Board-Savvy Superintendent
Cultivating Well-Informed Board Candidates
BY JIM LLOYD/School Administrator, June 2021

ONE OF THE MOST STRESSFUL occurrences for any superintendent exists when a board of education vacancy arises.

While prospective members have particular reasons for seeking to join the school board, the desire sometimes arises from misinformation that has sparked an unnecessary controversy in the district. To prevent or minimize misguided candidacies, a superintendent ought to ensure the community is well-informed so that when a vacancy appears, it is filled by someone with accurate information and pure intent.

The role of the superintendent is comprehensive, requiring one to be many things to many people. One of the most important dispositions of a successful superintendent is to be an engaging communicator. Regardless of how large or small the community may be, the residents want to be informed and kept up to date. The explosion of social media and the instantaneous spread of information requires us to re-examine how we communicate with stakeholders.

Despite school districts’ efforts to respond quickly and accurately to new developments, social networks often take on a life of their own with misinformation spreading quickly. When the answer to “what’s going on?” is not made readily available, people fill in the blanks with their own interpretation. Misinformation can lead to polarization and then opposition.

Accurate Messaging

Whatever the issue, superintendents are likely to encounter some opposition from an advocacy group or disgruntled individuals. It is important to engage multiple stakeholders with clear and concise information to stave off rumors and inaccurate accounts. Ensuring the community at large is served with timely and factual details yields benefits for the district and the superintendent.

One way to more deeply engage with constituents is to identify a group of key communicators. As a superintendent of a mid-size school district in northeastern Ohio, I helped to form our key communicators group approximately two years ago.

Key communicators disseminate accurate messages and correct misinformation about the school system. They keep in touch with school officials and immediately report misperceptions and inaccuracies, which helps to neutralize grapevine communication within the community.

Olmsted Falls has approximately 50 members in its key communicators group and they are diverse. Many serve as president of their respective school interest group. Our communicators include the president of our board of education, president of the Kiwanis, president of the Chamber of Commerce, as well as the presidents of our union associations, the academic and extracurricular booster clubs and the PTA, and elected officials such as the mayor. Also serving are local business representatives, volunteers behind the school levy campaign and other community stakeholders with a vested interest in the district’s success.

What They Talk About

Pre-pandemic, our group discussed school funding, finance and the levy cycle; state accountability and student assessment; the district’s strategic plan and what it aims to do; what distinguishes our school district from others; and what I’ll call the “community narrative” about the district. While as superintendent I certainly help to generate topics of discussion, it is important the group feels free and comfortable to raise discussion topics for the agenda.

At a recent meeting, the key communicators had questions about the district’s use of federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, whether we realized financial savings during the pandemic, what form high school graduation might take and what our instructional model might look like for fall.

Ensuring communication is accurate and reaches multiple stakeholders is an important facet of the superintendent’s job. Getting feedback from many constituents who monitor the pulse of the community’s heart is a useful way for the superintendent to be more certain the communication isn’t just timely, but relevant and precise. 

In my experience, key communicators are the most passionate community members, and by keeping them well-informed, the superintendent naturally creates a group of future potential school board candidates when the need occurs.

JIM LLOYD is superintendent of the Olmsted Falls City School District in Olmsted Township, Ohio. Twitter: @OFCSSuper