Time Use, Teambuilding, & Agenda Setting

Welcome to The Effective School Board Member. You ask tough questions and twice per month we get nationally certified school board coaches to provide answers. We include resources to help school board members become more effective, like readings and school board meeting analysis.

QUESTIONS AND RESPONSES

• Question: You've suggested that we should spend time every month during board meetings monitoring progress toward our goals about student learning. Does it really need to be every month?    -- Board Member in Washington

• TESBM: That is our coaching. Your real question here is why is that our coaching. The answer: culture, culture, and culture.

• The school system's culture is shaped more by the school board's actions than its words. If the two match, that's stronger, but if the board's sayings and doings are in conflict, the staff will most likely follow the doings. So if you say student outcomes matter but your actions show otherwise, don't be surprised if staff follow your leadership and pay less attention to student learning.

• The school system’s culture is derived more from what is measured than from what is not measured. If the superintendent knows their evaluation is based on monthly student growth monitoring, they and their team can focus on supporting student growth. If the superintendent knows that they’ll be scrutinized each month based only on finances, operations, and adult inputs, that’s what they are incentivized to focus on -- and their team along with them.

• The school system's culture depends on whether the school board honors its word. If the school board claims student outcomes are the priority but their actions don't reflect that, then the message the board is sending to staff is that they don't have to honor their word either -- that they can say one thing, but act otherwise. Either student outcomes are the priority and the board's use of time reflects that, or it doesn't reflect that and the board is encouraging a culture of non-integrity.

• Question: How do we get school board members to get along with each other better and enjoy their time together as colleagues? We are thinking of doing teambuilding or something like that. What would you recommend?   -- Board Member in Kansas 

• TESBM: I'm not aware of evidence suggesting that board members liking or being friends with each other correlates with improved student outcomes. Evidence suggests that board member behavior impacts board effectiveness, but that doesn't point to the need for board members to like each other or be friends. I'm not suggesting those are bad things -- I don't have evidence that board members being friends is inherently harmful -- just that you want to be clear about what you're trying to achieve and why.

• The experience of being on a team is not about whether people like each other or are friends. That is a common misconception. Rather, the experience of team is an emergent property of shared action in the direction of shared intention. If board members identify a common set of priorities (shared intention) and focus their energy on steps to accomplish them (shared action), the natural consequence over time will be the experience of being on a team -- regardless of whether they like each other or are friends.

• What's the first recommendation? Clarify the priorities (shared intention) by adopting Goals that represent the community's vision for what students should know and be able to do, and by adopting Guardrails that represent the community's non-negotiable values. Then create an implementation timeline that describes the exact deliverables the board and board members will deliver, and by which dates. Then implement that faithfully for at least six months (shared action). The experience of team is more likely to emerge from that than from trust falls.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

• In the last newsletter, we shared about board members being accused of improperly adding items to the board meeting agenda. You all agreed: don't vote on items if they weren't added properly. One of you suggested a special meeting for urgent items. This is what we recommend. Our coaching is for school board members to receive all materials -- complete, not partial, not draft, and including presentations -- for any items that will be considered by the board 7 to 14 days prior to the meeting at which they'll be considered. Any items that don't meet this standard -- whether they come from board members or the superintendent -- should automatically be moved to the next regularly scheduled meeting. Governance emergencies are rare -- the administration has emergencies daily sometimes, but the board does not -- so most items coming before the board can be handled this way.

• In this district, the school board has provided the superintendent with significant compensation above their base salary -- which is now attracting criticism. What would you do? Go here to share what you would do in this situation. In the next newsletter, we'll share your responses and our coaches' thoughts.

INTERESTING READS

• Researchers observed numerous school board budget meetings and drew interesting conclusions.

• People often discuss transparency, but does your board actually value transparency?

BOARD MEETING ANALYSIS

• A subscriber asked us to watch a January school board meeting in Indiana. Here are the highlights from the combined business meeting/finance meeting:

  • Total Minutes: 35 min

  • Minutes Focused on Student Outcomes: 0 min

  • Key Topics: student recognition (kindness), board reorganization, financial report, new staff introductions, retirements, investment report

  • What Coach Celebrates: The meeting mainly recognized students for demonstrating the community's value of kindness (nominated by their teachers). This was a strong example of the board using student recognitions intentionally to reinforce a valued character trait.

  • What Coach Recommends: I couldn't find the goals or strategic plan on the school system's website, so I can't definitively say the board hasn't adopted a goal about student kindness. But I suspect they haven't. To improve this meeting while fitting into this board's norms, set aside time to focus on and celebrate improvements relative to your Goals about student outcomes. To do this: 1) adopt Goals about what students should know and/or be able to do, 2) do an additional round of monthly student recognitions for those students who have grown significantly relative to the Goals, and then 3) have the superintendent provide a report about that Goal and spend time discussing it. The board is reinforcing a culture of high expectations for student character, so add to that by reinforcing a culture of high expectations for student outcomes.

UPCOMING OPPORTUNITY

• Why & How Is An Effective Consent Agenda Used?

  • We are hosting a 30-minute webinar to go over what a consent agenda/consent calendar is, why you might use one, and how to do so effectively. Pro tip: if your consent agenda is taking more than 60 seconds, you need to join this session.

  • 11am central on Friday, April 11th, 2025

  • RSVP Here

• Did you miss last month's 30-minute webinar? Email Greg for a make-up session.

BONUS MATERIAL

For paid subscribers, here are links to additional resources:

• Additional details about the analyzed meeting -- including a video link and time use evaluation.

  • Board Meeting Video

  • Board Meeting Agenda

  • Finance Meeting Agenda

  • Community Values

  • Time Use Evaluation

• An example of a school board's implementation timeline.
• A guidance document regarding effective goal monitoring practices.

• A guidance document regarding effective consent agenda practices.

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