Board-Savvy Superintendent

When the Board Demands a New Policy
BY RANDY J. DUNN/School Administrator, March 2022

WE’VE ALL SEEN
school board members who call for a new or drastically revised policy each time a novel problem or dysfunction presents itself.

One veteran superintendent told me years ago about the varsity sports coach who had dropped off students at school following an athletic event — before regrettably stopping by a local watering hole with the school van where the coach was (to use polite parlance) over-served. The school van ended up in a ditch before the night was over.

Existing policy allowed the superintendent to thoroughly address the incident, but that didn’t stop the board from spending the next few meetings on a complete rewrite of its policy on school vehicle use.

Unneeded Additions

What some refer to as “policy” encompasses everything from officially recorded representations voted on by the board to informal procedures in a school handbook or a principal’s checklist to unwritten past practices followed for years but never committed to writing. Of course, written, board-adopted policy provides the clearest and most direct means not only to coordinate and streamline operations across the district, but also for board members to express their intentions and sharpen governance oversight.

Critical situations that arise should certainly be analyzed for their collective impact, including the need for additional policy language. However, not every new dilemma requires yet another policy.

The savvy superintendent knows that seemingly unique problems often can be handled under existing policy — by strengthening extant policies through language clarity, by ensuring more consistent enforcement or by improving guidance on policy implementation.

Challenging Use

It’s not terribly difficult to write policy, although new language always should be reviewed by your school district’s counsel prior to board adoption. Current policy needs a comprehensive review every few years.

The toughest part by far of adding a new policy is implementation — actually putting language into practice.

The barriers to effective implementation center around some common issues:

»Staff may not understand the purpose of the change or what they need to do differently.

»Training, informational materials or other resources for implementation may not be available.

»The culture of the district may not be in sync with the new policy.

Any of these is enough to create still another barrier. Teachers, administrators, students and parents eventually get discouraged and lose their motivation to implement any change.

Tempering Tendencies

If standing policy won’t do for dealing with circumstances your district finds itself in, your board may insist on exercising its policymaking authority, but a few practices can tamp down board members’ tendencies to create a policy for every problem, real or imagined:

»Avoid highly specific language and stick to generic conditions and situations as much as possible.

»Always refer to official titles and offices, not the individual names of people, companies and the like.

»Use more flexible language to make policy more sustainable, with less need to continuously modify or update it.

»Stay away from words like “should” and “may” so as not to imply a choice can be made whether to follow the policy.

Genuine Value

Without a doubt, policy that is up-to-date, clear and concise is invaluable for improving the overall management of a school district. It forces the school board to speak with one voice and thus govern more effectively.

Just as importantly, it is impossible today for a district to undertake true collaboration — especially where services are shared and funds commingled — without strong operating policies. The savvy superintendent knows the best policies evolve as they are reconsidered and re-evaluated over time.
RANDY DUNN, a retired state superintendent of education in Illinois, is a consultant in Benton, Ill., and is author of The Change-Making Board: Consequential Governance for Public & Nonprofit Organizations. Twitter: @BoardMaking