Summary
Contents
Build a successful board by knowing where the land mines are
Veteran school board member, Richard E. Mayer, takes a humorous but substantive approach to the serious relationship between school administrators and board members. While the overwhelming majority of school board members have good motives, even people who mean well can make bad moves. This book shows how to prevent good intentions from creating bad outcomes. Each chapter presents a negative school board scenario, offers alternatives, and provides win-win solutions. Key features include: 28 brief case studies; Lessons learned for board members; Lessons learned for administrators
In addition to highlighting typical traps, the case studies light the path to positive collaboration and shared decision making between superintendents and school boards. Whether you are a school board member or an administrator who is trying to figure out what goes on in school board members' heads, How Not to Be a Terrible School Board Member provides clear direction in a realistic and memorable way.
Terrible Habit #28: Radiate Negative Energy
Terrible Habit #28: Radiate Negative Energy
School Closure Vote, Final Comments
There is nothing more traumatic for a school district than closing a school. That conventional wisdom is playing out tonight at your board meeting. The boardroom has a standing-room-only crowd, in spite of all the extra seats that were brought in. You have never seen this many people in the boardroom before. There must be more than 250 mostly agitated people out there, and you can feel the overwhelming tension in the room. When you walked to your place in the front of the boardroom, you saw many familiar—albeit worried—faces.
For the entire year, your board has grappled with the prospect of closing an elementary school due to declining enrollment. The ...