Board-Savvy Superintendent
Revisiting the Board’s Operating Protocol
BY KAREN G. RUE/School Administrator, March 2021

IT’S MONDAY MORNING, and you are reflecting on last month’s board election, wondering if this is the time to revisit the topic of board operating procedures.

The board president has given it some thought but decided for now to leave it on the back burner. Meanwhile, a newly elected board member, Lenny Love, has arrived at the high school wanting to show teachers how much he appreciates them. Principal Lucy Leader, startled to see him visiting a classroom, faces a conundrum. Does she ask him to leave? Welcome him as a new board member and invite him to meet with her? Call the superintendent? All the above?

What do you do in this situation?

Valuable Resource

Board operating procedures, or BOPs, might have prevented this well-intentioned but misguided action by the new board member. When well-crafted, BOPs are invaluable for several reasons:

»They are parameters under which the board agrees to conduct its business, in or out of board meetings.

»They serve to prevent personal conflict and promote harmony among board members and with the superintendent.

»They allow relationships to get off to a great start and help repair relationships when friction exists.

»Most importantly, they are a benchmark for boards to self-regulate and interact with one another.

Opportune Moments

The scenario described above was real with two differences: the names are pseudonyms, and we did have BOPs in place. During the annual review of the board operating procedures, the school board member proposed revising the section on visiting schools to allow for unannounced visits. The other members disagreed, stating the need to respect the work students, teachers and principals are doing in schools.

What if board operating procedures are not in place? An opportune time to broach the topic is as a new superintendent. A conversation with the board president is a good place to begin, sharing the value of avoiding conflict as board members work together and with you. Even those who’ve been in the district for a while need not shy away from this.

Talented consultants, adept in facilitating the creation of BOPs, are available through many states’ school board associations. They are trusted by board members and have seen it all when it comes to errant board members or conflict that pulls boards away from being successful in their governance role. I’m grateful to Kay Douglas of the Texas Association of School Boards, who worked with two boards where I was superintendent. Her experience as a former board member and attorney allowed her to masterfully guide the boards to consider the what if’s and decide in advance the procedures they want to follow for the routine and the unexpected situations that arise.

A Protective Shield

Some areas of potential disharmony among board members or the superintendent include requests for information, communicating with board members, campus visits, handling complaints and considering how to address conflicts among themselves. These issues, when decided upon in advance, smooth the way for peaceful resolution so the board can focus on attaining its district goals.

When board members fall short of their commitment to BOPs, it’s the board president’s role to address violations with them. Superintendents need to keep board presidents informed when violations occur. When the board president is the one ignoring the BOP, some gentle persuasion and a reminder of the president’s role in leading the way may prove useful.

BOPs protect boards. One superintendent told me about a parent who called each board member to voice a complaint. All but one referred her to the appropriate administrator and informed her they were sure she could find resolution by doing so. When the parent subsequently filed a lawsuit, who was the only board member named? As this board member later explained, “I only listened. But I did tell her I empathized with her. I should have followed the BOP.”