In the Berkeley Unified School District, each school has a School Site Council, which combines the responsibilities of the state-mandated School Site Councils (such as writing the School Plan and allocating certain state funds directed to schools) as well as the duties of looking at all school spending including BSEP Site Funds, a portion of special local funds that go directly to school sites.
A community response to school funding shortages in the wake of Prop.13, the Berkeley Schools Excellence Program (BSEP), has made a difference in the quality of our children’s education since 1986. This special local tax was on Berkeley’s November 2016 ballot as Measure E1, where it was reauthorized with the approval of almost 89% of the voters, and was extended for 8 years.
On September 12, 2018 the Board of Education adopted revised School Site Council Bylaws for elementary and middle schools, available here. On February 19th, 2020, the Board of Education revised the School Site Council Bylaws for Berkeley High School, available here.
Handbook for School Site Committees: PDF