About the Governance Board

Purpose

The purpose of the Governance Board is to make decisions and advise Heartland Head Start on all legal and fiscal aspects of the agency. Members with expertise in fiscal management, law, and early childhood use their knowledge to guide and direct Heartland Head Start’s program, and additional members reflect the community being served.

Composition

The Governance Board must be include one member with a background in fiscal management or accounting, one member with a background in early childhood education and development, and one member who is a licensed attorney and familiar with issues that come before the governing body. Additional members should reflect the community to be served and may include parents of children who are currently, or were formerly, enrolled in Head Start programs. They are selected for their expertise in education, business administration, or community affairs.

Terms

Governance Board terms last three years, with no limitation on the number of terms a member may serve.

Governance Board Roles and Responsibilities

In general, the Governance Board has legal and fiscal responsibility for the Head Start agency. The Governance Board formulates financial policies, delegates administration of the financial policies to the administrative staff, and reviews operations and activities.

Specific Responsibilities

In addition to having legal and fiscal responsibility for administering and overseeing programs (including the safeguard of Federal funds), the Governance Board must:

• Adopt practices that assure active, independent, and informed governance
• Fully participate in the development, planning, and evaluation of Head Start programs
• Ensure compliance with Federal, State, and local laws and regulations
• Be responsible for other activities, including--
• Selecting delegate agencies
• Establishing procedures and criteria for recruitment, selection, and enrollment of children
• Reviewing all applications for funding and amendments to applications for funding
• Establishing procedures and guidelines for accessing and collecting information
• Monitoring of the agency's actions to correct any audit findings
• Reviewing results from monitoring
• Reviewing and approving all major policies of the agency, including--
• Annual self-assessment
• Annual financial audit
• Progress in carrying out the programmatic and fiscal provisions in grant application
• Personnel policies of such agencies regarding the hiring, evaluation, termination, and compensation of agency employees
• Major financial expenditures
• Annual operating budget of the agency
• Selection of auditor who will report all critical accounting policies and practices to the board.
• Developing procedures for how members of the Policy Council are selected
• Establishing, adopting, and updating written standards of conduct
• Establishing advisory committees to oversee key responsibilities related to program governance

Governance Board Members.

• Ama Oforiwaa Aduonum
• Aaron Galloway
• Beth MacDonald
• Robyn Seglem

The Governance Board meets the 4th Wednesday of the month.