Local boards of education are responsible for the control and management of the public schools within their jurisdiction. In addition to this broad authority, state law sets out a number of specific duties and responsibilities of all local boards. In order to carry out the constitutional and statutory duties required of it, the board must act as a body and to do this it must organize so that it can operate in an orderly fashion. The manner in which a local board organizes may vary from school district to school district, depending upon the local act which applies to each separate board. This chapter outlines how local boards are organized, their members compensated and the authority granted by law to them. State law also sets forth those instances when the board or individual board members may have a conflict of interest which would restrict the board or one or more of its members from a particular course of action.