Vermont School Boards Association Webinar April 30, 2012 The Effective School Board Chair

Vermont School Boards AssociationWebinar

April 30, 2012

The Effective School Board Chair

How the webinar works

2

We will control your computer screenYou can follow and respond through computerWe will use polls to get information from the groupThe presentation will be archived on VSBA web siteThere will be an online evaluation following the

webinarYou may be asked to raise your hand We will use the Chat Box for individual questions

and answersDuring presentation and afterward

Essential Work of School Boards available to order

Session Goalso Introduce the staff of VSBAo Present the VSBA Model for Effective School

Board Chairso Address Common Challenges of Board Chairso Explain the services of VSBA

VSBA Staff

4

Kerri Lamb Operations Manager

Steve Dale Executive Director

Nicole Mace Associate Director for Legal

Services

Harry Frank Associate Director for Board

Development

POLL:

GETTING TO KNOW PARTICIPANTS

Dual Themes in Vermont Governance

District Board Supervisory Union

Local Boards Superintendents Created Early 1800’s SUs Created 1915

Operated Schools Professional supervision 1892 2,500 to 288 Added roles Added administrators Centralization of Services

Strong Local Ownership/ Strong Professional Supervision

Oversight and Leadership

EFFECTIVE SCHOOLS

The Role of the School Board Chair

Promote the development of a strong board team that understands its role and performs its essential work.

Establish a strong connection with the administration to build common vision and a strong sense of teamwork.

Organize and conduct productive meetings.

Promote lawful/ethical operations.

KEY ROLE OF THE CHAIR

Promote the development of a strong board team that understands its role and performs its essential work.

The Role of the School Board

Serve on behalf of the community

to provide strong oversight of public education

Ensure high quality education for all students

Ensure the public gets good return on its investment

Ensure that the system operates effectively and ethically

The Role of the Supervisory Union Board

Oversee education for the region through the Supervisory Union, assuring mutual accountability with superintendent, and seeking greater student opportunity and operating efficiency.

The Essential Work of School Boards

Create a vision for education Establish policy parametersHire a superintendentMonitor progress and assure accountabilityEstablish a budget and oversee financesEngage the communityOther limited legal responsibilities

Quasi-Judicial RoleContract Negotiations

Do this all in an effective and ethical way.

Build a TeamBuild relationships with each member of the

boardWelcome new board members and ensure

they receive an orientation Ensure all members understand they are an

integral part of the boardBe aware of board dynamicsEstablish ground rules for board meetings

and decision-makingCreate committees to help the board do its

essential work

POLL:

ASSESSING TEAM EFFECTIVENESS


Establish a strong connection with the administration to build common vision and a strong sense of teamwork.

Creating a Healthy Partnership for Education Leadership

Assure the Board is doing its job—vision, priorities, policy, resources, monitoring

Board members assure that schools are well run—they don’t run them

Expect and allow administrators to do their jobs

Seek and encourage leadershipAssure good communicationAssure that challenges are addressed and

that there is an accountable system.

Be Clear on RolesSupervisory Union—

Board—Official Hiring Authority SU Chair and Executive Committee

Superintendent--CEO“Mutual Accountability”

District —Board—Oversight of EducationSuperintendent—Chief Executive OfficerPrincipal—Operations of Schools

Negotiate ongoing day-to-day connections and communications

Guidance, Support, SupervisionAssure goal setting with

Superintendent and that goals are being set for principals

Regular performance review of Superintendent

Informal communication channelsAddressing issues as a district boardAddressing issues formally through the

SU

POLL:

RELATING TO THE ADMINISTRATION


Organize and conduct productive meetings.

Manage Productive Meetings• Build effective agendas

Follow Robert’s Rules of Order

Obey open meeting and public records laws

Facilitate complex community conversations

Strive for consensus

Build Effective AgendasSeek input from other board members and

work with administration to develop a manageable agenda

Align agendas with board goalsInclude a manageable number of issuesLimit action to items that the board has

had time to considerEnsure clarity so the public can be

reasonably informed of the topics to be discussed

Become Familiar with Robert’s Rules

Obey Open Meeting and Public Records Laws

1 V.S.A. §312(a): All meetings of a public body are declared to be open at all times…No resolution, rule, regulation, appointment, or formal action shall be binding except as taken or made at such an open meeting.

1 V.S.A. §316(a): Any person may inspect or copy any public record of a public agency...

1 V.S.A. §317(b): Public record means any written or recorded information, regardless of physical form or characteristics, which is produced or acquired in the course of public agency business.

POLL:

ROBERTS RULES OF ORDER:HOW COMFORTABLE ARE

YOU??

No charges in class time deer killingMike Donoghue Jan 27, 2012

ST. ALBANS -- No criminal charges will be filed against a St. Albans teacher or the student he allowed to go home, get a gun and kill a deer during school time, according to the Franklin County prosecutor.

"That's good news," Steve Wunsch, a longtime teacher at the Northwest Technical Center in St. Albans, told the Burlington Free Press when informed Thursday that the investigation had been closed.

Wunsch is serving a six-week unpaid suspension from teaching, officials said.

The student, senior Ryan Newell, 17, of St. Albans, was suspended from school for a few days and wanted to put the incident behind him, his mother told the Burlington Free Press for a Jan. 9 news story...

Poll: Can the Board Go Into Closed Session to…

Meet as a board with the staff of the VSBA to conduct a board self-evaluation. The VSBA representative will review the results of a survey sent to the board prior to the meeting. The discussion will be difficult, as there has been a fair amount of conflict on the board lately.


Meet with the superintendent to discuss a leave of absence request from a teacher.


Discuss with a public health official the results of a test done on the school’s drinking water. The test results show extremely high levels of toxic lead in the water.


Discuss a letter from the board’s lawyer giving her opinion as to the viability of a potential breach of contract suit brought against the school bus company.


Sign a contract with the school’s new principal. The identity of the new principal will be announced at a staff meeting later in the day.

Follow Executive Session Requirements

Boards must first meet in public session and then vote to close the meeting by a motion that specifies the reason to do so.

Permissible reasons for entering executive session are listed in 1 V.S.A. §313.

Boards may invite their attorney, administrative staff, and persons who are subjects of the discussion or whose information is needed.

No decision may be made in executive session. Ultimate action must be taken by motion and vote in open session. (1 V.S.A. §313(a)).

At the board’s meeting to discuss next year’s budget, a large number of parents and community members showed up eager to speak. The local newspaper had reported that the board would be considering cutting back the art and music programs in the elementary school in order to keep taxes down.

The meeting started on time, and the chair asked for comments from the public. Several parents started off the comment period speaking for almost 10 minutes each about the value of arts and music. Other parents who supported the cuts started grumbling about not having enough time to share their opinion. The chair could feel the crowd getting angry and thought the best approach would be to end the public comment period before things got out of hand.

After closing the public comment period – which made some community members who had not been heard so angry they stormed out of the meeting – the chair moved on to the next item on the agenda.

Public Comment Case Study

Public Comment Case StudyDid the board chair manage the public

comment period appropriately?

What role can board policy play here?

What can/should the chair do about the angry people who left the meeting?

Facilitate Community Conversations

Board meetings are public meetings, but they are not a meeting of the

public\

16 V.S.A. §554(b): a reasonable opportunity to appear and express views on any matter considered by the board shall be given to any person in the school district

1 V.S.A. 312(h): public comment shall be subject to reasonable rules established by the chair

Facilitate Community Conversations

• The public can and should have a voice in board deliberations, but no person or group has the right to obstruct board deliberations.

• The chair needs to ensure the public feels welcome at meetings, while taking care that meetings stay focused on the agenda and remain productive.

• Boards should adopt a policy or practice that allows citizens an opportunity to speak within established time constraints before board action is taken.

Strive for ConsensusEnsure differing viewpoints are heard and

exploredEncourage inquiry, not argumentLook for points of similarityAllow for differences of opinion and recognize

good points on each side. Urge people to focus on interests and not positions.

Explore reasons for agreement. Seek to get alignment, if not full agreement.


Promote lawful and ethical operation of the Board.

Guidelines for Lawful and Ethical Operations

No legal powers outside of the board.Maintain confidentiality of executive session.

Board members assure that schools are well run, but don’t run them.

Avoid conflict of interest or perception.

Recognize validity of Board decisions, even if don’t agree with them!

Establish a Code of EthicsAs a board member, I will:

• Act within the scope of my official role

• Uphold the highest ethical standards

• Respect my peers, my constituents, and confidentiality considerations

Conflict of Interest Case StudyA community member has come to you expressing concern about a board member who works for the bus company with whom the district has a contract. This board member has served on the board for two years and this is the first time the potential conflict of interest has come up. The board member has never voted on a contract with the bus company that employs her but you know the contract is up for renewal this year.

Conflict of Interest Case StudyDo you have an obligation to do

something about this apparent conflict?

What should the bus driver do?What should you say to the

concerned community member?

VSBA—PRIMARY FUNCTIONS

To serve as the collective voice for 280 boards and 1500 elected school board members.

To support boards in successfully achieving their work.

KEY VSBA SERVICE AREAS

Advocacy

Board Development and Support

Communications

Legal and Policy Services

Consultation Services

RESOURCES FOR BOARD MEMBERS

44

On-Line Information for Board MembersoVSBA WebsiteoWeb Stream Videos

DVD Lending LibraryVSBA Essential Work of School BoardsPhone consultation/problem-solvingMember-to-member supportVermont Education Law Book

CONTACT US

45

Kerri Lamb [email protected] Dale [email protected] Frank [email protected] Mace [email protected]

800-244-8722

Important DatesNew Board Member and Board Chair

TrainingApril, May and June

Details on VSBA website

Regional MeetingsSeptember 2012

Time and Place to be Announced

Annual Meeting October 25 & 26

at Lake Morey Resort in Fairlee

Evaluation

Documents

Vermont School Boards Association Webinar April 30, 2012 The Effective School Board Chair