Board of Management

General Responsibilities of Boards of Management The Education Act (1998) requires schools to provide all students with an education appropriate to their abilities and needs and, in doing so, to have regard to the efficient use of available resources to ensure that:

• The school promotes the moral, spiritual, social, and personal development of students and provides health education for them, in consultation with their parents, having regard to the characteristic spirit of the school;
• Those with special educational needs are identified and provided for;
• The school complies with the education policies, regulations and curriculum prescribed by the Minister;
• Students have access to appropriate guidance to assist them in their educational and career choices;
• The school maintains systems whereby its performance can be assessed – the effectiveness of teaching and the attainment of academic standards;
• The school establishes and maintains an admissions and participation policy that provides for maximum accessibility to the school;
• The school promotes equality of opportunity for both male and female students and staff of the school;
• The school promotes the development of the Irish language and traditions, Irish literature, the arts and other cultural matters;
• Parents of a student, or in the case of a student who has reached the age of 18 years, the student, have access in the prescribed manner to records kept by that school relating to the progress of that student in his or her education;
• The school, in the case of a school located in the Gaeltacht area, contributes to the maintenance of Irish as the primary community language;
• The needs of personnel involved in management functions and staff development needs generally in the school are identified and provided for;
• The school promotes, insofar as is reasonably practicable, educational opportunities for persons living in the area in keeping with national policies on lifelong learning;
• The school establishes and maintains contact with other schools and colleges and at other appropriate levels throughout the community served by the school/college. The board of management should work collaboratively with the school principal, who is secretary to the board, and the staff to facilitate the school/college in the exercise of these functions. Also, in all its work, the board should have regard for the public interest in the affairs of the school, and be accountable to students, their parents, the ETB and, where applicable, the Trustee Partner.