Interview Board President

Board President Interview

I interviewed the School Board President from Belmont.  She is new to the position this year but has served on the board for the past 3 years.  I tried to select questions that she would be able to answer about the board and their role with school governance.

Questions:

1.       When was the last Professional Development (training) that the board had completed?

The only training with the board has been local trainings with WASB.  New members are encouraged to attend the Regional Meetings and the board sends 1-2 representatives to the State Convention every year.  Those members bring back information but we do not have any formal trainings with what they bring back to us.

2.       What is the board’s relationship with the Superintendent? 

We have known the current Superintendent for a long time.  She was the Principal and has worked with all but the new members of the board for some time.  I believe the relationship is good and we are working together to make this the best district we can.  We have worked on the evaluation process the past two years and we will continue to work on that as we go forward.

3.       What do you see as the purpose of the School Board?

I see our purpose as one of governance with the district.  We are responsible to the taxpayers and we need to be aware of what is important for them and our students.  We set policy and oversee the administration.

4.       What is your role as Board President?

I see my role as the person who runs the meetings.  I work with the other board members and the superintendent to conduct our business during the meeting.  I am also responsible for seeting committee assignments.  I am learning about the role as president as I go.

5.       What are the board goals and initiatives for the next school year?

Our goal is to improve and make the district better.  We have completed some facility improvements this past year and will look at additional improvements for this coming year.  I am not sure what initiatives will be our focus for this this year?

6.        What have you learned in your first year as president?

I have spent the year learning about running meetings and developing an understanding of the role of board president.  I feel more comfortable in that role now and I am hoping to continue to grow as I go forward.

7.       Would you be open to having someone come in and work with the board on school governance?

I think we all would be open to having some additional information on how best to govern in our positions.

If I were in the role of superintendent I would work with the board to find training opportunities for growth in understanding board governance.  In a previous district we spent an evening with a representative from WASB working with board and administration.  We looked at setting the parameters for our interaction and how the superintendent would work between the two groups.  This was moderately successful but I remember thinking that one night was not going to be enough to make a difference.  If I were the superintendent in this situation I would push for more training for the board so that they could develop a better understanding of their role.

My current district has a board that is willing to trust the administration and work with them for the betterment of the district.  They work through their agendas and ask questions with information that may not be familiar to them.  I see the relationship with the superintendent as good and the work of the district is completed as a result.  I have been in districts that are bogged down by the minute details that are not items for the board to deal with and the business of the district gets lost.  I believe developing a sound understanding of the roles of both board and administration.  

School Governance

Best Practices with School Governance

Reflecting on the Best Practices in guiding a School Board with school governance may not be limited to just three.  As the superintendent there may be three areas that you work with but there are many arms in those three areas that need to be worked on as you guide the board.  I see the three areas as: creating a vision for the district, creating a policy for governance with the board and building and monitoring the relationship between board and superintendent, and building relationships with the stakeholders. 

Creating the district vision requires planning and preparation so the groups involved can make informed decisions as they move forward with the their work.  Involving all stakeholders in this process must take place.  There must be a process or format to monitor progress and inform decisions about possible improvement as we move forward.  This process also includes the ability of the superintendent to build relationships with the various groups of stakeholders in the district and the community.  It is important to maintain awareness of the relationship with the board as the vision is developed.

The Superintendent is the conduit with creating a policy of governance with the board.  I have learned that the superintendent must continually provide opportunities for the board to learn about governance, establish a framework for them to follow and monitor the progress of that framework.  Once again a sound working relationship with the board is essential to the success of the governance model.  Having a good working relationship with the board president can make this process easier.  Demonstrating unity with the governance model will assist in holding all board members accountable to the non-negotiable routines that have been agreed to during development.  

One area that I have learned more about during this class is recruiting board members.  Being aware of possible board candidates when you work with community groups to develop a vision, move forward with large building projects or meet with the community on issues that arise can be a benefit with future elections.  Knowing your community is a great asset when you have board elections that have open seats or challengers to current members.  Providing information to possible candidates may assist them in their decision to run for a board seat.

Building relationships may be the most important aspect of the superintendent position.  The ability to build relationships across the community and among district personnel is a skill that needs to be refined as the superintendent comes into a district.  I believe that all administrative positions need to be aware of the movers and shakers in their district.  Who do I need to make sure I am addressing and how do I make that connection with them are things I have learned from experience.  While I have learned that all members of a community need to be actively involved in building a district vision, there are groups that need to be addressed at the outset of any tenure to create an environment for the superintendent to be successful.  Creating trust with community, staff and school board members provides the groundwork necessary to carry out the duties of superintendent.

Reflection EDUL 700

Reflection EDUL 700

The information and discussions with this class have been an eye opener.  I may have been aware of the need for leadership from the superintendent position but the amount of leadership required to assist the board in doing business is new information.  I have worked in districts that have been led by a strong superintendent and I have worked in districts that have had weak leadership from that position.  I am more aware of the issues faced by administration in the districts with weak leadership after reading the materials for class and working through the class discussion. 

Developing a vision and purpose is an important piece of the puzzle as I look to move a district forward.  Board governance has a direct impact on the vision and purpose and can be the deciding factor in how a district is able to address student performance.  Boards must understand their role and when they are acting in a manner that is not part of their purpose they affect all things that the district is working toward.  The unfortunate part of school boards acting in a manner outside of their role is that the district will not be able to move in a positive direction.  I know that previous experiences along with the learning form this class will help me with my work as a district leader.

Marzano talks about leadership from the superintendent position as an important factor in student achievement.  Improvement in leadership can affect student achievement by as much as “9.5 percentage points”.  Significant improvement in the areas of goal setting, setting non-negotiable goals for achievement and instruction are both areas that I can improve.  Making sure that there is board alignment with set goals and monitoring progress of those goals are vital to succeeding with the goals of the district.  The final piece is the allocation of resources but I believe this may not be as important if the alignment segment is not established. 

Developing the vision is a process that involves many stakeholders.  I have viewed establishing a vision/mission in a previous district and the process was flawed because leadership was lacking from the superintendent.  The vision and mission was board driven with the idea that this would fix all of the other issues that come up in the yearly operation of a district.  The board referred to the mission on a regular basis during discussions and meetings but there was no mission statement that had been developed.  The three year process of creating this mission never resulted in anything that was usable by administration or the board.  I see my role in leading the formation of a vision/mission as providing the information to the working groups and assisting them in bringing the process to a collaborative end.  As a district we need to have consensus on what we want and how we want to move forward.  Block point to involving all voices in the process to truly get a direction that fits the district.  I am responsible for including the voices in the discussion and creating a forum that all voices are heard.

The superintendent’s role in leading a district can be a monumental task.  Bringing the community together is important to the success of the district. The skills of the superintendent in balancing the wants and needs of all community members looks to be a challenge, but if the procedures are established and the non-negotiable goals are set, I believe there can be great success.  I look forward to the challenge.

Superintendent Checklist

Superintendent Checklist

Reviewing the monthly checklist items for July focused on the financial side of the position.  July is a month heavy in budget review and revision for the coming school year.  It is also the month that audits are conducted so the communication with the Bookkeeper/ Business Manager is a key to this time of year.  Here are the major items on the Superintendent’s list for July:

-          Budget – Audit / Revision for the coming year

-          Meetings with Bookkeeper / Business Manager

-          Review staffing – needs, new hires, retirements, budget implications

-          Building and Grounds updates – summer project progress

-          Policy review and revision if necessary – Board Policy

-          Developing monthly Board Agenda – Board Packet sent electronically

July looks to be a month of review of the previous year and preparation for the upcoming year.  I am in a small district so that tasks may be somewhat different but it seems that the month is challenging.  Many projects are happening and the budget cycle is coming to a close.  The ending of one year and the starting point of the next year overlap during this month.

The Superintendent in our district is very hands on with the projects and has a sound grasp of where we are going for the next year and beyond.  She has the advantage of longevity in this district as she served as a teacher, principal and now the superintendent.  In this case I believe this is “her district” so to speak and she feels the ownership of what happens.

School Board Meeting

School Board Meeting

I watched a video of a local School Board meeting from July 17^th.  I printed a copy of the agenda prior to viewing the meeting and had an idea of the business being conducted.  I have some experience with this district and with the new leadership change I watched with curiosity to see if there would be changes from what I knew to be their practice. 

The agenda was set up with the usual items and the structure of the meeting looked to be a familiar format.  As I watched the meeting unfold it was apparent that policy governance was the model being used.  As with past boards in this district the citizen comments were placed at the beginning and the end of the meeting.  The interesting part of the citizen’s comments portion that began the meeting was the adherence to the time limit.  In this meeting  there was a group from the community and the school staff that were questioning a recent issue that had occurred at the High School.  A former administrator had written a letter that he wanted to read but the time would not permit him to finish the entire letter.  One member of the community continued the reading of the letter with the time allotted to them and finished the statement being made.  It was apparent that the group was present to address that issue and all were looking for answers.

Having experience with this district, and from our class discussions I have found that I am more inclined to believe a Superintendent needs to have a pulse of the community they are working with and an understanding of the values present.  In this meeting the Superintendent allowed the comments portion to proceed and then moved the board into the meeting portion of the agenda.  As per board policy no comments were made with the presented issue and the members of the audience were given a thank you for their concerns and the meeting moved on.  I believe that I will move the public comment portion of the meeting to the end of the meeting.  As we discussed in class there may be answers to the issue during the meeting. 

The steps I would take as Superintendent are:

1.       Engage the Board in Professional Develop through AWSA or another organization.

2.       Provide for an outside organization to watch/attend a board meeting.  Solicit feedback for the board as well as myself as to our process.

3.       Develop our process so that we are all on the same page with meeting goals, conduct and expectations.

Community

Community

Reading Peter Block’s book, “Community” raised some questions.  As I look to move into the role of Superintendent how will I ensure that I am hearing all of the voices that need to be in the conversation?  What will I do to bring those voices to the discussion and how will I work to bring the dissenting or opposing views to a degree of understanding? 

I found the concept of the “human system” unique.  We talk about communities but in what context do we understand the word community.  Block takes the stance that we must listen to all stakeholders and in doing so we must actually hear what is being said.  As leaders we must learn to listen in place of advocating or defending a position.  I am going to have to work on this concept as I move toward a position of Superintendent. 

We talk often in education about our mission and vision but to truly create the mission or vision that is most effective we need to hear what everyone is saying.  As a leader the major challenge with this is the ability to quiet the loudest voices.  How do we get the group to reflect on all opinions? 

The thought that “questions are more transforming than answers” made me reflect on how I will use this in the future.  We discussed in the class using the 5 whys and I believe that will be a great tool to have as I look to lead in my current position as well as in the future when I am working as a Superintendent.

District Vision

District Vision and Mission

Creating a vision and a mission for a district is an important piece in connecting the school district to the community.  My current district is in the beginning stages of updating our vision and mission.  We have started the discussion at the board level and will move into the community as we look to involve all stakeholders in the process.  Our class discussions along with the readings will be valuable as a guide for me when I am involved in setting the direction as a Superintendent. 

I have experienced the process of developing a vision and mission in a previous district.  As I look back at the development process it is evident that there were flaws that created a problem in the creation.  While the involvement of many groups within the school and community were involved, there was a lack of direction from the Superintendent.  A firm was hired to guide the process and that seemed to be an issue as they were able to provide the theory behind the need for a vision, they were not able to bring an understanding of the climate and culture of the district.  The groups involved with creating the vision were provided with examples of visions developed by other districts.  The problem was the lack of direction necessary to create a meaningful vision for our district.  Once the vision and mission were created, that was the end of the line.  We never used the language developed to drive the direction of the district.  We never discussed the outcomes of the vision and never used either the vision or the mission statement during my final two years in the district.

As a future Superintendent I see the prior experiences with developing a vision and a mission as valuable.  I have viewed a process that was not successful and I am going to apply that knowledge to the current process as a building administrator.  I am aware of the need to involve all voices in the process but I also see the need to facilitate the work being done by the groups of stakeholders.  Creating guidelines for the group to work with and making sure that I give them a focus as they make decisions about our vision and the direction they would like to see our district take as we move forward.   

The final reflection from what I have learned during our discussions and the readings is the need to revisit our vision frequently and make changes if there are weaknesses that need to be addressed.  Collection and review of data is essential to answering the questions that will provide future direction.  As a Superintendent I would like to know that we are true to our culture.  Is what we are doing making our students successful and are we using our resources to the fullest extent?  Do we need to make changes and if so what changes?