This study aims to discuss the School Management Committee's (SMC) role in public school governance. It raises the question of whether SMC plays a critical role in making decisions on school governance and putting them into action as envisioned by decentralization policy or if it is more concerned with minor issues in school management than with school governance. Although the government has implemented a decentralization policy to give SMC full authority to govern schools, this paper argues that SMC makes only a few decisions on extracurricular activities and financial management, based on in-depth interviews with the head teacher and members of SMC. The majority of school governance rules and regulations are still directed by district education and ministry, as they were in the past. The majority of school governance rules and regulations are still obligatory through district education and ministry, as they were in the top-down style of school government.