Don’t Unwittingly Turn Your Board Members Into Victims of Poorly Designed Structure and Process
A superintendent called me recently, asking if I’d be interested in presenting a governance training workshop for her school board. She explained that several board members were coming dangerously close to “micro-managing,” and she wanted them to understand the boundaries …
Board Spear Carriers: Protecting the Superintendent’s Line of Credit
Last week’s post at this blog features my video interview with Dave Schuler, Lead Teacher of AASA’s Aspiring Superintendents Academy and former AASA Chair, who discusses the mission, goals, and accomplishments of the Academy. Dave and I are in complete …
David Schuler on Preparing Aspiring Superintendents for the Top Spot
In addition to serving as superintendent of Illinois High School District 214, Dave Schuler dedicates countless hours to making this true tale of woe that’s recounted in my book Building a High-Impact Board-Superintendent Partnership the exception to the rule. A …
Recruiting a Really Board-Savvy Superintendent
Experience has taught me – and I’m sure many if not most of this blog’s readers – that the more board-savvy its superintendent, the more effective a school board is likely to be as a governing body and the more …
The Lynchpins of a High-Performing Board Committee Structure
While preparing for a four-hour Zoom work session later this week with the superintendent and cabinet of a large Midwestern school district, focusing on preparation for the launch of a new board committee structure, I reflected on a seminal learning …
Combatting the Zoom Muzzle Syndrome (ZMS)
Since mid-March of this year I’ve participated – wearing my governance counsel hat – in numerous virtual work sessions of client school boards and standing committees, employing the popular Zoom video conferencing platform. Zooming has made it possible for my …
Welcome to the Frontier!
I opened the video webinar I recently presented for the board and superintendent of a Northern Virginia school division by observing that K-12 governance is frontier territory. Far from being a mature, fully developed field, K-12 governance is characterized by …
On the Eve of Independence Day
The following essay is excerpted from a post that originally appeared in this blog some four years ago. On the eve of our 2020 Independence Day celebration, I think it is appropriate to reflect on the meaning of this national …
The Retreat as a Board Capacity Building Vehicle
Experience has taught me that a retreat involving your school board and senior administrators can be a powerful tool for building your board’s governing capacity and strengthening the board-superintendent partnership. But – and it’s a really big caveat – you’ve …
Rockford Superintendent Ehren Jarrett: Finding a Silver Lining in Crisis
As the video interview I recorded with Dr. Ehren Jarrett, Superintendent of the Rockford Public Schools (Illinois), indicates, he has been a consummate Energizer-in-Chief and master of crisis management during Covid 19. Working closely with his Board, administrators and faculty, …
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