Board-Savvy Superintendent
Pushing Policy as Board Committee Driver
BY NICHOLAS D. CARUSO JR./School Administrator, April 2022

IN ALL MY WORK with boards of education, I have found that board subcommittees are one of the least consistent parts of governance operations.

Board subcommittees can be one of two things: an important tool to accomplish the board’s work more effectively or a major energy drain on staff and a diversion from the mission of the school district. Worse, it can give too much power to an individual board member if that member happens to be the committee chair with an ax to grind.

In one school district I worked with, the board had nine individual standing committees. They had nine committees because every board member got to be chair of a committee. They were allowed to choose what they wanted the committee to focus on. Staff spent considerable time ensuring each committee had the information it requested. It was chaotic, and they all acknowledged it had become unwieldy.

One way to ensure this work benefits both the board and administration is to align the committee work with board policy and goals.

Start With Bylaws

As superintendent, you need to help the board understand that committees require a great deal of staff time so board members should be careful not to create busy work. Rather, they ought to ensure the subcommittees’ work is relevant to the work of the district. Preparing for committee meetings can take up as much or more staff time than a regular board meeting, so care needs to be taken to ensure the time is used wisely.

I would start by having the board review the bylaws regarding committees. Are the committees’ charges clearly defined to allow tight focus on the district’s work or does ambiguity threaten to have the committees go off the rails?

Your policies should specify how items are brought up for discussion. It is not generally a good idea to give committees carte blanche to do whatever they want, but rather to have work directed to the committee by the full board or chairperson. This could be part of a larger discussion on how the board’s procedures move the district mission forward. I suggest you consider bringing in your state school boards association to help you with that.

School districts often have multiple committees. A larger number generally does not mean better. You should encourage your board to minimize the number of committees and focus on work that cannot be done by others. 

Where possible, the board should incorporate work frequently done by the committees into policy so the committee (as well as the board) can focus on higher-level conversations. Then the administration, directed by those policies, can do so without constantly going back to committees before they can act.

Aligning Committee Work

Some boards reaffirm committee charges every year to make sure the work remains focused on the district goals. It is smart for the board to actually set goals for each committee that are aligned with the district goals. References to board policy should be linked to the goals where appropriate.

Committee meetings should begin with a reading of those goals to ensure they remain important to the committees. Agenda items should refer to appropriate policies.

Have the committees report regularly on how their work aligned with the district’s goals and policies. I’ve seen boards include quarterly reviews of committee goals in their board calendar. These reports will include progress on goals and how the work aligned with board policy. There are fewer surprises, and committees tend to focus more closely when they are holding themselves accountable to their goals.

Working with the board chair, the superintendent could bring committee chairs together regularly to discuss how the committees can work more effectively together, discussing issues they are facing as a united front. This reduces the likelihood of committees going off on their own when they are working together as a team.

In the case of the misguided multi-committee board of education, they reorganized into three standing committees: Policy, Teaching and Learning and Finance/Facilities. The board funneled all relevant work to those three committees and reviewed their policies to ensure the work was board-directed rather than committee-directed. In the end, board members and staff alike were pleased with the results.