The Role, Purpose, and Function of a SAC

 

A Catholic SAC is a body whose members are selected and/or elected to participate in decision-making in designated areas of responsibility.  A parish school is part of the educational mission of the parish for which the pastor is the canonical administrator.  He delegates, according to archdiocesan policy, administrative responsibilities to the school principal, who is accountable to him.

 

In the Archdiocese, all local SACs are advisory in nature.  An Advisory Council operates in the policy-making process by formulating and adopting, but never enacting policy.  The type of Advisory Council is more in keeping with shared decision-making in the Catholic Church because of the advisory status of the archdiocesan presbyteral council and the archdiocesan finance council.  The constituting authority (i.e. pastor) establishes those areas where the Advisory Council is to be consulted.  Such action is usually made effective by the Advisory Council’s constitution. 

 

Advisory implies that the pastor/principal will listen to the advice of the Advisory Council in certain designated matters prior to a decision being made.  The operating principle is that the administrator(s) will accept the advice which has been given, especially when there is a consensus, unless the administrator(s) has an overriding reason.  It is customary, but not obligatory, for the administrator(s) to communicate this reason to the advisory body.

 

The umbrella role of a Catholic SAC is to provide policy direction to the school.  This very general responsibility resolves into six distinct functions:

 

I.                   To participate in and encourage strategic planning.  (Establishing a mission statement, goals, objectives, long-range and short-range plans.)

II.                To develop and defend policy.  (Formulating policies in accord with Archdiocesan policies which give general direction for administrative action.)

III.             To offer financial advice.  (Developing plans/means to finance the educational programs including tuition, development and fundraising, allocating resources according to a budget and monitoring these plans.)

IV.              To serve as a good public relations source.  (Communicating with various publics on behalf of the school.)

V.                 To evaluate itself periodically.  (Determining its own effectiveness in light of its mission and its responsibilities as outlined by Archdiocesan policy and by its own constitution.)

VI.              To participate in the selection process of the principal, who is the Advisory Council’s Executive Officer.  (The pastor may invite Advisory Council members to serve on the search committee when a principal needs to be hired.)

 

How Well Does Your Board Function?

 

Individual members as well as the board can assess how effectively the board functions.  Some general questions you might want to ask are:

 

  • Who prepares the agenda?  Are the purpose and tasks of each meeting clearly stated in the agenda?
  • Are the members familiar with the meeting agenda?  Do they know how it relates to previous meetings?
  • Do people come prepared, with relevant reports and information?
  • Are meetings well attended?
  • Do meetings start on time?
  • Do agenda items call for group thought or can they be handled by an individual?
  • Are differences of opinion encouraged as a means of seeing additional options?
  • Is there a balanced amount of participation, or do a few people dominate the meeting?
  • How are decisions made?

 

SAC Review:

 

  1. In your opinion, how effective is your Council?
  2. What do you regard as the Council’s main achievement in the last three years?
  3. What factors led to this achievement?
  4. What are the key factors that keep your Council from being as effective as it could be?
  5. What is your understanding of Long Range Planning for the school?
  6. What will you do differently this year to create an effective and achieving Council that engages in Long Range Planning?