About BoardBook
Preparing for school board meetings—compiling and distributing meeting notices, gathering support materials, publishing agenda packets—is perennially a labor and paper intensive exercise. BoardBook, a new Web-based software application created by TASB, electronically streamlines these preparations and opens the door to paperless distribution of meeting materials, to Web posting of finished documents and, ultimately, to paperless meetings.
Agenda packet plus...
BoardBook permits the superintendent's secretary or other person compiling board agendas, notices, and minutes to work on several meetings concurrently. As agenda materials supporting any particular topic become available, they are simply imported—directly or by scanning—into the framework for the appropriate meeting. The completed notices and packets can be published in electronic or hardcopy format on demand. Compilers can:
- Dynamically collect and assemble a wide variety of electronic formats into an integrated, indexed, and consecutively paginated agenda packet.
- Easily recycle notices and agendas for recurring activities (e.g., the superintendent's annual performance evaluation, adoption of the district budget).
- Create meeting-specific shells for minutes-taking.
- Easily manage the roster of those who will have access to this secure application.
Tools for district officials...
The compiler of these various documents is not the only beneficiary of the application. BoardBook also provides a substantial boost to board members and other district officials having password access:
- Collected links to key documents underpinning good decision making by local officials. Such resources, identified by the district, might include the district's online policy manual, budget documents, district and campus improvement plans, and the district's strategic plan.
- Links to a wealth of TASB "best practices" resources, including guides on effective meetings, parliamentary procedure, the Texas Open Meetings Act, decision-making processes, etc.
- A searchable electronic archive of all board meeting packets and meeting minutes created within the application.
- A springboard to paperless distribution—via the Web or by CD-ROM—and to paperless board meetings in which key documents from the electronic agenda packet are projected and/or viewed via laptop by board members and others.
Resources for the public...
The compiler also selects notices, agenda packets/materials, and minutes of individual meetings and effortlessly posts these documents to the Web where they are accessible to the public via a link on the district's Web site.
Take a tour of BoardBook
More info
For more information about BoardBook, e-mail (
) or call Tim Curtis at 888–587–2665.