CHAPTER11

School Policies and

Their Functions
At the end of this Chapter, you should be
able to explain the importance of school
policies in school operation.
 Introduction
Schools are institutions motivated by a shared
vision. Necessarily, schools must have policies for
them to realize their vision and mission. These
policies are a reflection of the values of the people
who created them. Whatever policies are
formulated must redound to the improved teaching-
learning of learners which is the very reason of the
existence of schools. In this Chapter, we will focus
on school policies that govern school and
community partnership.
Activity: Let’s Read These

1. Group yourselves by 6 then share your answers

to this question.

For Groups 1, 2 and 3 – Here is a part of the policy

on grading given by the DepEd Central Office in
DepEd Order 8, s. 2015, dated April 1, 2015. Study the
components and the corresponding percentage weights.
Table 7. Weight of Components for
Grades 1-10
Components Languages, Science and MAPEH, EPP
AP, EsP Math and TLE
Written 30% 40% 20%
Work
Performanc 50% 40% 60%
e Task
Quarterly 20% 20% 20%
Assessment
2. For Groups 4,5, and 6 Read this policy on
students’ absences and tardiness:

A learner who incurs absences of more than

20% of the prescribed number of class or
laboratory periods during the school year or
semester should be given a failing grade and
not earn credits for the learning area or
subject. Furthermore, the school head may,
at his/her discretion and in the individual
case, exempt a learner who exceeds the 20%
limit for reasons considered valid and
acceptable to the school.
The discretionary authority is vested in the school
head and may not be availed of by a student or
granted by a faculty member without the consent
of the school head…. (DepEd Order 8, s. 2015)
Habitual tardiness, especially during the first
period in the morning and in the afternoon, is
discouraged. Teachers shall inform the
parents/guardians through a meeting if a learner
has incurred 5 consecutive days of tardiness.
3. For All Students

Read this excerpt of DepEd Order 54, s.

2009.

Activities. All PTA activities within the school

premises or which involve the school, its
personnel or students shall be with prior
consultation and approval of the School
Head.
Financial Matters. Such collections shall be made
by the PTA subject to the following conditions: If
collection of the School Publications Fee, Supreme
Student Government (SSG) Developmental Fund
and other club membership fees and contributions
is coursed through the PTA as requested by the
concerned organization, the amount collected shall
be remitted immediately to the school, SSG or
other student organizations concerned on the day
it was collected.
The pertinent organization shall deposit the
funds with a reputable bank on the next banking
day under the organization’s account. No service
fee shall be charged against any student
organization by the PTA.
Non-compliance or any violation of the
aforementioned conditions shall be a ground for
the cancellation of the PTA’s recognition and/or
the filing of appropriate charges as the case
may be.
1. Policy on Collection of Contributions

Cognizant of the need of an organization for

adequate funds to sustain its operations, a
duly recognized PTA may collect voluntary
financial contributions from members and
outside sources to enable it to fund and
sustain its operation and the implementation
of its programs and projects exclusively for
the benefit of the students and the school
where it operates. The PTA’s programs and
projects shall be in line with the School
Improvement Plan (SIP).
The contributions should be a reasonable
amount as may be determined by the PTA
Board of Directors;
Non-payment of the contributions by the
parent-member shall not be a basis for non-
admission or non-issuance of clearance(s) to
the child by the school concerned;
The contributions shall be collected by the PTA
Treasurer on a per parent-member basis regardless
of the number of their children in school;

No collection of PTA contributions shall be done

during the enrollment period; and

No teacher or any school personnel shall be

involved in such collection activities.
Safekeeping of Funds All collections of
contributions or proceeds of fundraising
activities shall be deposited in a reputable
banking institution as determined by the
Board of Directors. The PTA’s Treasurer or a
duly authorized representative shall
undertake the collection and shall issue
official receipts/acknowledgement receipts.
In no case shall any school official or
personnel be entrusted with the safekeeping
and disbursement of collections made by the
PTA. All disbursements of funds shall be in
accordance with generally accepted
accounting and auditing rules and
regulations.
PTAs are prohibited from:

Interfering in the academic and

administrative management and operations
of the school, and of the DepED, in general;

Engaging in any partisan political activity

within school premises;
 Operating a canteen/school supplies store,
or being a concessionaire thereof inside the
school or nearby premises, or offering these
services to the school as its client either
directly or indirectly;

Selling insurance, pre-need plans or

similar schemes or programs to students
and/or their parents; and
Such other acts or circumstances analogous
to the foregoing.

PTA Officers and members of the Board of

Directors are prohibited from collecting
salaries, honoraria, emoluments or other
forms of compensation from any of the funds
collected or received by the PTA.
 PTAs shall have no right to disburse, or
charge any fees as service fees or
percentages against the amount collected
pertinent to the School Publication Fee.
Supreme Student Government (SSG)
Developmental Fund and other club
membership fees and contributions.
 In no case shall a PTA or any of its officers or
members of the Board of Directors call upon
students and teachers investigation or
disciplinary action.
 The recognition of any PTA shall be
cancelled by the Division PTA Affairs
Committee upon the recommendation of the
School Head concerned for any violation of the
above-mentioned prohibited activities and
these Guidelines.
Thereafter, the School Head may call for a special
election to replace the Board of Directors of the
PTA whose recognition was cancelled. Criminal,
civil and/or administrative actions may be taken
against any member or officer of the Board of the
PTA who may appear responsible for failure to
submit the necessary annual financial statements
or for failure to account the funds of the PTA.
For all Groups:

1. How do you feel about the policies? Are you happy

about them? Or are you happier without them? Why?
For Groups 1-3

2. What if schools had no policies on the

grading system? What may happen? What are
possible consequences on teaching and
learning?
For Groups 4-6

3. What if schools had no policies on the students'

tardiness and absences? What may happen? What
are possible consequences on school atmosphere?
on teaching and learning?
For all Groups

4. Based on the DepEd Order on PTA

collections, why are schools very strict with
money collections?
5. The policies given above come from DepEd Central Office.

Should all school policies come from DepEd Central Officer

Can schools also formulate their own policies? If yes, why? If
no, why not?
6. If schools can formulate their own policies, what
conditions must be met for these policies to be surely
implemented?

7. What is an advantage of a policy formulated by the

school community over that policy which comes from
above?
 Importance of Policies

Schools in partnership with their

community have their own picture of what
they want to be (vision statement) and so
must offer services and must do what they
are supposed to do (mission statement) in
order to realize what they envisioned
themselves to be. For these to happen,
policies must be in place.
Observance of these policies ensures
everyone in the school community to tow
the line. If conditions are ideal like when all
members of the school community are
perfect-school heads, teachers, students,
parents, non-teaching personnel and other
members of the outside community- there
may be no need for a policy.
The truth is conditions in the school
community and in this world are far from
ideal and persons that make the school
community are far from perfect and so the
need for policies.
 One may wonder as to why the
Department of Education has issued very
stringent policies and guidelines for PTAs in
matters of collecting contributions. Even
engaging in any partisan political activity
within school premises is written as one
prohibited activity. There must a history to
that. Perhaps malversation of funds and other
forms of abuse happened in the past.
 Schools' policy on the grading system is
important for everyone concerned to know
how grades are computed. Both students and
parents know how grades are derived
objectively. Percentage weights for each
component are clear.
 Teachers are guided in their assessment
practices. The grading policy ensures
objective assessment practice. Without the
grading policy, grading may become highly
subjective.
 Similarly, if there are no policies on
students' tardiness and absenteeism,
students may just come in late or absent. The
policies on students' tardiness and
absenteeism certainly will curb tardiness and
absenteeism to ensure learning.
 Effective Policy Formulation and
Implementation in a School Community
Partnership.

The policies on grading, student tardiness

an absenteeism came from above, DepEd
Central office. At times there is need for
policies from above. But policies do not need
to come from above all the time
 There are times when a school formulates a
policy to address a local problem. In fact, this
is how it should be in a school-community
partnership. Ideally, a policy must not be
formulated by the school head by
himself/herself. The school head must lead in
the policy formulation process.
The word "lead" implies that an effective
policy formulation process must be
participatory. This means that it is best that
the rest of the school and community be
involved. Two good heads are better than
one. Besides participation of school and
community develops a sense of ownership of
such formulated policy which ensures a more
effective implementation.
This is school empowerment in action. Aside
from involving the school and community in
policy formulation, a school head must
ensure wide dissemination and correct and
clear understanding of the policy.
 TAKEAWAYS
• Policies are intended to ensure that schools
perform and realize what they have
envisioned for themselves.
• There are policies that come from authorities
above the school since the school is a
member of a bigger organization or system.
• But schools are also empowered to
formulate their own
• Policies to address their concerns speedily
provided they are not contrary to policies
that come from above.
• School policies are effective when they are
formulated with the participation of the
members of the school an community as
this develops sense of ownership which
ensures implementation of the family.
• Policies must also be widely disseminated
for the information of the entire system
school and community- and must be
understood correctly and clearly.Policies set
order in schools. The absence of clear-cut
policies may court chaos.
THANK YOU!!