2 Questions
A friend who edits a national publication on board leadership recently asked me a two-part question. Which topics for board education did you find useful (and why)? And which topics were worthless (and why)?
NOTE: Although most of my comments are applicable to all boards, I serve on a public school board of directors, so some of my responses are most applicable to a school board that has to follow certain state laws and regulations that are specifically applicable to school boards.
My response was to provide 5 topics that I have found useful. In sequence, relating to the time frame when the need for the topic or my readiness for learning the topic was most appropriate, they are: (1) Public school law; (2) Boardsmanship; (3) Board Leadership; (4) Governance; and (5) Management (Withing the Limits of Board-Appropriate Application). Following those topics that I found useful, I have listed two topics that I consider worthless. Perhaps ‘worthless’ is a harsh term, but I use it to emphasize the potential for not only irrelevant learning but actually harmful learning that points the board member in the wrong direction. They are (1) Management or Teaching; and (2) Untested Innovation.
A. Useful Board Training
I think these topics were important to me immediately on beginning my first term (4 years) on the board.
1. Public School Law
a. What are the statutory duties of a board member and a board that are spelled out in state law
The answer provides a good sense of minimal expectations.
b. What kinds of decisions, conditions, or situations are prohibited by state and federal law, and what legal problems/risks experienced by others are of value to boards and board members
The answer provides a good sense of legally sound best practices, and the legal limits within which board members and boards operate.
c. What legal risks should a school board member worry about
The answer gives a sense of what could go wrong in performing board duties.
2. Boardsmanship
Most training offered by my state association dealt only with Boardsmanship, so this was my first conception of the job of a board member. It was a long time before I realized there was a difference between Boardsmanship – individual board member performance – and Governance – whole board performance.
a. What are the limitations of the authority of a single board member?
The answer to this question (no authority at all) helps an eager new board member learn that they must WORK THROUGH THE BOARD to get anything done, and if the board member is to make a difference they must contribute to the BOARD’S EFFECTIVENESS.
b. What to watch out for: How can a board member’s actions harm the school district mission? How can a board member’s actions harm the board’s effectiveness?
The answers to these two questions provide a good guide to what NOT to do, and establish the boundaries of acceptable board member behavior.
c. What to do: Best practices in Boardsmanship – How can a board member contribute to the school district mission? The board’s effectiveness?
The answers to these two questions give a sense of ‘best practices’ for individual board members.
3. Board Leadership
Early (too early) in my first term as a board member I assumed the role of board president, and needed to apply principles of board leadership that help facilitate the effective carrying out of the board role. Some examples:
a. Robert’s Rules of Order (as revised and adopted by local board practice)
b. Boardsmanship Protocol adopted by the board.
c. Public School Law (more than the initial orientation of the new board member)
Some examples:
- Open Public Meetings Law
- Requirement to announce meetings at which a board plurality will be in attendance.
- Requirement to include agenda items for any actions for which board deliberation and decisions are anticipated.
- Public Disclosure Law
- Requirement to provide documentation that is considered to be the rightful ‘property’ of the public
- Requirement for release in a reasonable format and within a reasonable time limit
4. Governance
It wasn’t until I had been a board member for 4-8 years that I had a decent idea of what governance was. Some examples:
a. The duties and responsibilities – the role – of the board working as a whole?
Again, the board member should have a clear idea of the role of ‘the board’.
b. Best practices for boards working in their appropriate board role?
The answer to this question helps guide a board in its mission of assuring district success (assuring that the district achieves what it should while avoiding those situations/conditions that should be avoided.
c. The limits of the board’s capacity to assure that the district achieves everything that state law and local community expects of it?
The answer to this question gives the board a sense of humility – the boundaries within which to operate and its inability to fully and effectively ‘manage’ the district – work that is more appropriate assigned to staff, through the superintendent.
5. Management (Withing the Limits of Board-Appropriate Application)
Only at the point where I had 8-20 years on the board did I get a decent idea of how management principles can be best applied by school boards acting in their role.
Some examples of management principles from the literature that are applicable to the board role:
a. Chain of Command
Boards should understand that the “board-superintendent team” is not a single rung in the chain of command. Command of the district (not its management) begins with the board, and the superintendent is the next level of command.
b. Linking Pin
Each link in the chain of command constitutes a ‘linking pin’ according to Kurt Lewin. Each such linking pin is responsible TO those above, and is responsible FOR everything those below do or fail to do.
c. Delegation of Authority
Unless a leader is to do everything him/herself, they must learn how to delegate authority. A leader can (and should) delegate authority, but when they do, they must realize that they remain responsible for everything that has been assigned. Authority can be delegated, but Responsibility cannot be delegated.
d. Responsibility
Each level of the chain of command (including the board as a level separate from that of the superintendent) must step up to its responsibility. Responsibility cannot be delegated, but the leader can (and should) assign responsibilities rather than tasks to those who will carry out a job, along with information about how they are answerable for responsibilities assigned. A sense of responsibility (for which one will be required to answer) is one of the best motivators, and is always preferable to mere assignment of tasks or chores.
e. Accountability
Accountability is what the leader assures after delegating authority, by checking/monitoring/inspecting to assure that what is expected has been achieved, and what is to be avoided has been avoided.
B. WORTHLESS
1. Training in Management or Teaching
Most board training that purports to educate board members about best teaching practices or best management practices is inappropriate to the board role, or if appropriate is inappropriately explained in terms of how to effectively apply such “lessons learned”.
- There are many such examples.
- We need only to peruse the latest state or national conference agendas, that are targeted at the interests of school administrators and educators.
2. Training that Highlights Untested Innovation
Most board training, even when well-intended to fit the appropriate role of the board, is flawed because the “new thing” is “good” only in terms of its enthusiastic adoption. Because it is new it seems exciting, or novel, or innovative. Initiatives prompted by a felt need for innovation are rarely given the time needed to test the idea out, collecting data that demonstrates its long-term positive impact. They often last only through the (relatively short) tenure of the superintendent who adopted it, so never are given the “test of time”. They are offered as “best practice” based on the first blush of enthusiastic adoption, and are shared with colleagues as if this new “shiny ball” is something to be emulated.
- There are many such examples.
- We need only to peruse the latest state or national conference agendas, that are targeted at the interests of school administrators and educators.