Realizing the Vision Board Governance Revisited Marion Thomson Howell ShaughnessyHowell Inc.

Back to the Future

So, what’s our football?

#1: Governance is at its best when …. Boards focus on doing their jobs and empower staff to do theirs. The delineation between the roles is clear and is respected.

The board is responsible for... Setting direction Ensuring structure and resources are in place Monitoring

One of a new board’s first responsibilities is to review the financial situation of the Board. That includes reviewing the budget What does that involve?

–Does it balance? (Are we in compliance?) –What assumptions did you hold when the budget was created? (What drove this?) –How does the budget reflect our priorities for students? (Are we mission-consistent?) –What services are we providing to which students at what cost, and what are the benefits and results? (What is our return on investment?) –What are the risks? (Are we being responsible stewards?) –If something happens and we have to cut, where would we go? (Can we be nimble?)

–All Superintendents have met with principals to set targets for parent engagement –98% of school councils agendas have included parent engagement as a discussion item You have just received a monitoring report “Students, parents and community partners are engaged as partners in student learning” –“Your role in your child’s education: Guidelines for parents and guardians” support kits sent to every home –Engagement added as a discussion item for all parent / teacher interviews –40% parents attended board-sponsored workshop that focused on ways they could get involved

Monitoring is board-driven. The focus is not to settle for reports of activity; the focus is to measure outcome.

#2: Governance is at its best when …. Boards have great conversations and members are engaged … with the purpose of making better decisions.

You have asked for a presentation on leader development in your board. This is not a monitoring report, but a report to help you think about the issue so that you can make the best decisions in the future. You get a report that outlines the training opportunities the board and the province are offering and the number of staff who are taking advantage of them. What questions will you ask? You have identified leadership and succession planning as important issues for your board

–What does good leadership “look like” here? –What conditions will our leaders of the future need to deal with and what skills will that take? –What would it take for us to become the board of choice for new leaders? –We are a Catholic school board and tone at the top is important. How does this plan ensure we are getting the kind of Catholic leaders we need? –What is at stake? What is in place to manage the risk?

#3: Governance is at its best when …. Governance is practiced as a team sport. Boards exercise collective influence; individuals do not hold power. They also resist group think.

Board members encourage dissenting voices at the table. They get nervous when everyone thinks the same way on too many issues.

#4: Governance is at its best when …. Boards expect the same level of excellence from themselves that they expect from the system they govern.

Effective governance practices change. Great boards ensure that all members are up-to-date.

So, now that we know that …