BLT By-laws

Building Leadership Team By-laws
Chief Sealth International High School
(Revised August 2022)

Mission: The Chief Sealth International High School Building Leadership Team (BLT) is the staff governance body concerned with matters affecting Chief Sealth International High School regarding both building generated and Seattle School District policies, rules, and procedures as well as contractual obligations. The primary function of the BLT is to promote and facilitate a collaborative decision-making process. Our mission is to create an atmosphere of confidence and trust where staff are empowered and share responsibility for teaching and learning.

Membership: The Chief Sealth Building Leadership Team will at a minimum be composed of:

At least seven SEA-represented staff members. Ideally the breakdown of members would be five certificated staff members and two (2) classified staff members. However, at least one member of the seven must represent the classified staff.  If the number of members exceeds seven, representation of classified staff should at a minimum be two (2), ideally one paraprofessional and one SAEOP. The two classified employees shall be one SAEOP employee, one paraprofessional employee.
The building principal or their proxy.
The Racial Equity Team (RET) shall also have a representative on the BLT, selected by the RET.
**Parent representative(s).
**Up to six student members. Preferably, one student from each grade. Including students from ELL and Special Education student populations.
- **NOTE: Non-SEA represented individuals are not voting members per the CBA.

Non-SEA represented individuals will also have to step out of meetings when confidential information is discussed to meet legal and contractual obligations. This does not apply to the building principal or their proxy.

SEA represented members of the staff will elect, by secret ballot, BLT members to serve for three years. Any member of the staff who is nominated by a second party or who self-nominates is eligible to run. The persons selected to be the representatives will be elected upon receiving a simple majority of the staff that chooses to vote. Elections will be held each year on the following rotation:

Year A – 3 certificated and 1 classified; Year B – 2 certificated 1 classified.

In the event of a mid-year vacancy, nominations for that position will be opened to the staff and an election will be held as soon as possible for the unexpired term. Per the CBA, all certificated members of the BLT will receive a stipend for their service. Classified members will receive the equivalent of a stipend through extra-time pay.

Officers: The officers of the BLT shall consist of a Chairperson, or Co-chairs, whose duties include:

presiding over the meetings of the BLT
preparing an agenda, in collaboration with administration and staff, for each scheduled BLT meeting
disseminating the agenda in a timely fashion
designating a BLT member at each meeting to record the proceedings of the BLT, prepare the minutes of the meeting of the BLT and disseminate those minutes to CSIHS staff within one week of the meeting

Member Participation: All BLT members shall actively participate in meetings:

take minutes, time-keeper, by-laws guardian (in rotation).
contribute to discussion.
complete other tasks as assigned by the body.

Meetings: Meetings will be held twice per month, or as needed. Meeting minutes will be reviewed, approved, and made available to staff electronically; paper copies will be posted on a BLT bulletin board in a common staff area.

Attendance: Members are expected to regularly attend meetings and to notify the body in the event of an absence. The BLT will consider any member who fails to attend three consecutive meetings of the BLT to have resigned except in cases of illness, leave of absence, or duties necessary to the fulfillment of professional responsibilities.

Decision-Making in the BLT: No official decisions may be made without the presence of a quorum. A quorum shall consist of five voting members. It is preferred that recommendations and decisions made by the BLT should be through a consensus. A sufficient consensus is defined wherein the members of the team may not be able to agree completely but can generally support the decision. When a sufficient consensus cannot be reached, a vote is necessary, and will be decided by simple majority. In the event the BLT cannot make a decision through any means, the principal shall decide. Additionally, all CSIHS BLT members will have as their primary focus in decision making, the best interests of CSIHS students.

Visitors: Any member of the Chief Sealth International High School community may attend and observe BLT meetings. Visitors may be invited by the BLT Chair to participate in the discussions of the BLT. Visitors may not participate in BLT decision-making. At times, confidential information may be discussed that may require meetings to be temporarily closed to visitors to meet contractual and/or legal obligations.

Responsibilities and Duties of the BLT:

Work with the school staff to create and monitor the school’s Continuous School Improvement Plan (C-SIP).
Help to set professional development priorities for staff; oversee a school-wide professional development plan to support academic achievement.
Work with staff to establish the school’s discretionary budget. The BLT members will be expected to facilitate budget discussions as needed.
Ensure that the Decision-Making Matrix (DMM) is up to date and reflects the school’s approach to collaborative decision making.

The role of the BLT is to facilitate discussion and raise important questions regarding building budget, professional development, and the school’s Continuous School Improvement Plan (C-SIP). Duties focus on these areas:

Communication:

BLT should promote communication between standing committees and the staff and facilitate the sharing of outcomes of committee meetings at general staff meetings. BLT should also communicate deliberations of the BLT through regularly published minutes and communication with staff members.

Facilitating Decision Making of the Staff:

The BLT will maintain and update annually the Chief Sealth Decision Making Matrix. The BLT will work on promoting interaction for authentic, collaborative decision making among the staff. The BLT will also suggest operating rules and policies for the staff when necessary.

Professional Development:

The BLT, in cooperation with the Race and Equity Team and/or other stakeholders, will establish the annual professional development plan and calendar that supports staff’s professional learning goals and the C-SIP. This task will be delegated to a Professional Development sub-committee.

BLT facilitates creation of professional development (PD) committee open to all staff
PD committee develops PD plan with opportunities for feedback and input along the way
PD committee presents to BLT
BLT discusses and votes
If PD plan passes, BLT presents it to staff for vote
If not approved with a 2/3 vote by voting members of the BLT, PD plan is sent back to PD committee – with recommendations for revision
If PD committee is unwilling or unable to revise, BLT will revise the PD plan
BLT will vote on revised PD plan
BLT presents revised PD plan to staff for vote

Budget:

The BLT will facilitate the annual budget discussions and process(es) between SEA represented staff and administration.

BLT facilitates discussions and process(es) open to all staff
BLT discusses feedback and votes to approve
If budget passes, BLT presents to staff for vote
If not approved with a 2/3 vote by voting members of the staff, budget is sent back to BLT for revision
BLT will vote on revised budget
BLT presents revised budget to staff for vote

Facilitation of Staff Voting on issues requiring a vote of SEA represented staff:

When it is necessary to have a vote of the SEA represented staff in the building, the CBA will be followed. Building sub-reimbursement funds will be split according to each bargaining unit and voting on the use of those funds will take place within each bargaining unit.

Committees: The BLT will create and oversee standing and ad hoc committees to research issues and report findings to the staff as may be necessary. Each ad hoc committee will be dissolved at the completion of its work.

Life of These By-laws: These by-laws and the Decision-Making Matrix will be revisited and revised as necessary each year. Any amendments or revisions to the by-laws or to the Decision-Making Matrix will be voted on by the members of the BLT and submitted to the staff for a majority vote as outlined above.