Charles Ungerleider, Professor Emeritus, The University of British Columbia
[permission
to reproduce granted if authorship is acknowledged]
No board member at Ford Motor Co. would call the production or sales manager. So, why do school trustees persist in calling the district principal for special education, the manager of human resources, or the assistant superintendent for learning services? They should know better, but they do it anyway.
Like most corporations, Ford operates in terms of governance
principles expressed in writing. Consider
this statement from Ford:
The Board is elected by and responsible to the shareholders. Ford's business is conducted by its employees, managers, and officers, under the direction of the chief executive officer (the “CEO”) and the oversight of the Board, to enhance the long-term value of the Company for its shareholders.
Substituting citizens for shareholders, the school
board for Ford or the company, and superintendent for the chief
executive officer, the statement would read like this:
The Board is elected by and responsible to the citizens. The school board’s business is conducted by its employees, managers, and officers, under the direction of the superintendent and the oversight of the Board, to enhance the long-term value of the school board for its citizens.
Notice that the business of the organization is conducted by its
employees under the direction of the superintendent with oversight provided by
the Board. Consider what are included among the overall responsibilities of the
Ford Board of Directors:
- reviewing, monitoring, and approving fundamental financial and business strategies and major actions.
- reviewing and discussing reports from management on the performance.
- assessing major risks and reviewing and approving strategies for addressing such risks.
- ensure processes are in place for maintaining the integrity and reputation
By the time they get to this point, some blog readers will say, “school boards are different; they aren’t corporations. So, the principles of governance that apply to Ford do not apply to school boards.” At the risk of alienating some of them, those readers are wrong.
According to the legislation governing them, school boards
are corporations. The school act in British Columbia is typical of what the
legislation says about the matter. Section 65 reads:
The trustees elected or appointed under this Act for each school district and their successors in office constitute a board of education for the district and are continued as a corporation under the name of "The Board of Education of School District No. 5 (Southeast Kootenay)", or as the case may be.
Some readers will respond, “but school districts don’t produce cars like Ford.” That is true, of course. School boards are responsible for producing something much more complex and certainly more important than automobiles: citizens. Moreover, the raw material with which schools must work (developing human beings) is much more variable than the material used to manufacture an automobile, and the developing human beings are subject to many powerful influences.
I often wonder whether trustees disregard legislation, protocols, and ethics because trustees do not appreciate the complexity of the work and believe they can interpose their ideas for the judgment of the professionals.
There are no specific qualifications for holding office as school trustee apart from age, citizenship, and residency requirements. The assumption is that any reasonable person will possess the ability to carry out the fundamental legal obligations of being a school trustee. Exercising diligence in making decisions about goals and policy and in overseeing the work of the superintendent (duty of care) are two. Another is making decisions in the best interest of the school district without regard to one’s personal interests (duty of loyalty).
When school trustees persist in calling the district
principal for special education, the manager of human resources, or the
assistant superintendent for learning services it is an almost certain sign
that they do not understand their responsibilities as trustees or as members of
the governing board of the school district.