Superintendent-School Board Relations That Work

School Administrator, August, 1994 by Elizabeth Donohoe Steinberger

Hands-On Approach

Superintendent Tom Wagner describes residents as "hardworking, honest people who want the best education possible for their children." Besides a deep community commitment to schools, Wagner believes the district's size (about 525 students) and a hands-on approach to management also contribute to the effective working relationship between the administration and school board.

When Wagner recommended an alternative use for one of the vocational education centers and transporting high school students in the program to another center that offered more courses, the board hesitated. The vocational center had long been a source of pride to the local community. To Wagner, the facility offered space for three- and four-year-olds in the district's pre-kindergarten program who were being bused 15 miles each day to another building.

Wagner figured board members and parents needed to see for themselves what the move would mean. Becoming bus driver and tour guide, he took board members and parents to the new center.

"By taking people to see the facility, things started to change. There really wasn't any discussion or contest after that," Wagner explains. Getting information to board members, whether through first-hand experiences, training, outside consultants, or publications, is essential for making hard decisions, Wagner and Schumaker agree.

Refining Roles

Getting to know one another and what each expects is also important. Wagner believes the superintendent should be a visionary leader--one who encourages flexibility and change rather than protecting the status quo.

School board members, says Wagner, are policymakers, and while they must ensure that policies are carried out, they should not get involved in daily operations. In a small district, this is sometimes difficult because residents have easy access to board members.

When board members raise questions or concerns, says Schumaker, the superintendent must provide accurate answers without getting defensive or taking issues personally. One of Wagner s strengths, says the board member, is that he has learned to handle inquiries and differences well during his five-year tenure. As a result, the superintendent and seven-member board have worked through their differences and support common interests.

Although Lowpoint-Washburn has not experienced the increasing enrollments, increasing student-mobility rates, and dwindling state support of Cherry Creek, the pattern of superintendent succession is similar. Wagner's predecessors include a long-tenured veteran who retired and an interim superintendent who served for about three years before moving on to another district.

Kenmore-Tonawanda

When the Kenmore-Tonawanda school board hired Jack Helfrich in 1981, the future for local schools was not only dark, it also was terribly out of focus. Too many school buildings and too many employees created a confusing blur in the educational landscape of Kenmore and Tonawanda, the two Buffalo-area suburbs served by the school district.