regulation development and the review and revision of an existing administrative regulation.

Responsibility

1. The Superintendent of Schools reserves the authority and responsibility for approval of all administrative regulations.
   
   
2. The Manager is responsible for overseeing, coordinating, and providing technical advice and assistance in support of administrative regulation development and the ongoing review and renewal of administrative regulation on behalf of the Superintendent of Schools.  The Manager shall:
   1. identify, develop and maintain format conventions, guidelines and templates to support the administrative regulation development process;
   2. work with supervisory staff in each department to ensure that all previously approved administrative regulations pertaining to the department are regularly reviewed for substantive changes and updated annually to reflect housekeeping changes that may be made from time to time to organizational titles, responsibilities, legislative references and format conventions;
   3. track the progress of administrative regulation development and review for the Superintendent of Schools; and
   4. maintain a record of current and former administrative regulations on behalf of the Division.  
3. The Sponsor is responsible for the assignment of each administrative regulation to a direct-report administrator for the department/unit whose work most closely aligns with the policy topic.
   
   
4. The Department/Unit Administrator shall:
   1. work with the Manager to identify and co-ordinate the development and review of policies pertaining to their departments as needed;
   2. ensure consistency between board policy and administrative regulations, and documents issued by the department (guidelines, bulletins, pamphlets, and operational procedures); and
   3. assign an appropriate staff member to act as Development Lead for the development and writing of each assigned administrative regulation and supporting documentation in accordance with the criteria, format and, development and review requirements laid out in this administrative regulation. 

Regulation

1. INITIATION OF THE DEVELOPMENT AND REVIEW PROCESS
   1. The Manager, in consultation with the District Support Team, shall develop and recommend an annual review plan to the Superintendent of Schools, which includes:  routinely scheduled reviews of administrative regulations seven years or older; administrative regulations directly tied to a board policy scheduled for review or reviewed in the previous year; administrative regulations identified as requiring review, revision or rescission by departments as a result of changes in legislation or circumstances.
   2. The annual review plan shall include for each identified administrative regulation:
      1. a statement of the objective of the administrative regulation;
      2. matters to be included in the scope of the administrative regulation;
      3. identification of legislation, other policies, regulations, procedures and Division documentation which may impact or be impacted by the administrative regulation;
      4. identification of departments and stakeholders that share responsibility or will be directly impacted by the administrative regulation and should either be part of the writing team or consulted in the drafting and/or vetting of the draft administrative regulation;
      5. an administrative regulation development/review and approval timeline.
   3. All administrative regulations shall meet the following criteria:
      1. conform to the School Act and regulations, policies and orders issued under the authority of the School Act, and other relevant provincial and federal legislation;
      2. support the District Vision, Mission and Priorities;
      3. be consistent with other relevant board policy and administrative regulation;
      4. be capable of implementation, review and evaluation;
      5. be developed and reviewed with appropriate consultation and collaboration with internal departments that share responsibility for implementation, provide support for the regulation or are directly impacted.
      6. clearly assign responsibilities by function, department or position title to ensure accountability for implementation.
   4. All administrative regulations shall have a consistent format and the following sections as appropriate:
      1. Objective:  include a statement indicating the intent and rationale for the administrative regulation;
      2. Definitions:  may include definitions of terminology used specific to the understanding of the administrative regulation;
      3. Responsibility:  include statements assigning responsibility for specific aspects of  implementing the administrative regulation;
      4. Regulation:  include the requirements for and, or the process that shall or may be followed by staff, students, parents or others.
      5. References:  include a listing of references pertinent to the understanding of the administrative regulation such as related legislation, policies and administrative regulations.
         
         
2. ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATION DEVELOPMENT AND APPROVAL PROCESS
   1. Once the administrative regulation annual plan is approved by the Superintendent of Schools, the Development Lead and assigned staff shall implement the development plan.  The Manager and General Counsel shall be available for consultation, questions, comment, attendance at working group meetings, or for review of drafts at any stage in the development.
      
      
   2. The Development Lead shall draft the administrative regulation and develop a companion report in recommendation format to the Superintendent of Schools that summarizes or appends:
      1. pertinent information from the development plan;
      2. the process used and stakeholders involved in the administrative regulation development;
      3. an analysis of intended and possible unintended consequences of the administrative regulation and means of mitigating risk; and
      4. any supporting data that may be helpful to the understanding of the Superintendent of Schools.
   3. The draft of the administrative regulation and companion recommendation report shall be routed for approval for submission to the Superintendent of Schools having been reviewed and confirmed for compliance with this regulation in the following order:
      1. the Department with administrative responsibility
      2. the Manager
      3. General Counsel
      4. the Sponsor
      5. The Sponsor shall present the draft administrative regulation and companion recommendation report to the Superintendent of Schools.
3. ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATION  IMPLEMENTATION
   1. The Superintendent of Schools shall inform the Board of new administrative regulations or substantive changes to existing administrative regulations prior to the administrative regulation being made public.
      
      
   2. After the Superintendent of Schools’ approval of the administrative regulation for posting, the Manager shall finalize the formatting of the administrative regulation with the appropriate effective date and review year, and arrange for the administrative regulation to be posted on the Division’s website in an administrative regulation directory.
      
      
   3. The effective date of an administrative regulation shall be the date the Superintendent of Schools approved the administrative regulation or as otherwise specified by the Superintendent of Schools.
      
      
   4. Division Communications shall communicate new and revised administrative regulations through existing communication channels.
      
      
   5. The Superintendent of Schools shall assign specific responsibility for:
      1. targeted communication of a new administrative regulation or a change to an existing administrative regulation;
      2. implementation of the administrative regulation; and
      3. subsequent monitoring of and reporting on implementation. 

References