Board Business or Staff Business?

1. Board Business or Staff Business? An Agenda That Works Good Morning.Please read the white handout: “Adviser” from theApril 2006 American School Board Journal

2. Questions • What’s wrong with board meetings? • What is board business? Staff business? • What would an agenda prepared by the board look like? • How do we make the change?(from staff business to board business)

3. First, Your Thoughts From your perspective… What’s wrong with board meetings?

4. Now Let’s Talk What’s wrong with board meetings?

5. Some Problems With Meetings • Time • Priorities • Relevance • Staff • The Public • Board Members

6. Time • Not enough board time • 1 mtg/month @ 3 hours/meeting = 36 hrs/yr • 2 mtgs a month @ 4 hours/meeting = 96 hrs/yr • Compare with staff time • 40 hours/week x 50 weeks = 2,000 hrs

7. Priorities • Whose priorities? Staff or Board • Misplaced board priorities Doing things right vs. Doing the right things • Unfocussed agenda Do agendas reflect board priorities?

8. Relevance • Pareto principle 80% of time/effort – 20% of work • Urgent crowds out Important “By the time we got to important items on the agenda, we were too tired to do the work that was needed.” - Board member • Trivial Pursuits Dominated by routines and procedure and personal agenda items

9. Staff • Whoever prepares the agenda… …directs the directors • Staff work – staff reports Board’s primary conversation is with staff • Board work – reacting to staff Who is setting the priorities? • Public input – focus on plans, programs, resources, activities Staff Work

10. The Public Expectations about boards: • Politics and Politicians • Meetings are for airing problems, and board members are problem solvers • Every district issue is a board issue • Every issue is worked at board meetings

11. Board Members • Input to the agenda • Abdication to superintendent (unintended) • Personal ‘agenda’ items • Ill-disciplined • Not easy to ‘think as one’ • Over-reliance on consensus • Under-reliance on Robert’s Rules

12. Agendas We’ve Seen • Call to Order/Flag Salute • Approval of Minutes • Consent Agenda – Hiring, Resignations, Voucher Approval • Special People – Recognition • Reports • Old Business • New Business • Announcements • Adjourn Most Meeting Time

13. Agendas We’ve Seen • Call to Order/Flag Salute • Approval of Minutes • Consent Agenda – Hiring, Resignations, Voucher Approval • Special People – Recognition • Reports • 1. • 2. • Old Business • 3. • 4. • New Business • 4. • 5. • Announcements – Board End-of-year Reception • Adjourn Most Meeting Time

14. Agendas We’ve Seen • Call to Order/Flag Salute • Approval of Minutes • Consent Agenda – Hiring, Resignations, Voucher Approval • Special People – Recognition • Reports • 1. DECA Business Club • 2. Host School Report • 3. Affirmative Action Report • New Business • 1. Course Approval • Announcements • Adjourn Legal Mandate Board Initiative Staff Initiative

15. Agendas We’ve Seen • Call to Order/Flag Salute • Approval of Minutes • Consent Agenda – Hiring, Resignations, Voucher Approval • Special People – Recognition • Reports • 1. Superintendent’s Conference • 2. New Principal Evaluation Form • 3. Budget Status • New Business • 4. Facilities Use Agreement • 5. Food Services Contract • 6. Textbook Adoptions • 7. Salary Schedules • Announcements • Adjourn Legal Mandate Board Initiative Staff Initiative

16. Agendas We’ve Seen • Call to Order/Flag Salute • Approval of Minutes • Consent Agenda – Hiring, Resignations, Voucher Approval • Special People – Recognition • Reports • 1. Host School Report • 2. State Special Education Monitoring Visit • Old Business • 3. Consider Recommendations of Facilities Advisory Committee • New Business • 4. Resolution to Authorize Superintendent to Request Bond • Announcements – Board End-of-year Reception • Adjourn Legal Mandate Board Initiative Staff Initiative

17. Your Turn From your perspective… What is board business?What is staff business?

18. Now Let’s Talk What is board business?What is staff business?

19. Board Business • Set direction for the district • Monitor district performance • Concerned with identifying WHAT… …is to be accomplished: • Academic achievement • Character • Citizenship ENDRESULTS

20. Staff Business • Achieve results • Follow policy • Concerned with HOW… …to get the district where it must go: • Curriculum/Instruction • Schedules • Bus routes • Facility constr/maint MEANS

21. Definition of Board Business • Identify desired results ENDS the district should achieve • Monitor results • Set policy • Monitor compliance with policy • Link with the community • Board development

22. Definition of Staff Business • Means – Anything that isn’t an End Result HOW the district achieves its ENDS • Means – ‘freedom with limitations’ Means must comply with limits set in policy • Do Ends justify Means? • YES…Means success = ENDS achievement • NO…Policy identifies unacceptable Means • Any reasonable interpretation of policy is acceptable It depends

23. Ends/Means Distinction • Ends identify results for beneficiaries (What good…for Whom…at what Cost) • “All Students will achieve level 3 on the state test” • “All Students will demonstrate successful job skills” • BOARDS prioritize their work on ENDS • Means are everything else • “District budget will maintain 5% reserve” • “Instruction will not deviate from adopted curriculum” • “Transportation costs will not exceed state-funded amounts by more than 15%” • BOARDS only set boundaries on STAFF MEANS

24. Focus on Board Business • An Agenda prepared by staff can reasonably be expected to orient on Staff business • An Agenda prepared by the Board should be expected to orient on Board business

25. Your Turn If the board prepared its own agenda… What would it look like?

26. Now Let’s Talk What would the board’s own agenda look like?

27. Preparing the Board Agenda • How can the board prepare its agenda?After all… • Part-time board, full-time staff • State-mandated agenda items • Limit the board’s scope • Extend the board’s vision • Annual (and longer-range) time frame • Each meeting – follow annual agenda

28. Annual Agenda • An Agenda the Board can plan • Plan Monitoring of Ends/Means • For the staff…and the board • Plan Linkage with the Community • Plan Policy Review • Policies that guide staff • Policies that guide board • Plan Board Development

29. Annual Agenda

30. Annual Agenda

31. Strategy for Board MeetingsThat do the Board’s Business • Use time to maximum advantage • Meet obligations • Representing the Community • Accounting to the Community • Primary board means • Policy – for #1 and #2 • How do meetings address these 3?

32. Strategy for Board MeetingsThat do the Board’s Business • Community – The real boss • Board ‘stands in’ for community • Listens to the community • A board is only a board when it meets • Accountability – Monitoring • “Organization does things the boss checks” • Monitor data as called for in policy • “Don’t ask how things are going until you’ve said how things ought to be” • Evaluate data against criteria for success

33. Strategy for Board MeetingsThat do the Board’s Business • Policy – Board’s Means – Gives direction • Directs the superintendent thru policy • Directs staff thru the superintendent • Expectations • Achieve policy result • Comply with policy boundaries • Board gives as much guidance as needed – and not one word more

34. Board-Controlled vs Staff-Controlled • Agenda Prepared by the Staff • Approval to repair a roof • Accept bids on a school remodel • Budget review and approval • Agenda Prepared by the Board • How are students performing? • What do ‘owners’ (taxpayers) think of our schools? • Does the curriculum need to change due to advances in technology? (re: The World is Flat) Board Initiative Staff Initiative

35. Board Meeting Agendas • More time on key board issues • More time discussing owner’s opinions • More focus on Supt monitoring reports Minutes Issue #2 Issue #3 Issue #4 Issue #5 Issue #6 Issue #7 Issue #8 Issue #9 Issue #10 Issue #11 Issue #12 Issue #13 Issue #14 Issue #1 Before PG After PG Random Q & A Issue #13 Issue #14 Minutes Monitoring / Linkage / Ends Development Structured Q & A Consent Agenda (Issues #1 to #12) Board Initiative Staff Initiative GP 8

36. Agenda Prepared by Board • Call to Order/Flag Salute • Approval of Minutes • Announcements/Comments • Consent Agenda • Assurance of Organizational Performance • 1. Superintendent’s Update • 2. Ends Monitoring – E-3 Citizenship/Character • 3. Board Response to Monitoring – EL-17 • 4. Board Self-Monitoring – GP-3 • Community Linkage • 5. Joint Meeting with City Council – E-3 Citizenship/Character • Policy Review • 6. Governing Style – GP-2 • Announcements • Adjourn Legal Mandate Board Initiative Staff Initiative

37. Your Turn If we want our board meetings to focus on“board business”… How do we make the change?

38. Now Let’s Talk How do we make the change?

39. Alternatives Good Fast Cheap

40. Policy Governance (PG) • A strategy for accomplishing board business by prioritizing board time/effort • PG distinguishes board business from staff business • PG principles support the board doing board business by systematically NOT doing staff business

41. PG: Board’s Purpose • The Board stands in for ‘owners’ It’s primary linkage is with ‘owners’ (not staff) • In meetings…Board links with ‘owners’ to learn community values and priorities

42. PG: Board Job Description • The job of the Board is to ensure the district achieves what it should and avoids doing what is unacceptable • In meetings…Board does its job by linking with the community, setting policy, and monitoring to ensure performance

43. PG: Monitoring Performance • The Board monitors district performance: achievement of ends written in policy, and compliance with policy limitations • In meetings…Board monitors district performance and compares data against policy criteria

44. PG: Superintendent Evaluation • The Board monitors district (superintendent) performance data against written policy criteria • The only measurement of success: • Did the district achieve desired Ends? • Did the district comply with Executive Limitations? • In meetings…Valuable board-superintendent performance discussion is extensive and lasts all year long

45. PG: Agenda Planning • Contents of Board’s annual agenda: • Linkages – Listen to the community • Monitoring – Judge district performance • Policy Review – Entire set reviewed each year • In meetings…Parts of meetings – planned linkages, scheduled monitoring, and policy review

46. PG: Agenda Planning • Besides Linkage/Monitoring/Policy Board development • In meetings…Board schedules opportunities to inform its members and to improve its capacity to govern

47. PG: The Chair’s Role • Chair is responsible for ensuring the Board follows its own policies • In meetings…Chair ensures the Board follows its agenda

48. PG: Governing Style • The Board speaks with one voice • The Board directs only through policy • In meetings…Board acts by voting on policies –Board majority ‘speaks’ via policy

49. PG: Board Self-Assessment • The Board evaluates whether it complies with its own governance process policies • In meetings…Board assesses its own performance at the end of each meeting

50. Policy GovernanceEnsuring Effective Meetings • Time – More time for board business • Priorities – On board’s work • Relevance – What boards can do • Staff – Focus on responding • The Public – Is represented & consulted • Board Members – Do what they are capable of doing