6 Habits To Make You a Hit With Your School Board - school superintendents

School Administrator, June, 1997 by James R. Rickabaugh, Michael L. Kremer

When the relationship between the school board and superintendent works, almost any challenge can be met and overcome.

Conversely, when suspicion, resentment, and frustration exist between board members and the superintendent, the smallest problem can become a crisis. When superintendent/board relationships are not smooth, students and the community will feel the negative impact.

Everyone wants a positive, confident, and trusting relationship with a significant other, so why do so many school board/superintendent teams struggle endlessly and even break up?

Practical Steps

We have discovered three key elements to building, maintaining, and strengthening the board/superintendent relationship. First, expectations of each party must be clear. Second, communication must be timely, consistent, and focused on the needs and expectations of both parties. Third, trust must be present, but that element is a natural outgrowth of the first two elements.

We have developed a set of six practical, easily managed but very effective techniques or habits that, if practiced consistently, can significantly improve board/superintendent relations. With these habits in mind, school board/superintendent relations will possess the important characteristics of clarity and effective communication along with high levels of trust and confidence.

Habit No. 1: Remove surprises from board meetings.

The most dreaded of superintendent nightmares arise when board members question the superintendent on a matter he or she feels unprepared to answer without further information. Fortunately, this nightmare can be prevented or minimized if the superintendent habitually calls board members a day or so in advance of each board meeting.

This practice creates an expectation among board members that you will be contacting them so they are more likely to review their information packets sent before meetings. It also gives board members an opportunity to ask questions they otherwise might hold until the meeting, giving you the chance to answer immediately or use the time prior to the board meeting to develop a quality response.

Further, if issues or questions collected through your calls to board members will require additional research, these tasks can be completed and the information available by meeting time. Finally, pre-meeting calls send a consistent message to board members that the superintendent is prepared and committed to meeting their needs.

Habit No. 2: Maintain a follow-up routine on assignments.

One of the most troublesome and often difficult-to-defend accusations from board members is that the superintendent and other administrators do not follow through on board member requests and assignments. This charge is especially difficult to answer if no record exists of exactly what requests and assignments were made. An easy-to-implement practice to prevent such misunderstandings is a board meeting follow-up memo.

This technique involves making notes during the board meeting of items requiring attention or followup. Immediately after the board meeting or the next day, these items can be converted quickly to a list of tasks followed by designation of the staff member who will take responsibility for follow-through. The memo can be copied and sent to board members within a few days of the board meeting with a request that if any tasks or assignments from the meeting have been overlooked or misunderstood, board members contact the superintendent as soon as possible.

This habit ensures that agreement exists among board members and the superintendent regarding any needed follow-up, creates a clear assignment list for staff, and serves as an ongoing record of tasks completed or remaining.

Status reports of follow-up tasks can serve as part of the annual superintendent evaluation. Board members will be impressed by how much work has been accomplished and just how many assignments result from each meeting. If too many tasks have not been completed, this factor also can trigger board/superintendent review and discussion.

Rapid Response

Habit No. 3: Develop an follow guidelines for wizen to contact board members.

Normally, board members may be satisfied with weekly reports and the information provided at board meetings. Yet when crises or unexpected events occur, most board members usually want information immediately.

This need can be met by holding a frank discussion with board members regarding their expectations and the circumstances in which they want to be contacted. If these expectations are unrealistic, this is the time to seek modifications, not when an incident arises.

Once established, the expectations can be built into crisis response plans to guide administrative actions.

Obviously, board members cannot be informed of every happening in the school district. Yet they can become important and vocal supporters when properly informed. When embarrassed by lack of information, they can become difficult to please.

Habit No.4: Develop a consistent process for responding to individual board member requests.