Beyond the Manual: A Realist's Guide to Independent School Governance

By Jim Christopher

Many independent schools are poorly, or at least erratically, governed. No matter which direction people point the finger of blame, a failed or failing school has usually fallen victim to ineffective school leadership and that is invariably a product of poor governance. This practical guide goes beyond the textbook definitions of governance to explore the realities of how Boards actually work.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jim Christopher
• Release date: Dec 16, 2013
• ISBN: 9781311662323

Jim Christopher

Dr. Jim Christopher was appointed Head of Kenneth Gordon Maplewood School in the Spring of 2012. Prior to coming to KGMS, Dr. Christopher was Head of Somersfield Academy, a pre-primary to Grade 10 Montessori and IB/MYP school in Devonshire Bermuda. Over his career, Jim has served as Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Independent Schools and the Canadian Educational Standards Institute for nine years; was Head of Weston School, a school for underachieving and learning disabled students, in Montreal; and, had a long and successful career in the public education system in Ontario Canada where he was a teacher, elementary and secondary Principal, and ultimately Superintendent of Schools in a large rural school district. Dr. Christopher is a graduate in Honours History from Trinity College at the University of Toronto; has a Bachelor of Education in History; a Masters in Curriculum; and his doctorate in educational administration. Jim Christopher is the author of numerous books and articles on European and North American History; Gifted Education; strategic planning; independent school governance; and, the effective use of technology in schools. Dr. Christopher, and his wife, Rheanne Stevens, moved from Bermuda to North Vancouver, British Columbia in the summer of 2012 with their two sons, Morgan and Quinn.

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Beyond the Manual

A realist’s guide to independent school governance

Dr. Jim Christopher

Beyond the Manual:

A realist’s guide to independent school governance

By Dr. Jim Christopher

Copyright 2014 Jim Christopher

Smashwords Edition

Contents

Introduction

- Starting from Scratch

Section 1: Building Capacity: Board structure and process

- Governance and Mission

- Who’s being served?

- Same Team, Different Roles

- Board member wanted, no expertise necessary

- Size matters

- Down with Committees

- Who’s in Charge?

- Governors heal thy selves

- To close or not to close?

- Reality Check: Is your Board ready for next year?

Section 2: Herding Cats: Board Management and Decision Making

- Without your consent

- Going with the flow

- Do you have a bully on your Board?

- Solidarity Forever

- Interests in Conflict

- Cases in Conflict

- Fixed Mindsets, the enemy of good governance

Section 3: The Oversight Dilemma: How much is too much/little?

- Governance and Accountability

- Don’t forget about the ethics

- Ethical leadership: a case study

- Managing Risk

- Governance and Sustainability

- Searching for Value: The limits of Accreditation

- Delivering Value: Making the Most of the Accreditation Process

Section 4: Issues in Strategic Leadership

- You have to Plan to be Strategic

- Is bigger necessarily better?

- Sustainable Leadership: Search

- Sustainable Leadership: Assessment

- The Discipline of Change

- Board Activism in 21st Century Schools

Concluding Thoughts

- Bringing Down the Hammer

About the Author

Introduction

Starting from Scratch

In Canada, most independent schools are poorly, or at least erratically, governed. No matter which direction people point the finger of blame, a failed or failing school has usually fallen victim to ineffective school leadership and that is invariably a product of poor governance. Whether from lack of consistent oversight, or muddled micro-management, Boards neglect the principles of good governance at their own peril and the detriment of the school.

I have been fortunate over the course of my career to have worked with a wide variety of Boards in both the independent school and public education sectors. Without exception, the members of each and every one of those Boards were honourable and conscientious people who had a genuine interest in improving the quality of education for the students in the school or school system that they served.

Were they all effective Board members? No. Did they all rise above petty issues and self-interest to work in the best interests of the long-term health of the institution? Not always. Did the Boards on which they served consistently make effective decisions to ensure the sustainable growth of their schools? Not necessarily.

What then prevented these well-meaning people from exercising effective strategic leadership and oversight? For the most part, it was a basic lack of understanding of the principles of good governance.

Many schools and Boards run into difficulties when the Board loses sight of its designated purpose and instead wanders into the realm of school administration. In actual fact, rather than focusing on their actual responsibilities, Board members far prefer to get into the fun stuff of micro-management. Once a Board makes this mistake, there is no longer an arm’s length body in place to ensure the continued health and growth of the school.

Why does this happen? There are a number of reasons. In some cases, Board members – particularly parents – might be the founders of a school. Having established its organization, structure and mission, they are then unable to let go. They hire a Head to take over the actual management of the school but continue to critique major programme and financial decisions in order to protect their baby.

Occasionally, Boards move in when there is a leadership vacuum. When a school goes through a series of short-term Heads, or when the school is under the stewardship of an interim Head, or when a sitting Head is perceived to be weak or ineffectual, Chairs and Boards will often take a greater and greater role in the day to day direction of operations.

A third instance of over-involvement by governors comes when individuals are unable to remove their parent or alumni hat when they sit at the Board table.

Conversely, Boards can take such a hands-off approach as to be virtually invisible. Ironically, the stronger and more effective the Head, often the more weak and ineffectual the Board. After all, why mess with success? The answer obviously is that for sustainability, a school cannot be a one-person show. The best Heads know this, and welcome serious discussion of issues and effective oversight at the Board table.

However, not all Heads welcome being challenged or questioned on their ideas. A few years ago I was visiting a highly successful and long-serving Head of School and he recounted an incident that had happened at the previous night’s Board meeting.

The Board was about to vote on the Head’s plan to expand programmes and facilities and there were a number of Board members who felt that the school, which already had a significant debt load, was overextending itself. After a heated discussion, the Head announced that he was going to turn his back on the Board so that I don’t see which Board members are stupid enough to vote against this great idea.

He boasted to me that, of course, his plan was approved. Interestingly, within a year of that meeting he retired, and his project remains shelved to this day. The Board Chair confided in me afterwards that his turning his back on the Board actually galvanized the Governance Committee to re-think the role of the Board and to acknowledge the fact they had let their oversight function atrophy over the previous few years. An attempt by the Head to bully the Board had actually resulted in a renaissance in governance at the school.

There is no question that Boards are all over the spectrum. They range from passive cheerleaders to aggressive meddlers and everything in between. Primarily however, Boards end up playing roles outside of their actual mandate simply because they lack a clear understanding of what that mandate is. Research shows that there are three key principles for effective Board practice:

- To be Visionary (not short-sighted) in its outlook;

- To be Strategic (not operational) in its actions; and,

- To be Vigilant (not vigilante) in its oversight.

In the first section of this survival guide, I want to look at what that means in a practical sense for good governance.

Section 1

Building Capacity:

Board structure and process

Although it may seem counterintuitive, given its change in membership over time, the Board is actually the most consistent part of any school community. Unlike students, parents, and even long-serving faculty and administrators, the Board embodies a sense of continuity and purpose that reaches not only into the past of the school, but also ahead into its yet unrealized future. Unfortunately, all too often, the focus of many Boards and Board members gets mired in the short-term and consequently the Board lurches from issue to issue without ever taking the time to either reflect or think strategically and long-term.

For the most part, this is not a function of the membership or even the leadership of the Board but is rather a reflection of a misunderstanding of the processes of good governance and is often based either in a restrictive structure, or ineffective or even dysfunctional decision-making processes. This first section of the guide looks at what the Board is all about, who should be sitting around the table, and how things can go off of the rails.

Governance and Mission

I recently attended a meeting with a group of Heads of School who were attempting to brand themselves as a collective. The phrase that was most often repeated