Policy Approval Process

Policies are created and updated by the Board of Trustees. During the process the policy moves through several stages: preliminary, feedback, recommendation, and approval.

The following instructions are for the Board to follow as they shepherd the policy through the process.

Create a preliminary draft

  1. If this will be a new policy, download the template (Word).Tell the Administrator your preliminary policy title and ask for a policy number. If you have questions about how to fill in the template, refer to Using the Policy Template.
  2. To revise an existing policy, go to the Policies page and follow the link to the page for the specific policy. Download the policy as a Word document. Revise the Word document to reflect your changes.
  3. Change the version/date in the footer to be “Draft: ” followed by an appropriate date.
  4. Send your policy document to the Administrator with a request that approving the draft be added to the agenda for the next Board Meeting.

Preliminary approval by the Board

After considering the preliminary draft, the Board will either approve or not approve the draft:

  • Approved: The Administrator will post the policy to the Board News bulletin board and the Policies in Development page on the website.
  • Not approved: The Board will indicate what you need to change.

Get feedback

  1. During the 30-day comment period, the Board might receive suggestions and comments from members and staff.
  2. Consider every comment you receive and decide whether or not to incorporate the idea into the policy. Then, create a recommended version of the policy.
  3. Change the version/date in the footer to be “Recommended: ” followed by an appropriate date.

Recommend the policy

  1. Send the recommended version to the Administrator with a request that approving the policy be added to the next Board Meeting agenda.

Approval by the Board

  1. The Board notifies the Administrator that the policy is approved.