How THE FREEDOM SCHOOL is Governed
The Freedom School Cooperative, is governed by the Assembly, School Meeting and Judicial Committee.
ASSEMBLY
The Cooperative has an Assembly that, under the by-laws is made up of students, staff, parents, trustees. The Assembly meets, three times a year and determines all the basic policies, the annual budget, membershiop and the Officers and Trustees. The agenda is published in advance and mailed to all members. The Officers of the Cooperative include a President, Treasurer, and Secretary. Every year the Assembly elects the Board of Trustees. The Board is the advisory panel. Other committees are formed by the Assembly such as Public Relations Committee, Finance Committee, Fundraising Committee, etc.
SCHOOL MEETING
The School Meeting meets once a week and operates the day-to-day life of the Cooperative. The School Meeting consists of all the people that meet on a regular basis --- each of whom has a vote. The meetings are run efficiently and formally according to strict rules of order. The agenda is published in advance and is called the School Meeting Record.
The School Meeting has full operational authority to run the Cooperative, subject only to the policies set forth in the Assembly. The School Meeting spends money, passes all the coop rules, (all permanent rules are codified in the School Meeting Law Book), oversees discipline, and sets up all sorts of administrative entries to keep things in order. The School Meeting Chair who is elected each year presides over the School Meeting. And the School Meeting also elects a secretary. The School Meeting creates Clerkships, Committees, Corporations which are all spelled out in detail in the Law Book and in a Management Manual kept in the office.)
Clerks are basically parents that agree to help with various tasks such as Membership Clerk, Buildings and Maintenance Clerk, Library Clerk etc. The coop also forms Corporations. Corporations are formal interest groups, which is probably the equivalent of Departments in traditional schools. They are formed and disbanded according to the needs and interests of the children. For example, there might be a Woodworking Corporation, which takes care of all woodworking activities. Funds would be channeled through the corporation to support that activity. If additional funds are needed, fundraising can be done or the Corporation can ask for additional fund through a proposal to the school meeting where the children and staff will vote on whether or not to allocate the funds.
JUDICIAL SYSTEM
All disciplinary problems in the coop are taken care of in the context of the Judicial System established by the School Meeting. The details of the system are spelled out in the Law book.