072100Board member goes to school: a personal diary

BY JOSEPH WHELAN 07-21-2000

 

Early this month, as a new school board trustee, I swore to uphold the New York state Constitution as well as the Constitution of the United States. I had obtained a copy of the New York state Constitution years ago and refreshed my recollection of it prior to the swearing‑in. I was surprised to learn that our state Constitution and Bill of Rights predated and partially impacted the ideas in the United States. Constitution and Bill of Rights. It was now time to get on with the responsibilities of being a trustee.

 

It is often said that competence is attained only with three ingredients ‑ visualized as a three‑legged stool: education; training (practice, with feedback from an expert); and experience.

 

To enhance the education component, I attended the Academy for New and Senior School Board Members, a conference held in Albany from July 14 to 16. The academy was designed as a kind of boot camp to introduce new members to the duties of their new offices, and, in the case of experienced school board members, to reinforce or review their understanding of their duties. There were approximately 90 new trustees and 90 seasoned trustees that attended the academy, which was sponsored by the New York State School Boards Association (NYSSBA).

 

I had questions about whether these three days would return a result equal to the investment of time. Would the information be of continuing value? Would it contain any biases? Could NYSSBA address the needs of all 700‑plus boards of education in New York State? Would the information overload my circuits or be weighed down by statutory language? Would it be too basic or lose sight of the big picture? Would the presenters be experts as well as good presenters? Would this be another painful lecture marathon?

 

The academy exceeded all of my expectations. On Saturday afternoon, I briefly spoke with Richard Mills, state education commissioner, whom I had met when he spoke at Fox Lane High School. He asked about how the academy was; I was happy to tell him that it was excellent.

 

In the sessions for the rookies, trustees focused on how to have effective meetings, boards' legal responsibilities, communicating with the community and how school districts are funded (federal income tax, New York state income tax, property tax, sales tax, county tax). In the plenary sessions, newly‑elected board members participated with seasoned school board members to learn about educational leadership and teamwork. They also reviewed state academic, special education, vocational education and health and safety standards. They discovered different approaches to problem solving and the art of taking advantage of an opportunity.

 

The comments by Edward L. McCormick, NYSSBA president, had the clear and unmistakable tone of a visionary leader. Have a long-range plan, communicate it to all segments of the community, and consider the budgetary and tax implications of the plan, he told us. Set high standards, stick to them, monitor them to be sure that they are as expected; take steps to make sure that all students have the opportunity to grow, that all teachers have the resources they need to do the job; and support the superintendent and administration in their quest to effectively educate the students, he said. He congratulated those who left their positions as trustees, thanking them for their service and assuring all that "New York education is on the‑ right path and you helped get it there."

 

Two areas that were particularly powerful were how to have better meetings and identifying the dimensions of leadership (deciding, thinking, teaming, benchmarking and best practices).

 

Having visited these topics before, I thought, "What more could be said?" I was reminded of the National Safety Council Course I took in defensive driving, when I showed up with only a three‑by‑five card for notes. I imagined that with years of driving experience with cars, taxicabs and motorcycles, I knew the subject. I was wrong, and left the driving course with dozens of new safety tips.

 

At the school board workshop, the first topic, how to have better meetings, was masterfully presented. No boring lecture, it was a workshop that began with a video vignette of a board whose meetings were so bogged down that actions were not being taken effectively or efficiently. In a handout, NYSSBA proposed alternative steps to take, and a skillful moderator elicited responses from the rookies and those who had been around for years. Although wellintentioned, the trustees in the vignette were not being effective. They couldn't "see" how they were unintentionally weakening their effectiveness and ultimately disserving the public, by not putting into practice some basic principles. Some examples of the missteps were addressing more than one question at a time; not following the agenda; interrupting someone who was speaking; accusing a member of some transgression or motive instead of addressing the member's idea; not respecting another member's right to have a point of view; getting personal; not keeping emotions in check; not respecting the chair's role of maintaining focus on the question; and letting each member have a' chance speak rather than having a single individual speak numerous times.

 

There was some debate and discussion about how to get the board back on track. It was agreed that courtesy and consideration of people's feelings must be principal ingredients in any action taken to strengthen the board.

 

In a particularly stimulating and insightful session, Hugh D. Clark of NYSSBA held the attention of the attendees for several hours with his workshop "Dimensions of Leadership." Mr. Clark obviously had "been there." He knew the ins and outs of his topic, learned in various positions of responsibility in organizations outside of the education establishment. He addressed