Introduction
In order to complete this activity, I observed portions of two meetings of my school’s Board of Governors and interviewed the Chief Operating Officer and Head of School. I have to begin by saying that, while I don’t have a tremendous amount of experience with boards of any kind, the cynic in me was surprised by the professional style in which the Board operates. The stories I have heard from friends who sit on other organization’s boards led me to expect disarray, argument and unprofessional behavior but I saw nothing like that. I credit our Head of School and Board President for this.
Findings
A comparison of the information you gained from your own observations to the information you gained from interviews regarding how relationships among the school board members, superintendent, and principal work together to impact decisions related to the goals and needs of the school
As I said above, everything on this point seemed to run exactly as it should. Almost 50% of the school’s Board comprises people with no personal stake in the school (since they have no children there) and these members were chosen because of this detachment.
The division of labor between the Board of Governors and the school’s professional leadership is a clear one: the Board concerns itself with strategic issues and leaves the tactics to the administration. The COO used the analogy of a general and his officers, explaining that a general selects objectives and defines success but does not actually conduct a battle. Similarly, the Board sees its role as one of determining objectives but trusts the school’s administration to decided methodologies.
I should point out that our current Head of School deserves credit for this professional attitude since many Board members shared with me that, prior to his arrival, this division of labor was not as clear.
A description of a specific decision that was made and an explanation of how relationships played a part in the decision-making process
Our school is currenlty undergoing evaluation for certification as an Interational Baccalaureate School. Choosing to raise academic rigor and seek a school-wide curriculum that would make us a school of distinction was the Board’s decision. Once they shared it with our Head, he and the administrative team investigated several options, evaluated them and finally selected the IBO. He then reported that decision back to the Board, complete with a strategy and three-year timeline for implementation. They approved the plan, evaluating it solely on the basis of how well it met their initial directive.
Both the Board and the Head of School seem to enjoy the autonomy and clarity of this arrangement.
A description of an incident in which the board sought to influence personnel, policy, or events in the school, how the incident was addressed or responded to by the principal, and what you consider to be an appropriate and effective response
Our Head of School explained to me that the biggest issue challenging this arrangement is when Board members try, with no ill intent, to “do favors” for the school. A second challenge arises when Board members don’t realize the danger of influence they don’t even know they posess.
For example, the school is currently interviewing candidates for a senior administrative position. One Board member, trying only to helpful, told the Head that he had identified, contacted and interviewed a candidate, using his company’s facilities to conduct video-conferenced interviews in the evening. The Head pointed out that, should the candidate be hired, he would probably expect to continue to enjoy a special relationship with this particular Board member and that could lead to confusion regarding reporting and seniority.
Another example concerned a Board family who were paying a teacher to tutor their child at home. The teacher was not their child’s teacher, but another of their children did have a class with the teacher in question and came into some trouble in class. The teacher came to the Head of School wondering if she might be able to ask another teacher to report the student, so as to not damage the profitable relationship she had with this important family. An awkward situation that could have been avoided had the Board family been more aware of the danger.