Dr. Frank Hewins on Superintendent Board Relations.

1. WSU Supt Certification Program
Regional Cohort Presentation
Dr. Frank Hewins
Superintendent
October 29, 2010

2. Superintendent/Board Relations
or
“Care & Feeding of Your School Board”

3. Getting to the Seat
• MS/HS Teacher, Coach, Dept Chair
• HS Asst Principal
• HS Principal
• K-12 Executive Director
• Asst. Supt
• Superintendent

4. Inside vs. Outside
INSIDE
• Like current direction
• Known commodity
• Involved in the
community
• Admin/staff credibility
• Understands needs
• Hit the ground running
OUTSIDE
• Want new direction
• Fresh ideas
• No baggage
• Perceived district
dysfunction
• Veteran (i.e., entrenched)
staff

5. Learning to Dance w/Five
Partners
•Building relationships
•Establishing trust
•Acting w/consistency
•Maintaining confidentiality
•Honest/open dialogue
•Sense of humor

6. Inheriting a Good School Board

7. Communication! Communication!
Communication!
Find out the right amount, the right method,
and the right style for your Board.

8. What Do Boards Do?
• Provide for:
– a quality instructional program, within the
limits of the resources;
– management and direction of the school
system;
– continued guidance through policy
development and adoption; and
– communication between the district and the
community.

9. Board Responsibilities
• Policy making
• Hiring a superintendent
• Planning, goal setting, and appraisal
• Approval and adoption of an annual budget
• Staffing, appraisal, salaries, fringe benefits
• Instruction
• School facilities
• Public relations
• Adjudication and investigations

10. Management decisions that legally can
be made only by the Board
• Budget review and adoption
• Hiring and other personnel matters
• Approval of textbooks and other instructional
materials
• Negotiation parameters and agreements
• School construction and maintenance
• Bond and levy proposals
• Payrolls
• Purchasing

11. Prolonging the Honeymoon

12. Do The Work
• Attend meetings or send a representative
• Finish reports when they are needed
• Provide appropriate data
• Be well-planned and organized for every Board
meeting
• Be involved with the total school community
• Talk with the Board and know its expectations

13. Be a Generalist
• Know what is going on in every one of your
departments
• Get regular briefings from Cabinet members
and Principals
• Be able to respond to questions from the
Board in a timely manner

14. Don’t Get Greedy
• In most cases you will be compensated well
as a superintendent
• Depending upon your community, salary
and benefits can be a controversial topic
and any community member with an axe to
grind can find a way to use that controversy
to split the Board and oust the Supt

15. Honor the “Green” Line
• Make sure you and the Board understand
the difference between policy and
administration
• Keep them out of your day to day
operations of the district
• Always give the same information to all
Board members – treat them equally

16. The Role of the School Board in an
Engagement-Focused Learning Organization
• Leadership – sets and articulates direction
• Collaboration – w/supt part of a collective team
• Core Business - make pro-active contributions
• Responsiveness - to needs of parents, students, & tax
payers
• Advocacy – leading advocates for youth in the community
• Ownership - pride in success &share responsibility for
failures
• Norms – established operating norms that build trust
• Goals - adopt clear goals

17. Cabinet’s Role w/School Board
• Attend all work sessions and regular board
meetings prepared to comment on any
pertinent agenda items and respond to
questions from board members
• Attend morning session of our annual Board
Retreat to present what is “on the horizon”
for the coming school year

18. My Ideal Board
• Listen twice as much as they speak
• Servant Leaders
• Work for the common good
• Community builders
• Focus on the future
• Commitment to strengthening the capacity
of the people in the organization

19. Questions???

20. Thank you!
If I can be of any service to you during or
after you complete your program, feel free
to contact me at:
fhewins@fpschools.org
or
(253) 298-3010