Parents and other community members exercise their voice in public education control through the election of the board of trustees. Board members are guardians of the public trust and, through the policies that they make, are ultimately responsible for the success or failure of local public education. The board serves as the advocate for educational excellence for the community's youth and puts those interests first. The policies school boards make dictate the standards and philosophy by which schools are run and the criteria used to evaluate whether they are being run well. In addition, board members act only as a whole and do not act on an individual basis. One of the board's responsibilities is not to respond individually, but to insure that the school district is responding.
The key roles and responsibilities are summarized as to: