Board-Savvy Superintendent
Dealing With Misogynistic Board Members
BY PEG PORTSCHELLER/School Administrator, November 2021

A TEXT MESSAGE appeared as I was facilitating a group planning session. As I sneaked a peek while people were working together at their tables, the message piqued my curiosity. It read simply, “I need your help … and fast.”

The message came from a female superintendent with whom I had been working. I knew she would not send a message of this sort unless it was serious. When I called her, she asked if I remembered that three new members of her board of education had just been seated following their election. I assured her I remembered. “Well,” she said, “I think I may have a problem with one of them.”

The superintendent relayed that at a recent evening work session on the state of facilities in the district, one of the new board members, a male, came up behind her at the “build your own sandwich” table and invaded her private space by nestling up close be-hind her. She politely said, “Excuse me,” and moved to the other end of the table. Later that evening as she was clearing materials from the conference table, he did it again and remarked on how “lovely” her dress was and “perhaps a size smaller might highlight her wonderful figure better.”

A Frequent Affront

While situations like these might be less common than they once were, they continue to occur too frequently. In conversations with women superintendents and district administrators, I find that female leaders continue to encounter similar situations all too often. Recently, a friend of mine who is a superintendent shared with me that at a school board conference, one of her male board members (married) asked her if she would like to join him in his suite for an after-dinner drink. Even if it was an innocent invitation, it was entirely inappropriate.

Another female superintendent told me her “problem board member” was actually the board chair. His words and his behaviors, she said, often made her feel uncomfortable. The way she dealt with this was to have her administrative assistant sit in on every meeting she had with him. That seemed to bring forward more appropriate behavior on his part.

In another district, a veteran board member had been greeting the new, younger female superintendent by addressing her as “the little lady.” He would come into the district office and ask how “the little lady” was doing. He also referred to the women in the office as “the girls.” While these comments may seem harmless, they, too, are inappropriate. The superintendent should be addressed by her name, Dr. Jones or by Debbie (pseudonyms), and the women in the office are not girls. The literature refers to these comments as benevolent sexism.

So how do women leaders deal with these situations? When AASA approached me with the idea of composing a column on this topic, virtually all of my female educator friends told me, “Don’t touch it with a 10-foot pole.” When I asked why, I discovered it was not because the issue does not exist (in fact, they suggested it was more common than most realized) but rather because it is an un-comfortable issue to talk about. “Well,” I responded, ”then perhaps this is exactly what we should be talking about.”

First Interventions

These situations can be nuanced and barely suggestive or blatantly overt. Either way, the fact is they leave women leaders perplexed, embarrassed, angry and wondering what action, if any, they should take.

Even these many years into public education leadership, I remain unsure whether any single best response exists. My advice to women with whom I work is to first approach the male board member exhibiting the unwanted behavior and simply state that those behaviors create feelings of awkwardness and discomfort. Inform the board member these behaviors and words are inappropriate and unwelcome. 

Should the behavior continue, I advise leaders that the next action to consider is a candid conversation with the board chair (if the board chair is not the culprit) and invite his or her assistance with the situation.

Of course, if lower-level interventions do not elicit appropriate responses, one has to elevate the strategy, which might include engaging in a conversation with the state affiliate association and/or consulting an attorney. What we don’t want to have happen is for the female leader to feel obligated to seek employment elsewhere.
“Even these many years into public education leadership, I REMAIN UNSURE whether any single best response exists.”

 PEG PORTSCHELLER, a retired superintendent, is president of Portscheller & Associates in Parachute, Colo. Twitter: @pportsch