Slide 1

Steve Dill Senior Vice President ACSI, USA Slide 2 1.Mrs. Jones perceived ineffectiveness as a third grade teacher. 2.Mr. Greens perceived ineffectiveness as the school principal (head of school). 3.The budget allocation for textbooks and supplies. 4.Mrs. Smith (school parent) stopping you (the board member) after church to discuss Mrs. Jones (teacher) unfair treatment of her son. 5.Ongoing misbehavior/bad testimony of the boys soccer team. 6.Approving next years tuition and the overall school budget. Slide 3 Slide 4 Schools rise and fall on leadership. Effective school leadership depends on both head of school and board. Personal character qualities and skills are more important than structures. School heads and school boards must be concerned about professional development and evaluation. Slide 5 1.Mission integrity guard, protect, inspect the implementation of the mission. 2.Money - fiduciary trust finance, audit, investment, facilities - preserve/expand the assets 3.Nurture hire, nurture, affirm, evaluate, encourage, support and if necessary fire the Head of School. 4.Support pray without ceasing; speak positively; give financially. Slide 6 1.Loss of institutional memory: board turnover loses connections to the thinking behind prior board decisions, leads to significant changes in board perspectives. 2.Well meaning board members who assume responsibility in specific management, personnel, or curricular issues 3.Failure to realize that when you joined the board you gave up the right to criticize a teacher, the principal, or anything about the school outside of the board room. 4.Communication: Failure of the Board to give systematic, meaningful feedback positive and negative to the principal; and failure of the principal to communicate the bad news/potential problems to the Board selectively emphasizing the good news and minimizing the bad news. 5.Off balance on the rubber stamp to micromanage continuum Slide 7 1.Indecisive head of school who needs to check with the board on anything of significance. This puts the board into making decisions that are not theirs, and prevents the board from spending time on the right issues. 2.Encouraging the board to focus on short term issues and day to day operations. 3.Allowing board to make Mrs. Jones effectiveness as a third grade teacher or dress code enforcement as board issues. 4.Failure to keep the board informed about bad news or upcoming challenges or issues. (Surprises do not build confidence.) 5.Not supporting board members or board decisions with staff, parents or students. Slide 8 Board turnover. The board that hired the head is gone after a few years; the honeymoon is followed by significant change; followed by opposition and resistance; followed by a board that doesnt remember why they hired this head. A minimum of 7-8 yrs is needed to make an impact; 9-15 years is the usual period when a head can accomplish all that one person can do as a leader of a school; but the average tenure for a head of school is 5 years (USA). (J. Littleford)) Slide 9 2. Head fails to manage the pace of change appropriately. Most teachers are caregivers not change agents. (Changing the copy machine without lead time might get you fired in some schools ) Key constituencies for the Head to manage/serve: (1) Board, (2) Faculty/staff, (3) Parents, (4) Students. 3. An incident moral failure, dismissal of a popular teacher or coach or student, technology/Facebook issue, etc. Slide 10 For profit enterprises have shareholders expecting a financial return, but Christian organizations have different parameters: Christian (schools) serve a community of Moral Owners who have come together to support a specific kingdom ministry. Christian schools operate as a Christian community, relying heavily on relationships to hold them together. Christian schools have a vision and mission that relates to serving others Thus .a relationship driven model is needed Slide 11 Slide 12 Slide 13 Slide 14 Slide 15 Slide 16 Slide 17 Slide 18 Board member hat. Worn only when attending a duly called board meeting or board committee meeting. (under the authority of the board chair) Head of School does not wear this hat. Parent/volunteer hat. Worn all other times in dealing with teachers or parents. When giving advice or sharing expertise with the Head of School. (under the authority of the Head of School) One Voice. In the board room vigorous debate and open differences of opinion prayerfully leading to agreement. Outside the board room supporting the decisions of the board. Slide 19 The primary issue is whether or not the board is fully supporting, nurturing, affirming, and encouraging the head while also acting as the ultimate authority in the school and providing a balanced review of the heads performance. In a similar way, the head of school must be fully supportive of the board publicly and in private conversation and must take concerns directly to the board. Board Head relationship A majority % of board issues come through a breakdown in the board-chair head relationship. The board chair is the key link between the head and the board. Head should be empowered and accountable. Slide 20 Ideal Board size: 9-15 Should boards include non-current parents? Schedule: 6-8 times a year, 2-3 hr meeting, plus annual board retreat Committees: fewer is better than many Trustee/Nominating/Board training/evaluation Finance (Audit, Investment included) Head Support (evaluation; encouragement/support) Advancement/Development Executive/Governance (officers) Ad Hoc as needed: facilities, strategic planning Annual agenda and goals Slide 21 Mutual discussion and agreement over the annual review components and process. 3-5 annual goals (mutual discussion); clear job description Mid year discussion Head does self evaluation at year end Board Instrument each board member does their own write up; goes to board chair/Head support chair; Board discusses draft in executive session. (generally, the only executive session) Annual write up should include commendations and recommendations Slide 22 Mutual discussion and agreement over the annual review components and process. Board members do a self evaluation annually and also an evaluation of how well the board and chair have functioned. Trustee committee compiles results and shares overall results with the full Board. Trustee committee uses results in deciding whether or not to recommend continued board service for individual board members. Chair has the responsibility of dealing with rogue board members. Slide 23 Passion for and a commitment to the schools mission Wisdom; spiritual maturity (not knowledge or skills for hire) The ability to think and act strategically rather than micromanage Public and private support of the Head Financial resources combined with wisdom strengthens the school. The inability to take off the parent hat Conflicts of interest or the potential for a conflict Independent cowboy behavior or a tendency to engage in boundary crossing Any showing of lack of support for the Head Slide 24 The most important Board committee but often nonexistent or inactive Recruits, screens, invites, develops and trains wise board members Evaluates the boards performance and corrects inappropriate behaviors Preserves institutional memory by minimizing trustee and chair turnover Continually assesses the current mix of talent and wisdom on the board including balance of current parents, past parents, and non-parents. Slide 25 Onboarding of new board members All board members (even experienced ones) benefit from annual training Board Self Evaluation Effectiveness of Chair Quality of meetings Effectiveness of committees Support for the Head Individual evaluation: attendance, understanding/doing healthy board governance Spiritually mature, professional relationships with other trustees. Slide 26 Boards need to minimize turnover of trustees who remember the mission of the school and why the current head was hired. Term limits? Common : two 3 yr terms Consider 3 terms of 3 years each Assumes annual effective evaluation of each trustee Chair terms of 3-5 years; most heads do not survive their 4 th board chair No term limits can work if the Committee on Trustees is active and effective.