Board-Savvy Superintendents
Boosting the Governing IQ of the Superintendent-Aspirants in Your Cabinet
Last August, sitting in on a Cabinet governance work session that Ehren Jarrett, Superintendent of the Rockford (Illinois) Public Schools, was facilitating, I observed a consummate board-savvy chief executive in action. Over the course of four hours, Ehren and his …
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 …
Leaders, Teachers, Chief Executives: Birds of a Feather
In Chicago recently to present a program for nonprofit chief executives on board-CEO relations, I made a side trip to visit a well-regarded nonprofit corporation, Smith Crossing, a retirement community southwest of the city. During my brief visit, I had …
Southern Fairfield County (CT) Superintendents Explore the Governance Frontier at Their High-Impact Governing Work Session
The daylong “High-Impact Governing Work Session” hosted by the Southern Fairfield County Superintendents Association on October 26 opened with a discussion of the wild and wonderful “field” of K-12 governance, which actually is still far from being a full-fledged field …
Capitalizing on Spear Carriers to Preserve Your CEO Line of Credit
The school board’s Planning & Development Committee held four intensive work sessions over the course of six months in coming up with a list of schools to be closed because of falling enrollment, working closely with the superintendent and her …
Demonstrating Your Board Savvyness
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 …
Equipping Superintendent-Aspirants To Survive and Thrive In the Governing Arena
The same year the superintendent of a large urban school district was named “Superintendent of the Year” by her state association and was also a finalist for the same award from AASA, she was fired without cause by her school …
Don’t Forget Your Board Chair’s Paycheck
When I walked into a boardroom recently, I found the board chair – a highly influential attorney – fuming. When I asked what was wrong, he handed me a clipping from the community affairs section of the local paper, saying …
Wearing Your Diplomat-in-Chief Hat
We were sitting in the superintendent’s office after the board meeting talking about her relationship with the board, and I asked her what she did to keep the relationship really healthy, beyond such obvious things as making sure board members …
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