Governing Effectively via a Framework for School Governance
(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) It would have been easy to say our personalities clash and that’s why we didn’t get along with each other, but that excuse wouldn’t hold water. We chose to devote a full weekend to settling our differences. So deep seated were our problems and feelings that we asked the executive director of the state school boards association to attend and facilitate. At this meeting we vented our feelings, mistrust, and allegations of all kinds. Read More …
(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) The objective of the monitoring process is to flag substandard performance before it becomes habitual and to provide counsel aimed at correcting it, without causing any embarrassment to erring board members. In my experience, it makes sense for the executive, or governance committee to make individual board member performance a formal agenda item at least quarterly, taking a management by exception approach. ― Doug Eadie1 Aware of the potential that individual board members may Read More …
(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) ― Horry County School District1 Board member performance is, in a word, boardsmanship. The first step in improving boardsmanship is identifying and communicating criteria that will be used to monitor board member performance and determine board member success. The above policy language is found in a protocol adopted by a school board, describing its expectations for board meetings and identifying how individual board members can contribute to or detract from effective board meetings. When Read More …
(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) “A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not to be trusted by anybody.” ― Thomas Paine Paine offered the above advice to America’s Founding Fathers, who were debating how best to limit the power of government. Considering Paine’s advice as it applies to the board member role: If board and board member performance were evaluated and made public, many board members might be a bit more restrained in their actions. ― Read More …
(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) A school board, being composed of persons, may find self-assessment distasteful. Implicit in the process, after all, is the assumption that its members will admit to some failures. They must be ready to see themselves as lacking in some areas. But board members, like most people, may get defensive when asked to account for their shortcomings. It is easier for boards to critique the performance of their main employee, the superintendent. ― Gene Maeroff1 Read More …
(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) The unexamined life is not worth living. – Socrates Becoming a Better Board Member offers advice to boards for monitoring their own performance: Reviewing our own performance can be a healing experience. Scenario: A year and a half after two new members joined the South Valley School Board, deep divisions remain among board members and between the board and top district leadership. The board and senior staff, interviewed anonymously by an outside consultant, said Read More …
(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) High-performing boards are characterized by a number of observable behaviors. They know what their job is, and they do it efficiently. They plan their own work and perform their work at the policy level, focusing more on organizational outcomes than process. They are responsible for their own performance; they follow their own rules and deal fairly and consistently with staff and each other. They set the vision for themselves and the organization. They clearly understand Read More …
(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) Scenario: Bernie and Maria were discussing remarks made about the swimming pool during the public comment period at the Coalville board meeting. An elderly man had accused the board of reneging on an implied promise made during the recent bond campaign: “You folks need to understand that we paid for these facilities, and we expect them to be made available for our use.” “We need assurance that the swimming pool is accessible to retirees Read More …
(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) [School boards] establish a strong communications structure to inform and engage both internal and external stakeholders in setting and achieving district goals They are masterful in two dimensions of community leadership: advocating for their school districts and developing and maintaining strong strategic partnerships. – NSBA1 Advocacy is the responsibility of a school board to speak on behalf of students. Using its platform as community representative, the board informs the public, including (especially) state and Read More …
(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) Vision without action is a dream, and action without vision is aimless. Board policy represents the intersection of vision and accountability…Policies can and should reflect local values and principles designed to address local needs and what the board cares about. – Katherine Gemberling et al1 Policy can be strategic when it gives broad guidance to district leadership, including the board itself. It can be operational when more routine district activities receive detailed direction. Scenario: Read More …