QUESTIONS AND RESPONSES

• • Question: What role should school board members play in back to school?  -- Board Members in California, Texas, & Rhode Island

  • TESBM: We're fans of school board members volunteering in back-to-school activities -- passing out backpacks, welcoming families/students on the first day of school, etc. -- as long as a few considerations are observed. Most school board members have volunteered in their school systems long before serving on the school board, so this will feel natural. But school board members aren't regular volunteers anymore. Their role causes staff and other parents to treat them very differently. It's the school board member's responsibility to resist deferential treatment that is inconsistent with how other volunteers are treated.

  • True Volunteer: When school board members choose to volunteer in their schools, they need to fully shed their school board member role and simply be a volunteer. No one else will honor or acknowledge this, but the school board member needs to hold this line for themselves anyway. That means they are under the authority of the principal and need to accept whatever direction or decisions the principal provides -- just like any other volunteer would. If as a school board member you aren't willing to follow the instructions of the principal, then don't show up to volunteer; stay home or go somewhere else where you are willing to do so. But absolutely do not show up and start being a bully or taking over -- either intentionally or unintentionally. When people ask you to make decisions or give directions, decline and defer to the judgment of the principal since it's their building, not yours.

  • Servant Leadership: As a board chair, I went out of my way to ensure that I was utilized like any other volunteer for back to school nights. I served food, swept gym floors, carried trashbags, and loaded and unloaded supplies. When welcoming families and students on the first day of school, I avoided the TV cameras and attention. Instead, I focused on being of service to parents who needed an extra hand or teachers who needed supplies carried from point A to point B. Don't be the narcissist who has to make everything about yourself and being seen. Be the behind-the-scenes servant leader who is there to make it about a great first day for students and their families.

   

  • Question: Our superintendent wants to know what the board's policy will be about cell phones and AI. What do you recommend?   -- Board Members in Tennessee & New York

  • TESBM: If the board has delegated the day-to-day operations of schools to the superintendent, then we recommend that the superintendent do their job by investigating the issues -- including any legal requirements unique to your state -- making the call, and implementing it. If the call requires use of board authority, then making the recommendation to the board and, once the board votes, implementing it. These are incredibly serious issues with significant implementation and educational implications. They shouldn’t be left to the whims of social media posts, chatbot conversations, and individual board member opinions. For these reasons, we would generally consider this to be an irresponsible question for a superintendent to ask of their board members just as much as it would be irresponsible to ask board members for recommendations on which teacher should serve as a mentor to new teachers. Whoever has responsibility (not just accountability) for an area should be leading policy development for that area; that’s where the process should start. That said, it’s perfectly reasonable for the board to ask the superintendent what their policy intentions are for areas that the board has delegated to them.

  • Many school board members misinterpret requests like this as the superintendent wanting to be collaborative or having deep respect for their wisdom/knowledge. Neither is likely the case. Instead, what it more likely means is that either the school board has trained the superintendent to defer day-to-day operational decisions to individual board members or the superintendent hasn't done their homework and is trying to get school board members to do it for them so that they aren't solely responsible if implementation goes sideways. In either case, it's in the best interest of the school board for the superintendent to do their job rather than asking (usually unpaid) school board members to do it for them.

  • Significant potential exceptions to this would be state mandates of school boards regarding either issue (we're not yet aware of any that exist, but if your state has one, let us know) or if the school board adopted a Guardrail regarding either issue (we're not yet aware of any that exist, but if your board has one, let us know). 

   

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  WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

  • In the last newsletter, we shared about a board that is pressuring a board member to resign because of allegations regarding abuse of power and a board that is facing scrutiny over the hiring of the superintendent's spouse.

  • Both situations threaten to erode public trust. As such, both could benefit from independent processes -- an independent investigation for the former and an independent review process for the latter. These situations might also trigger modifications to board policy -- governance policy regarding board behavior for the former and delegation policy regarding superintendent authority for the latter.

   

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  INTERESTING READS

  • This author suggests that democracy requires effective school boards leading public education.

  • This author questions whether or not school boards and democracy are the problem in public education.

  • Rick Maloney continues to be a wonderful school board thinker. Here he talks about the board's work ethic.

   

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  BOARD MEETING ANALYSIS

  • A subscriber asked us to watch a board meeting in New York. Here are the highlights from the regular board meetings:

    • Total Public Minutes: 150

    • Public Minutes Focused on Student Outcomes: 0 (0%)

    • Minutes Not Focused on Student Outcomes:  Voting-13, Other-137

    • Key Topics: personnel, board/supt communication, board transparency, superintendent evaluation tools

    • What Coach Celebrates: It is always appreciated to see public officials vehemently disagreeing on matters of policy, but in a manner that is soft on the people they’re disagreeing with. This was true of the workshop conversation about how the board operates and demonstrates valuable maturity on the part of the board members.

    • What Coach Recommends: The level of passion (see above) and amount of time (1/3 of the meeting) that was afforded to the board transparency debate would be powerful if applied to monitoring student progress as well. Unfortunately, the board does not currently appear to have clear Goals for what students should know or be able to do. While discussing the means of superintendent evaluation, the board was unable to discuss the substance of what the superintendent should be evaluated on (ie: Goals). Our recommendation: begin a community listening campaign with the intention of setting 5yr Goals that represent the community's vision for what students must know and be able to do.

UPCOMING OPPORTUNITIES

• Effective Policy Monitoring & Review

  • We are continuing the Policy Leadership series with a 30-minute webinar on two frequently overlooked aspects of owning a policy: monitoring it for compliance and reviewing it for relevance.

    • 11am central on Friday, September 12th, 2025

    • RSVP Here

  • Did you miss last month's 30-minute webinar? Email Greg for a make-up session on any of our growing list of topics, including governance policy, delegation policy, effective budgeting, superintendent evaluation, professional services management, strategic planning, or consent agendas.

BONUS MATERIAL

For paid subscribers, here are links to additional resources (to gain access to the links below, please consider subscribing):

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

  • Board Meeting Video

  • Meeting Materials

  • Completed Time Use Evaluation

• A guidance document on effective policy leadership and how boards often engage in ineffective policy leadership

Thank you for reading The Effective School Board Member. You ask tough questions and twice per month we get nationally certified school board coaches to provide answers. We help school board members tell their stories and provide additional resources to help them be more effective.

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