Charles Ungerleider, Professor Emeritus, The University of British Columbia
[permission to reproduce granted if authorship is acknowledged]
About mid-July, a journalist called to seek guidance for an article about what candidates should understand about the responsibilities of school boards. Based upon my 40+ years working in education, I said that most candidates simply don’t understand Board responsibilities.
That lack of understanding includes such matters as the fact that school boards are legal corporations of which trustees are directors (no stock options). While there are important differences between school boards and private sector corporations, there are common responsibilities fundamental to being a director (trustee).
Like private sector corporations, school trustees must comply with the legislation and regulations that apply to them and to act in the best interest of the corporation. Trustees fulfill their duty of loyalty to the school district by acting honestly and faithfully in its best interest. This means putting the interest of the corporation ahead of the trustees’ own interests or the interests of the trustees’ constituents.
Trustees run into difficulty when they fail to exercise the care, diligence, and skills that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in similar circumstances. Common breaches of this duty of care include failing to prepare for the deliberations and decisions in which the Board must engage, failing to disclose conflicts of interest, and disclosing to others confidential corporate information.
Many candidates do not know that, if elected, they will have no individual authority. Only the school board has authority exercised primarily through the decisions it makes in formal, public meetings by majority vote. Candidates who succeed electorally and become trustees will inevitably have different points of view. They may express those viewpoints during deliberations prior to a formal board decision. But, once the Board makes its decision, all trustees are obligated to support the decision of the majority – even if that was not their preferred position. Grousing about the decision after it is made besmirches the reputation of the Board which trustees have an obligation to uphold.
Candidates who base their understanding of the responsibilities of office from observing how school boards behave will have a distorted understanding. Too many Boards spend too little time addressing the most important of their responsibilities. There are fundamentally two that are central. One is fostering successful student acquisition of learning outcomes and their well-being. The second is reporting the results that student have achieved, and evaluating educational programs, services and supports that are intended to lead to valued student outcomes.
Everything else is derivative of the Board’s fundamental responsibilities, but not trivial. Recruiting a superintendent and entrusting to the superintendent the day-to-day management of the school district is key. Effective stewardship of resources is another. Having and abiding by a code of conduct governing the Board’s behaviour and the behaviour of individual trustees is crucial because ‘bad behaviour’ impedes addressing the Board’s core responsibilities.
Candidates should commit to staying within the guardrails of governance if they are elected. Knowing and abiding with provincial legislation, regulation, and ministerial orders are obligatory. The same is true of the Board’s framework of policies and procedures. Trusting the professional knowledge and judgement of the Superintendent, recognizing and staying out of the superintendent’s business, and holding the Superintendent accountable through annual performance evaluations are essential. Boards must demand rigorous evaluation of student results and report those results to the public to continue to encourage public confidence in the education system they support.
Prior to every election cycle
I am optimistic that those taking office will be assiduous in carrying out
these fundamental responsibilities. I hope my optimism is confirmed this year.