2023-11-01 | Regular Board Meeting

001Welcome everyone to the Taylor School District regularly scheduled board meeting of November 1st, 2023 where our mission statement is that we Oh my gosh, one second. My computer just locked out. Technical difficulties for a minute. Sorry, I'm logging back in. All right. Where our mission statement is to educate, engage, and empower those we serve. And our vision statement is that we will be the innovative destination district where all succeed. This meeting is called to order at 6:01 p.m. Mr. Mr. Heath >> here. >> Mr. Meyers is absent. Mr. Thomas >> here. >> Mrs. Thomas is absent. Miss Shua >> here. >> Mr. Wright is here. Miss Black >> here. >> Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for

002which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Moving on to item number three, revisions and approval of the agenda. Miss Block, >> are there any revisions to the agenda? >> Hearing none. Is there a motion for the approval of the agenda? >> Motion by Mr. Keith. Is there a second? >> Second by Mr. Thomas. Mr. Myers is absent. Mr. Thomas, >> yes. >> Mrs. Thomas is absent. Mrs. Shel, >> yes. >> Mr. Wright, >> yes. this classes. Yes, Mr. >> Yes. >> carries by. >> Moving on to item number four, we have our public comment comment. Thank you to all those who can be with us tonight. We understand the importance of continuing to keep you informed and providing an opportunity for you to be heard. Public comment will

003begin with those in person and then move to our online audience. For those in person, please step up to the microphone and state your name and address for the record. After the in-person comment, our online audience will need to find the raise hand symbol for our moderator to recognize and unmute you. Please take into consideration common courtesy, refrain from any personal attacks, and please keep your comments to 3 minutes or less. We will provide and assist with timekeeping so each guest will be able to monitor their own time and know when to conclude so all who wish to speak will have an equal opportunity to do so. As a reminder, if there are any questions at this meeting or by some other avenue, interim superintendent Michael Wager or his design will work on getting those

004answers in a timely manner. Any in person? No. Any online? All right, ahead and move on to item number five, recess for governance team workshop, Miss Block. Okay, recess for governance team workshop pursuant to Michigan's open meetings act being public act 267 of and as amended I move the board recess for governance team workshop. Is there a motion? >> Motion by Mr. Keith. Is there a second? >> Second by Mrs. Shoefeld. Mr. Thomas, >> yes. >> Mrs. Thomas with Jackson. Mrs. Shoefeld. >> Yes. >> Mr. Wright. >> Yes. >> Miss Yes. Mr. Heat. >> Yes. >> Mr. Myers. Six. Carries. 520. do a little recess for the government's team workshop at 6:04 p.m. >> This time it's a little earlier than last. >> Thank you, man. >> That was a late night. >> You made

005it work, right? >> Yeah. >> Thank you. >> Huh? Is it still being recorded to the public? >> Yeah, it's still being Oh, is it? Yeah. >> To sweet. Thank you. >> Oh, good evening. Um, my name is Julie Kaminsky and I am here on behalf of Michigan Association of School Boards. Um, it's a pleasure to be back with all of you. I was here in August uh to do a workshop on go. It was the night there was some change that started and you had a close session before we got to do our work together. And so tonight after starting hi is great. However it works out it works out. This is something I often forget. So I'm going to start by doing this first and then when it gets to you Stephanie if

006you would like remind me because otherwise I get going with the work and then I don't remember this housekeeping piece. This is how the U Michigan Association of School Board keeps track and make sure that our files are adequate and up to date. So, if you could find your name, take a look at the information there to be sure that it's correct. If there's something that needs to be updated, I would feel crossed out, write it correct, and if you could sign next to your name or initial, that would be great as well. This is how um they keep their records up to date to know that you all have participated in the effective governance workshop. Um, and you get credit for having participated in this work. So that's why we do that. Um so

007just go ahead and kind of pass that around. Um and I'll use this copy which is a little older. So who am I? Just a quick reminder. Uh I'll do a quick introduction because I feel like Michael I'm just getting to meet you. And um you >> I was not I was out of town. >> Okay. >> Same here. And then we're missing two members, so I gave you copies for their files as well. So, my name is Julie Kitky. It's a real pleasure to be here. Um, I have worked for Michigan Association School Boards for about 16 months. Um, I came on in July of 2022 and started working as a consultant for uh, MASB and I've enjoyed it very much. I do these kinds of workshops, the goal setting workshops, other topics as

008needed. I teach classes. Uh, did anybody go to the um summer institute that MASB put on or did we go? >> Dave might have. I think Dave might have gone. >> Yeah. Um, so I taught some classes there in person for them. I did some online teaching. Um, and then one of the things I am doing my second one of is the strategic plan. So districts that want a revised strategic plan, we go through that process. It takes four to six months depending on how quickly we move through the process and when meeting it scheduled and all of those things. So, it's really fun work. I love working with boards of education because I think the work is so important and it's such a great goal to have in the community. I officially retired from

009public education in June of 2022 and have continued working full time. Uh I was a high school principal last year at a Catholic high school in Royal Oak. The drive construction was ridiculous. It was like an hour and 10 minutes to get home every night. So um with the changes to the law, I am back working in public education. I'm an instructional coach and coach um in town. So I came right from there to here and I'm super excited to be here with all of you. Um on a personal note, I have two kids. I have a freshman at Michigan State and his mom is struggling uh with having his bedroom empty when I walk by it. So, it's parents weekend this weekend and I'm going to go to the game and the tailgates to

010hang out with him. Then I have a junior just like you in high school and I was talking about hockey because I'm a hockey mom and I know everything I wear the right stuff. Um and so that keeps me really busy. So it would be if it would be okay. I know we did it in August introduction of who everybody is. So they really want this to be informal. Lots of conversation get the most out. >> Yeah. Lou Keith. >> Nice to meet you. >> Uh nine months. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> How do you like it so far? How >> good? Good. Yeah. I enjoy >> good. Do you have children in the system? >> I do. I have a junior at the high school. >> Okay. You have a junior, too. >>

011Yep. 16. >> Yep. >> Okay. New driver. >> Not yet. Another week or two. >> Okay. Gotcha. All right. Well, we're in the paper. Nice to meet you. >> Nice to meet you. >> Daryl Thomas, school board treasure. Got two kids. Wife they've been married for 23 years. >> They both graduate from Taylor school. Yeah. Yeah. My daughter is at Wayne State in the nursing program. My son works for the city of Taylor. >> Wow. >> It feel good know that it's gonna be okay. >> It is. >> Um Ann Black. I've been on the school board since 2018. >> Awesome. Do you have children? >> Uh Kyle Wright, uh Taylor School Board President. I've been on the board since 2021. >> Okay. >> So, more recently. Um graduate of Taylor Schools. My aunt graduated

012from Central Michigan University, too. So, fire up. >> Great. Thank you. I need help. I can get Michael. >> I am the interim superintendent for the school district. I've been doing it for just over two months. Um, but I previously spent 18 years as a teacher and as a administ building administrator here in the Taylor School District. >> Oh, awesome. Very cool. So, it's great to fit in because you've seen it from all. >> Yes. >> Love it for that great expertise. >> Wonderful. Super nice to meet you. >> Nice to meet you. >> Uh, Stephanie Shefelt. I have been on the board for about nine months as well. Um, I have two boys, a junior at the high school, and I'm a baseball mom. >> Oh, you're a baseball? I used to be and

013then quit. So then I'm like, wait, that's the last time I saw you. >> I got you. That's >> very Well, it's really nice to remintroduce um all of you. I I really enjoy going through the room and hopefully this will be useful for you. Um I think it will be a helpful workshop. It's always a nice uh reset or a foundation for boards especially when there's new members right anytime a team brings on new members there are new dynamics that need to be adjusted for and this work is super foundational and I think it can also be quite useful. So technically this is typically a threeh hour workshop. How long it takes depends it usually takes between two and a half and three hours longer when people participate or if we take a break.

014So there are all these things that we can navigate. I don't it's dinner timeish. It's been a long day for everybody when we do these workshops. So we can build in a break. If you need a break just say so. Um sometimes I get going and I and I might not notice the time. So feel free to say, "Hey, we need to take a break." We also can keep going. I want it to be meaningful and I want it to be um useful for all of you. Okay? All right. So working as an effective governance team is the focus of our time together. And by the time we end tonight, I hope that you will be able to take away key information specifically on the role of a school board member versus the role of

015the superintendent. So this will give you a balcony view of uh all the different capacities in which you can you'll be working and leading your school district and it very clearly delineating between the role of board of education member versus the role of the superintendent. A lot of times people in our communities don't fully understand the role of the school board member or especially in these more divisive political times. Not I'm not talking about Taylor. I'm talking about just in general. People have run for board of education seats because they have a unique perspective or because they want to bring something clearly to the school board thinking that they will have more influence than the seat really ultimately ends up having. Of course, you have influence, right? You're going to set the direction and the

016mission and the vision and the goals for the district, but in the end, you have one employee, your superintendent, and through him all the rest of the work happens. So, we're going to talk a lot about all the different areas that you're responsible for and who takes the lead and who takes the supporting lead, right? So, who's most responsible versus who's supporting back and forth between superintendent and board of education member and that is really an important piece. At some point when we get there, I'm going to give you a one-page handout that is incredibly useful. So, do you all have a hand like a binder at all that you use during your meetings or is everything on your laptops? This is like the the binder that the president passed down to me that has

017everything. So, >> okay. But each member doesn't have like a hard copy binder. Okay. So, I'm going to give you this hard copy piece, but do you have a file or like a drive where all of your >> units and handouts and everything go this might you might want to turn this into a PDF that gets housed there in a prominent place that you could easily look to. It's the best cheat sheet of all. if you kind of get sometimes you can get out the weeds with topics and this really helps to create a set of guidance so that everybody knows what lane they're in and they're respectful of one another's roles and it really helps the team you're a team governing the Taylor school district uh really be as effective as possible. Well, that

018that's really the goal is to know your role to know the different lenses and categories that you'll be working with in in the board and kind of do a reset so that we're all on the same page. Okay? So, on don't turn the page yet. So, like you have the slides that are here, but before you turn the page, there's some white space there. Uh, what I would love for you to do is take a moment and think to yourself and and we might have done this in August and even if I don't think we did, but if we did, it's useful to do it now in November because things are different. School year's underway. First question, why did you want to be a board of education member, a school board member, your why? And

019then the second thing I'd like for you to do is to jot down your best definition of a team. your best definition of a team. So, first your why. Why did you want to be a schoolboard member and keep in mind I'm gonna ask that you share out. So, write with that lens in mind and then if you would write your very best definition of the team. Do I just tell you when to do it? Looks like most of you are getting close to being done writing. Um, so let's start with your why. Let's start with your why. Why did you want to be a board of education member? You want to start? By the way, uh the reason I joined was to help continue to improve the Taylor schools and promote student and teacher

020retention. >> Promote student and teacher retention. Yeah, they're both so important, especially today. And you wanted to help improve the system. >> Yes. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Anybody else? Mine is to change direction the way the school was district was going and to keep kids in the city of Taylor school. >> So you wanted to elicit change >> and influence change and to keep kids >> already going down the line. >> Okay. I thought I can make make a difference. Our reading and writing scores were very low and I've always been about reading. I think they'll change. >> So you want to have impact for student learning specific. >> Thank you. >> So I put I ran to be on the school board to be a voice for students to support the staff and

021to make the school district a more positive place with a better reputation. >> Okay. That's a lot of stuff, right? So you want to make it a more positive place to support students. Did you say that? >> Yep. >> Okay. And to that one more time, the middle part >> I just said to create a better reputation >> and then also to be a voice for students. >> You're not a board. Do you want to share? >> Oh, I don't want to share it at all. That's why I was wondering what my role was. >> Yeah, exactly. So, uh, I said the reason I I accepted and took this position on was to make a positive change for all students to be successful. >> Yeah. Very important. Super important. Thank you for sharing. For the

022purposes of our work, we're a team. So, >> Oh, yeah. >> Okay. Uh my why is because I wanted to help improve the school district, be a voice for our students and staff. Um be an advocate for the kids as well as the community and help to make or be the change. >> Yes. Very good. So what commonalities did you hear the people around you say to the reason you wanted to be a board member? You all shared your why. I hear some commonalities. What commonalities did you hear? >> Improve the district. Very good. Yes, for sure that. What else did you hear that was in common? >> A lot about the students. >> A lot about students, right? We exist to serve students, right? That that's why a school and a district exists. It's

023to serve students, to educate students, to put their needs first, right? So students improve the system, the district. What else did you hear? staff. >> I heard a lot of staff and not everybody mentioned it specifically, but if we circle back to them, they might say, "Oh, yeah, and that too, right?" It's so important in 2023 that staff that you can attract and retain the most talented staff because now systems are competing for scarce resources, right? We know that across the state and nation teachers are at a critical shortage. We look at our universities and the schools of education and the teacher preparation programs there are very few. I know I heard a stat that's a few years old. I don't know what it is today in 2023 but Madonna University local you know school

024used to have hundreds and hundreds of students in the field of education waiting to be placed for student teaching and they had about a hundred So, we're competing for scarce resources. And so, we want to make sure that not only can we attract the most talented teachers because that's what's going to serve our students mo most, but once they get here, do they stay, right? Do they stay? And there's there's things to consider about that. Obviously, pay, but there's more than just pay that causes people to stay or go. We all know that, right? So, that's a common piece I've heard. Anything else in common? So improvement, students, caring about students, student voice, uh support for teachers. >> What else? Anything else? >> Just the word change, which is >> the word change was a

025comment to press and cause change. >> So it sounds like there's a perception that the school district is in one place and you hope to move it to a different place, one that's better and different. Is that fair to say? >> Okay. So, we already know that you've all taken on this role as a schoolboard member or in this case as the superintendent because you care about kids, you want to support staff, you care about your community, and you want to be a person that is creating or causing change for the better. So we already know you have a common set of reasons why you come to say you spend a lot of hours doing this work right not just sitting here at meetings but preparing for the meetings being an active participant and weekly

026communication as things arrive making sure you're staying up to date with things supporting knowing your role knowing your lane to stay in how how do you support so that you're all going in the same direction which is why if you look at this slide working as an effective governance team. A lot of board members don't necessarily think initially of this as a team. But one of the major precises of this work is to have consider yourself a team. That leads me to the next thing. What did you say was your best definition of a team? Your best definition of a team. Anybody want to try? There's no wrong answers. >> I put uh part of a bigger unit working towards a common goal. bigger unit working towards a common goal. Love it. Thank you, Luke.

027>> A group of people that can come together as one. >> A group of people that can come together as one. Love it. >> I'll say a group that comes together to collaborate for collective action. >> Love it. Group that comes together to collaborate for collective action. So, it's not just the group is coming together, but they're doing something when they come together. I.e. they're collaborating. They're sharing ideas. They're bringing their best forward to create what was it? What? What was your word? >> Collective action. So, we all have a part in the action. Okay. I love it. Thank you. >> Um I put a group that comes together to work together with transparency, compassion, understanding, allow for open-minded opinions, and be willing to make compromises to make the job flow well. >> Okay. We

028have a lot of these in there about understanding, compassion, compromise, all the things, right? So that it goes well. >> Okay. Anybody else want to share? >> I put a collection of diverse perspectives that respectfully work together to achieve a goal and do so by creating collective solutions. >> Okay. So you start read that beginning part again. That's a good one. >> A collection of diverse perspectives. Okay. A collection of diverse perspectives that might describe all of you, right? >> You come being your bringing your all yourself, all of your experience, all of your perspectives, all of your opinions, all of the things that make you tick, you bring to the table. And they're all different, right? They're all different yet we already know they're similar because we just talked about what makes you similar

029and why you wanted to be in this role. And you want to share? You don't have to. It seems like it's the same thing just different words. A collective group who work towards a common goal compromising and listening each from a different perspective. >> Beautiful. >> So you got the different direct different perspective at the end there. You put that at the end. And then what were your words in the middle? >> Respectfully work together to achieve a goal. >> Yeah. What did you say? who work toward the common goal, compromising and listening. >> Compromising and listening. Matt, you had compromising. Um, and you guys had really solid definitions. They were just very succinct. Your counterparts over here elaborated a little bit more. And then, um, you really elaborated on all the components, which is

030good, right? So, we're all kind of seeing it in the right way. I'm going to show you our definition in just a second, but before we get there, can you go to the next slide? Um, I just want to take a moment to pause before I unveil the big definition compared to our definition. Um, you already are being amazing. Uh, but we always do like to set ground rules. You'd be surprised. Some of the groups I work with, we really need to set the ground rules because not everybody is respectful as this group to one another. um being engaged, listen for understanding, respecting other viewpoints, um keeping our personal devices off, and then making sure that we're allowing everybody else to talk and that our voice is heard, that everybody's voice is heard. Are there

031other things that we should consider here, >> or does that cover it? >> That's pretty good. >> Good. Okay. Um these kinds of ground rules sometimes seem obvious. what we're setting on the norms for how we're going to regard each other for our time together. It's super important to creating a team. So I'm asking you like to model what we're going to talk about. So these are things that we'll agree to together. All right. So that's quick. The next slide is the definition of the team at least. Uh, okay. So, they revised it and I used to have it this way, which was way easier to read. So, it's not better. Sometimes your visions are not always better. >> You want to use one of theirs? >> Yeah, I'll take both. >> Yeah. >> Um,

032so, oh, you know what? This is yours for your >> Oh, sure. >> Yeah. Then I will give it back >> on Wednesday night at whatever time. you can't kind of remember the details. Okay, let's take a look at this definition. A group of people at least on your handout, you can really read it. A group of people with different backgrounds, skills, personalities, and styles with a common purpose who are working together to achieve clearly identified goals. So, it's a lot like what you said you Ann and Kyle said uh different personalities, background, diverse perspectives. You that's the piece there, right? common purpose. You all said that. Everybody said that. And working together to to achieve clearly identified goals. You all said collective action. Did you say goals? >> I just said to like work.

033>> Yeah. So the work goes flow. >> So to achieve identified goals. Simon, you guys know Simon Synynic. Ever watch any of his stuff. He's amazing. Um his books are amazing. He's his YouTube videos are amazing. He does a lot of TED talks. You might want to check him out. He says, "A team is not a group of people that work together. A team is a group of people that trust each other." That trust each other. So that's also important in today's day and age. So we're we're getting to be a couple school years removed from the heat of COVID, right? But that definitely tested school boards and communities trust, right? That was really a tough time of divisive perspectives and challenging things to navigate. And uh it's really important that teams trust one another.

034I think about hockey teams. I do leadership seminars for um pretty elite hockey teams and we talk about how to make them better through leadership. And uh it's so critical that those teams trust each other for a million reasons, right? Um because it's pretty dangerous sport and if they don't trust each other, they won't be at their best. They won't be passing the puck. They won't be doing the things. It's equally important that you all trust one another. Um, trust is different than liking necessarily one another or but but that you can at least in this capacity, in this role, trust that the people who come to the table are doing it with their best intentions because you share a common reason for coming for your why and that you sit at the table um

035for the collective good of the children and families that you serve in the Taylor School District. So that if you can trust on that level, that's kind of what we're talking about for the purposes of this at the schoolboard level. Doesn't mean you have to love the person or like agree with everything they say, but you can trust that they're coming for all the right reasons even if their opinions or their perspectives different from yours. Um and then achieving clearly identified goals. When we were together in August, we did a goal setting workshop because one of the key roles as a cohort is to set the direction and goals for the district. So we worked on that together in August and you can see that that's part of MFB's definition of team and you can

036for sure see this well in your copy. Okay. So, okay. So, we know that a team goes through stages of um performance, if you will. And every time you add a new member, excuse me, or the makeup of your team changes, you have to do a reset because the dynamics will change. You're >> Yes. Um, so how many people have seen this analogy? Storming, forming, norming, performing. I know Michael for sure has. He's in education in other professions here. How many people have seen this? This is pretty common team information, but is it new or have you seen it? >> Never seen it. >> Okay. So, um, so we know that when a group first comes together, and I'm going to consider you a group and a team, coming together for the purposes of leading

037and governing the Taylor School District, that a group of individuals come together. They're in the forming stage. They don't necessarily know their purpose yet or their individual tasks and they're not clear on their contribution or their value in the system. That's just the beginning. I think we're past the beginning because you guys are at November one. You're getting through the school year. We're in that long stretch right at the beginning of the school year where the longest call is to Thanksgiving, right? And then you can see breaks throughout the year, right? This is that long call where everybody's tired. Um, and then it's the day after Halloween, so everybody's really tired. Um, so that's the beginning stages. I think we're beyond that here. Storming. Okay. Sometimes this is tricky. This is where there can be

038power struggles that emerge. There can be conflicts that emerge. Um you try to seek understanding of the value of their contributions to each member's perspective. Seeking clarity around team goals and vision and seeking meaning and purpose. Now notice that the colorful arrows are all going in the one direction. Sometimes organizations can go backwards. So you can get to where the goal is which is performing but then things can happen. Uh situations arise, new members come on, people leave, systems change and what was functioning and performing can slip backwards and sometimes the arrows don't always go in the same direction. Sometimes it can go back. So the storming is where there's no clear direction and things can get a little muddled and tricky. Norming is when you begin to understand values. You've reached an agreement and

039how we do our business. You understand our roles in context of the team's purpose and our individual responsibilities in the context of the whole team. The goal of tonight's workshop is for you to leave with clear understanding of roles and responsibilities of what a schoolboard member does versus and the schoolboard collectively and the superintendent and in your in your quest to govern and seek change and to move the system forward. And then performing is when you're really kind of firing on all cylinders, right? The team is aligned to the vision and the purpose. everybody understands the individual and the team's value um in the context of the greater um value chain if you will. They're able to focus on getting things done in a way that aligns with the team values. There's healthy conflict that

040allows for what you all talked about which is collaboration and what I was saying when I talked about Simon Cynic's definition of a team and somebody who trusts one another i.e that you trust that people come to this table to these seats to this role with common good in mind even if you don't necessarily always agree and that you can have healthy disagreements. I think a lot of times what's missing in our society today is healthy discourse. Everybody just has an opinion. If it's different from the other guy, they get mad, right? Um, I saw on the news last night, I had it out in the background as I was kind of getting some things done at home and they were showing a Palestinian restaurant. I don't know where, locally, somewhere. And there were tables

041of people talking about the situation that's going on and they were very different opinions of things, right? And they were having respectful discourse. They were eating together. They were talking together, sharing the perspective, and they were listening to one another. And it was lovely to see people having such a polarizing topic, such a pressing topic for our world and people could have healthy conversations about it, which I feel like used to happen. And then everything got so polarized that you're either on my side or you're not. You're either for me or against me instead of I have a perspective, but you have a perspective. We can still be respectful and talk and maybe even learn. But most people spend their time listening so that they can respond instead of listening so that they understand. And

042so the idea here is that we we remember that as you navigate the things that will come along and face uh that you'll be faced with here in in your role as school board. And so that's really the goal. So uh I have seen school districts that are highly performing and then they have an election and then new board members come on who don't necessarily understand their role and then guess what happens? They go right back to storming where they don't know the direction. people that were alive and functioning kind of get lost and then they have to do a reset. So I bring this to you not to tell you things you probably already know but to remind you to put in the right all right community of purpose four dimensions of a governance

043framework. So uh the governance framework says there's four things that you will be focusing on four categories or umbrellas if you will. um unity of purpose, roles and responsibilities, the positive governing body culture, and then the supportive structure and process. So, if you think about it, we've spent a lot of time here at the opening thinking about unity of purpose. That's kind of the work we do. We're going to spend a big bulk of our time together on roles and responsibilities and then at the end, lesser amounts of time on positive governing culture. I feel like you have a positive governing culture. I feel like just the feel in the room is positive. You seem to respect each other for the most part. Um I don't feel all of the vibe because we are missing

044some members, but I have a feeling that it would feel the same if they were in the room. And then supportive structures and processes to make sure that you stay that way. Right? So cultures um is culture is very important and there's a saying in education and it might be other places that culture will eat structure for breakfast for breakfast. If you have the best strategies for doing things, but your culture isn't right or the culture is toxic, then the the protocols will go by the wayside because the way people feel, the way the vibe is, the way people regard one another, that's super important. And once that's healthy, the rest of it will come in place. We're going to talk a lot about that. That's kind of the outline. Okay. So, unity of purpose.

045So, this is kind of a hard workshop to um make sure good instructional practices are happening and it will be really long if you only listen to me talk. So, I I try to put in places for you to think and talk amongst yourselves and share out because otherwise it's super boring and you're responsive. >> So, um unity of purpose you take a look at this definition. What I'd like you to do is there's two four six people. I'm going to have you just partner the two of you, Ann and Kyle, Michael and Stephanie. Would you take a look at this definition and take it in and try to connect it to your why that you wrote about at the beginning of our meeting your why do you connect to your whyl So advertising ours,

046>> right? That's going to be help with retention basically. I can't read my supporting That's what we do. Yeah, we can come to agree. Make sure So, what did you come up with? You have enough time. >> Oh, >> for about three seconds. Yeah. >> Okay. So, unity of purpose. Let's take a look. Unity of purpose is a common focus. Superordinate goals, the values, beliefs of the governing body member share in common about children, the school district and public education that help them transcend their individual differences and fulfill and greater. That's we're hoping ideally that every school board comes together and has this unity of purpose. I think you do. You said it yourselves at the beginning. So, I always try to have you write that or share that or say that because when we

047get to this key piece, you've already established that you have this unity of purpose. And it connects directly to the definition of team because you view yourself as a team that has common purpose, a common reason that Simon Synynic's definition of trust is achievable because it doesn't matter that we all love each other or like each other because some school boards, believe it or not, they like each other. I work with one in particular. I'm there all the time and they literally yell at each other. Like it's embarrassing. Yell, yell, yell. And I'll stand there. I'm like, "Really? Did you do this all the time?" Like, "This is how you do this?" And they they're And every time I think I've got it going, I we're going and then somebody takes a pen and and

048there it goes again. Right? So, this is like lovely. But I always have and even when I do the definition with them, they have unity of purpose. They just can't understand that you can have trust on a limited basis. I'm not talking about the trust you have in your husband or your wife or your parents. We're not talking about that level of trust, but can we find a common ground of trust at least from the perspective that when people sit down and Kyle and Darl and Ann and Kyle, I'm sorry, Darl and I said I called you Kyle there for the reason you are. That's what we're talking. So, this is a this is a big check mark. That's great. You got this going on, right? Um, do you see connections to your wives? >>

049Was it easy to make that connection? They're almost the same, >> right? That you the body members share in common their beliefs and values about children or school districts and public education. Public education, not just any education, public, right? There's all kinds of education. I I spent, you know, 26 years in color and one year in a private school. They're completely different experiences. Completely different experiences. And arguably, my perspective is the most important work is done in public schools because we serve all kids. All kids. The kids that don't have a voice, the kids who don't have advocates, the kids that do, and everybody in between. And to me, that's our most important work as society is serving all kids. So I spent one year and then I quickly was like I got to go

050home. I got to go home to the public world where I feel like you have the biggest impact. So it's really important work. So unique purpose is a big green check mark. You guys are golden here. That's super important. And that's really the foundation. And then now is the big roles and responsibility. um effective teams value and respect their federal roles come with common understanding on the roles of the board, the superintendent and strive to operate within them. So when you find yourself in the weeds on a topic, this can seem super clear and then all of a sudden you get into a topic and you're like, "Wait, what? What's my role? Who's the lead? Who's the supporting?" This is where you can go back to this document and then that cheat sheet I told

051you about that I love that really helps to guide who does what and it's foundational. So if you ever find yourselves in the we any one of you can remind your group your team hey let's go back to that who's the lead are we looking to Michael or is Michael looking us who's doing what here and the reality is you're all doing it together whatever it is. Okay, so that's the roles and responsibilities. When we think about the roles of a board, the National School Board Association, NSBA, identifies these roles of the board. You set the direction. Okay, and we're going to go to the next slide. Sorry. Setting the direction, ensuring accountability, establishing structure, demonstrating community leadership, and developing positive relationships. Those five things are your key work. So setting the direction. You've already

052started the year doing goal setting. You were focused. You got some things done which I think were really important especially with some of the uh district leaders in transition. Um ensuring accountability in the system super important but you have to do it in the parameters because who's your only employee? Michael, right? So, Michael has to do the rest of the work with his team, right? But you, your superpower as board of education members is to ask questions. Ask questions, seek information, make sure you're clear, bring forward issues. That's how you create accountability in the system. And if you don't have enough information, then you don't have to move forward yet, right? That's really important. All right. So, establishing structures. You want to make sure that the system has structures in place to do all of

053its most important work. That you as a board of education have structures in place to do your most important work. And that they care. Do you have policy committees? >> No. Okay. So, committee work is a structure of the board of education that can help you to be effective in your work. >> We have them in our policies, >> but we only have a few that actually are functioning. Okay. >> But board members, I believe, are not on those. So they're not like board members involved committees. >> There was a a restructuring of the last superintendent didn't necessarily like committees. Okay. So that >> I thought they used to exist with board members. >> Yes, they did. Yes. And so that might be an opportunity for you as we talk about this because just like

054the school district needs structures to do their most important work, the instructional department, the human resource department, the public relations department, um you know, the state and federal um programs, you know, special education. All of these things are structures that help to make sure that the system is doing its most important work. In the same way, a board of education has structures and one of the ones that most boards utilize is committees to do the work. So, you usually have a policy committee and you have a sometimes a communication committee and whatever is outlined in your operating procedures for the board of education you could go back to, >> which we don't have. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> So, that might be another place, right? So, that's okay. All of these are opportunities to grow.

055Remember, you said that you wanted to come to the table to elicit change. These are places that you can do that to make sure that your system and your your board, your governing body has the structures in place to be your most effective version of yourself. So that's why this is good information and it's great to kind of think through it. Uh de demonstrating community leadership, how you regard one another, how you behave, how you speak to one another, the kinds of things that you do, the things you all set leadership in your community. Right? So those boards of education that I talked about where I work, they like yell at each other. Are they setting the direction of change? >> And people get really mad about it. Like really? >> Sure. >> And and

056think about kids and what they're watching and how they're being taught to uh regard one another and to not respectfully disagree, right? And how to operate in the real world, right? That's how we do. So it becomes problematic. So use that example of how the lead in the community is super important especially when you talk about you've got on the board for reputation. Well, it starts here, right? It starts right here. Um and then developing positive relations with one another, with employees of the school district, with the community, right? Relationships. Relationship is the basis of all learning, all work. National School Board Association says the board of education five most important roles are these. Okay, so we're going to start getting into the nitty-gritty of the roles and responsibilities and there are two, four, six,

057eight, nine and a half. Okay. So, we are at 10 to 7. Would you like to have a break in or do you want me to just keep going so we can potentially finish a little early? You decide. >> Keep going. I'm >> good to keep going. >> I know. It's so cool in here. >> So, you're freezing. Okay. And if you have to go if you have to walk or take a break or stand up or do whatever it Okay. All right. So what I'm going to tell you is pay attention to the verbs and I don't want to just read this to you. I want you to I will read this to you but I would like to have some discussion too. So vision and values that we're going to start at the

058big picture thing. School board set the vision and identify the values of the system. Okay. You'll notice every side is divided down the middle. On one side is the superintendent role and on the other side is the board. So the superintendent's role for vision and values. E supports and assists the board in the process of developing the vision including recommending a process for vision creation, gathering stakeholder input on community values and core beliefs. He advises the board on vision creation and testing and assures the implementation of the communication plan. Once the vision is established, he helps to be sure that it gets communicated. Okay? His role is to support and assist. You see that flip on the other side, board role. The board's role for vision and values is to adopt and communicate a clear

059shared vision of what the organization is trying to achieve that reflects high expectations for quality teaching and student learning while incorporating the values and corporations of community. So the verbs there for the board's role with vision and values is to adopt and communicate. So who's primary responsibility is it to set the vision and values of the district? >> Board. >> The board. And then once you do it, whose job is it to carry it out? >> Superintendent. >> The superintendent. Now, does the superintendent have a say in the process? >> Yes. >> Sure. >> Yes. So, it's a collaborative two-way communication, but at the end of the day, who's responsible for the vision and values of the board? Got it? That make sense? >> What is your vision? You have one. What is it? >>

060Did you say the mission? >> Educate, engage, and empower those we serve. >> Okay. Educate, engage, and empower those we serve. That's the vision. You started the meeting with the mission. >> Yeah. Pull it up. That's our mission statement. our our vision statements will be innovative destination district. >> Okay. >> Where all succeed. >> Okay. Very good. And that's in the top of your agenda? >> Yes, ma'am. >> So, it's always there. >> Yes. >> That's primary. It's it's it's in a prominent spot on the letterhead. >> Yes. >> Okay. Very good. And it will be on your website. >> It'll probably be on the homepage of all your schools. >> It pro it probably posted somewhere in the school buildings. It's posted somewhere in this building, I'm sure. Maybe. >> Okay. So, >> you

061have one. How old is that? >> The vision mission. It was rebranded in 2018, I believe. >> I think around not too long about five years. Okay. Good. So board adopts and communicates. Superintendent supports and assists. But it's a collaborative process because it says over here that uh the superintendent supports and assists the board in developing a vision including a process by vision creation. If you do a new strategic plan, this gets revised, right? Everything gets rev but you have a strategic plan that was ending. >> It ended but it still can guide your work, right? And that's where we used those categories. Was it five, I think. >> Uh we used two or three I think three. >> Three to set the goals. And that was a carryover. So the goal setting was sort

062of like that bridge to where we're headed as you move through this transition. So some of those were celebrations. Remember Ann, you were saying, "Oh, we did achieve these things. That's getting better." Okay. And then I remember you specifically saying this is ongoing. It's getting better, but we haven't arrived yet. And so some of those things were where you guys developed your uh goal setting for this year, especially as you moved from one superintendent to the next. Okay, which was happening right in real time when we were doing the workshop in August. >> Okay, good. So, vision values. Good with that. The verbs are key. I saw some people underlining and highlighting. That's awesome. Okay. >> All right. Take a look. I'm going to not talk at you this time. Let's let's share the load

063here. You have elbow partners. Now, turn and take a look. Goal setting. I'm going to have somebody record out two people. Superintendent goal versus the board tool with goal setting cheat sheet. You already did this in August. So, take a look, look at your uh verbs and then we'll have a >> pulling that up. >> Yeah. It's all communication. >> Yeah. Yes. >> Oh, sure. So you're going to take a look at the difference between the superintendent role and the board of education role with goal setting to see if you can like teach it. What is it? >> Who is the lead and who's the supporting for people? Not yet. Yeah, >> verbs are really helpful and and in figuring out who does what. And make sure you look at the verbs throughout the passages

064too, not just the ones right out of the gate, especially on the board side. I didn't need that. Mhm. Okay, let's uh let's come back together. Goal setting. All right, who wants to take a stab at this? Who is the lead and who support the other type of relationship that exists for both >> board's board's going to be the lead and superintendent's going to assist. >> Yeah. So the word insure is a really strong word. It it it indicates accountability like I am absolutely going to make sure that this happened. It's different from adopt >> right ensure that if you look at the board side ensures the district business is translated into long and short-term goals sees that resources and systems are aligned to that goal attainment and holds the system accountable to the goal.

065Super super important. Remember back when the National School Board Association said accountability This is where you're talking about um the goals are the most important work and we talked a lot in August about systems that have 10 and 12 goals have no goals because no one can do all of that and that one of the most important things that we have to remind ourselves as a governing body is to stay very focused on our most important work. Two or three things generally are best because when a system starts to have success with two or three things or a small number of things, maybe it's four, then what happens is success breeds success. Once the wheels start to turn and you're making progress, it impacts the next set of progress. If you set a lot of

066goals, people don't know where to put their energy. They don't know how to manage that all. And so therefore, what happens is goal paralysis. Like they just don't know where to start. Sometimes we feel like this in our everyday lives, right? All of a sudden the to-do list is so long. You just kind of do you ever have that? I like you know that whole concept of what superpower would you have? I know what mine would be. And I don't know if it's officially a superpower, but remember I do. remember >> and like everything would be done. >> I either want that or >> one of the two. But sometimes I know dayto day I can think, oh my gosh, all the hats I wear, I get overwhelmed in the moment. Where do I even

067start? That happens in systems when we set too many goals and too many priorities. And then what happens is we get really stuck because then we fail at all of them and we think we're not good. And it isn't that you're not good, it's that you're trying to do too many things. And so there are lots of great initiatives and lots of great things, but it doesn't mean you have to do them all at once. And you have to pick things and stay with them, too. You can't just say, "Oh, this year we're going to do this." And you get halfway through this and you're like, "No, no, no. We're doing this." Then you're halfway through that and Schools are famous for that and and and you never see the fruit of the work because

068we're always shifting gears and we have to be really careful because our ISDs are well-meaning supportive agencies, but sometimes they can be the biggest factors in us trying to get on the next board and the next shift and the next thing and the next thing. Reality is if it's good for kids, let's do it. Let's do it with fidelity and let's see it through. >> And then when you start to get good at it, don't abandon because good is the enemy of great, right? If it's good enough, then you might not stay the course. Stay the course because it will get better. And so that's really important, the accountability as you're remembering that. And I'm glad that you guys only set three goals. One was academic, one was communication, and one was >> I was

069going to say communication, facilities, and student achievement. communication disabilities and students. So every aspect of that is different, right? >> And so you really have one goal in three key areas and that's very much attainable. >> Very much attainable. So the the the superintendent then knows the direction that the board sets the goals and in this case he can assist and advise the board in creating the goals. Right? How would a superintendent assist and advise the board in creating goals? What would be a role that what would be things that they would do to assist and advise? >> So, similar to like when we were creating the goals in the first place, like measuring what is obtainable and what is not obtainable. So, like really we're not in the day-to-day operation. So, like student achievement

070when we set our goal that uh no schools will be in the bottom 5% but they'll all be above the 15%. I know we were collaborating with Jacob when he was here because what was obtainable and realistic and we don't know what is realistic but the superintendent would know that. >> Yes. So he can bring the current data. He can bring his instructional leaders. He can be bring the building principles that the teacher needs to the curriculum head and talk with you and bring that information so that you can see what's the current snapshot >> where do we want to go? Who are our benchmark systems that we look to? How do we get to that? What are the strategies? >> These are the things that he then he brings to you with his team

071of people, right? >> That's awesome. That's a perfect example. >> Um what else? Because not just the academics that you're going to set goals around. There's other aspect of large systems work that is really important. What other things might the superintendent bring you to help you with your goal setting or make sure gets brought to you? Maybe he won't do it himself, but this is a really big one every year, >> the budget, right? >> Finance, >> all of that. What is happening with our pupil, our numbers, right? We're in the end of count period right now, right? So then what what are the actual numbers that our funding is going to be based on and then we make the adjustment in February, right? And did we did all the kids we predicted were coming

072actually sit in the seats and where are we at with our budget and how is that affecting things and what do we have to adjust for it with a lot of the co funding and estimates coming to a close here in the not too distant future. What are we going to do to continue if those things were good that they were paid for? How do we adjust for that? He has to bring that to you through his team of people. So it might not always be Michael doing it, but he can delegate that to do a CFO or >> CFO. >> Yeah. So then he or she would come and present and bring the information that you're requesting so that you can make sure that you have the information you need. So do you see

073how this works? It's your job to set it, but you can't do it by yourself. So it's again collaborative but at the end of the day it's your job and the key piece is the last sentence hold the system accountable. So when does that happen? How do you how do you know if the goals are being achieved? What are the ways the board of education become can get the data can get the snapshot can get the picture to know if the goals are being achieved? Remember it's like driving your car without looking at the dashboard. I think I'm going the speed limit. Get pulled over. Turns out I wasn't. I think I had gas. I didn't look at the gauge. I ran out of gas. All of these things we want to avoid, right? We

074don't want you to get to the end and run out of gas or miss the mark or go too slow or go too fast. How do you know that you're on track? How do you hold them accountable? >> Yes. From who? >> From the powers that be that we've appointed and put in place. >> Yes. So the system comes and does board reports, right? You have testimonial from students. You go out into the community and into your schools and you see the musical. You watch the band concerts. You go to the football games. You sit in the elementary and you maybe attend, you know, a night of learning or a literacy night or whatever. All of these are evidence that the goals are being focused on that work is being done to achieve them. So

075it can be the informal things of just being present at the events and in the buildings and in the spaces. But it could be the formal things like board reports, student achievement data, financial reports, um teacher leaders coming and talking about curriculum adoptions and why we're going to head in this direction. Are you moving towards a more based teaching approach to reading? Did you adop >> No, I didn't. >> Okay. Okay. So, I'm steeped in that right now. I just didn't yell for two and a half hours actually quite good. But uh so anyway, it's all of those things. So when we talk about teacher speak where we have formative and summitive assessment, you're doing the same thing. You're getting formative input, testimonials, people talking to you in the grocery store, you're going to events

076and being present in the community and making observations versus the absolutely summitive pieces, the formal report, the data, all of that informs whether or not the system is doing what you want and are you able to hold them account, right? So, that's super important. So far, so good. This is a really important one which is why we're spending a lot of time on it. But it's important to know who does what and how the system yings and yang and how you stay in your lane to play your role as the system gets better. Okay, cool. Next one. Everyone policy. Um let's take a look. Let's look at our verbs again. Uh the superintendent advises the board of education on policy development, the need and the impact, supports the board in the implementation of policy um

077in a policy review schedule um and protocols. He or she is responsible for creating and implementing administrative procedures to carry out the requirements of each policy. On the other side, very different verbs. The board develops and adopts policies for the district that are consistent with current law and align with district vision. The board creates and implements a schedule and protocol for policy review and ensures the superintendent has developed administrative procedures that are aligned. Who is the lead? The board. >> Okay. You develop and adopt the policies. Now, are you all attorneys? >> No. >> Okay. So you don't always know the current law. So how do you get the right information for policies? Where do you go >> so they write the updated policies? There's usually a various formats of it and then you can

078pick the one that best suits the needs of this system and your perspective that will then be in compliance with the law. Right? So again, you don't have to be the expert, but you're the vetting group if you will, right? you, Michael, will help help you set the vision and set the values, but ultimately it's your responsibility. He'll help to give you the information to set the goals and it'll be collaborative, but at the end of the day, it's you that are setting the goals and holding the system accountable. He's your only employee, so then he goes out and make sure that his team is doing the work and that you're collaborative, growing in the same direction. Policies the same way. Board policies, uh, is it on the website? >> Yes. board policy, board forms,

079perspectives, making sure that it's updated regularly is super important. Things are changing a lot, I feel like, in recent years, and making sure that you're staying current. And then also, um, ensuring the superintendent has developed administrative procedures. So, the administrative procedures are different than the board policies. Who can explain the difference? >> Admin regggs. >> Yeah. >> Is that what you're talking about? >> Yeah. uh board policy kind of oversees the district and it I almost see it as a more of like a generic like case whereas like the admin rags are more like you're into the system like how does the system run whereas we're more establishing the system. >> Yes. >> So yeah so the administrative procedures are like the standard operating procedures and how things are done. >> Take for example the

080hiring process. >> Okay. How does hiring happen in this system? Who can who can Michael? Can you explain the hire? Say you're going to hire a principal. >> Yeah. >> What do you do to do that? >> So the if we're talking about a administrator, it's something that would be handled uh here at the central office level. Uh we would have uh currently HR would do the reaching out to selected candidates. They would uh set up the interviews uh go over the the questions uh that we're going to use. Then we would have a first round committee that would uh involve different stakeholders from the school district. They would make recommendations that would go to a second round committee that would involve myself at the cabinet level administrators and then that would bring the recommendation

081uh from the board after going through that process. >> Okay. Very good. So that's a beautiful rundown of how a principal or an administrator would be hired. Stakeholder involvement HR identifying the questions first round who would be a member of first round who would make a second round then it gets recommended here. Okay. So in your board policies, I'm sure there's policy around hiring >> um that is more universal or global and then the standard operating becomes what Michael just articulated. >> Ours is like there will be a fair process. It's posted that sort of stuff. >> So that's like you use the word generic. It's a little more general. Then he goes into the specifics of this is who does it. This gets posted. They get the candidates. They make the questions. They do

082this. That's what it looks like in practice. Use of policy. His his practices support the policy. >> So far so good. So again, the school board takes the lead here. The superintendent makes sure it's properly carried out. So do you start to see how important your role is? Very important. We've looked at vision and mission or vision and values, excuse me. We looked at goal setting and policy and all three of them the board of education takes the lead. So, it's really important that we know that. Not everybody knows that. And also, by the way, you guys talked about a communication goal in August. >> Yeah. One of the things that would be lovely, and a lot of school districts are starting to do this that I'm working with, is communicating to your constituents what

083the role is of a board of education member versus the role of the superintendent. Just as anformational piece, most people don't know it. They just don't understand how it works. It's like the style that they think they know about, they don't know. This might be a proactive way to communicate. Okay, educational program. This is a little trickier. I'm going to have you do a turn and talk so you don't fall asleep. Go to your elbow partners. Check out your verbs. Look at the two sides of that chart. Who does what? And then we'll do a share out. We'll dig through it. Take a look and see who's responsible. You're both responsible. Who takes the lead? Takes it establishes. You're doing it. That's going through. >> Yeah. Okay. So, what did you make of the educational

084program? What? This one's not as clear. >> This one's not as clear. What did you come up with? Anybody want to say any thoughts through? >> Superintendent takes the lead. >> Superintendent takes lead. What tells you that? >> Says he establishes >> develop system. >> Yeah. >> What's the role of the board? >> Who are the experts on this thing? They've been this is their level of expertise they bring to us and we have to trust that they're bringing >> but then we ask for data >> right because your superpower is ask questions >> okay good so here with educational program the superintendent is the one taking the lead you know that because we're looking at the verbs so his role is to establish standards consist consistent with state law and district vision and goals.

085Establish standards recommends courses of study text assessments and instructional resources aligned with standard. So all the things that we need to do the work. It's his job to make um the recommendations also develop systems to ensure effective delivery of the educational program. So not just the things but delivering it effectively. and then monitoring system efficacy and provide student assessment data for the board and community consideration. System efficacy. What is that? >> The effectiveness of the programs. Yeah. What else is it? What is efficacy? One of my minority favorite >> isn't it like sustainability almost >> it is it's the belief that what I do matters that what I do impacts the outcome. So teacher advocacy is a teacher who believes that when they come to work and they put their best effort in and they

086build relationships with kids in teaching and learning. Teachers that report high levels of self-efficacy have the highest levels of student achievement. If you go through research and you study um student achievement that is growing and high levels of student achievement. You almost always have teachers who report high levels of special. Um when I did my dissertation, I studied high school principal leadership styles and the effect it has on teacher advocacy. The reason I studied that is because there was a million things I wanted to know, but the reason that work is so important is it's the only thing high levels of teacher efficacy. the only thing always positively correlated with high level students consistent across all studies. And so the question becomes how do systems create teachers with high levels of how do you do

087that? I can check it up. That's like my whole study. It's my I love it. It's my favorite thing and it's easily replicated in systems and schools everywhere. But it requires the right lead. It's a leadership issue. So the superintendent, the top leader is going to monitor system efficacy. In other words, is the system having the impact desired? Is the system causing students to feel safe at school? Parents who want to have their kids go to Taylor schools. Is the system causing high levels of student learning? Is the system effective? and he has to monitor whether or not all of the things that you're putting in place are causing the outcomes you want to happen. That's so so important. And how do you know how can you monitor that? So he talks about provide student

088assessment data for the board and the community to consider. So is the student achievement data moving in the direction we want it to move? And is our system efficacious? That's key. So he has a major role. It's the most important work and why we exist to educate the kids. Your role on the other hand is board of education members. Your role is to ensure the district has established standards and that the standards are consistent with state law and your vision and goals for the district. You approve the things that he recommends that is the curriculum, the text, the assessments, the instructional resources. You review and you evaluate performance of the system as it relates to the educational program and student achievement. So what happens if the system is succeeding? Who can you reward if you

089will in your role as board of education? So say the goals are going great. How do you reward the system? Yes, definitely can. But how else? What could you do? Well, hold you hold the system accountable. That's like a negative connotation, but it's really not negative, but a lot of times what people are saying you got to hold them accountable. What they're implying is that they're not being held accountable, right? But let's say you're holding the system accountable and the system is succeeding. Holding them accountable also require also implies that you reward if you will or you acknowledge if you will or you celebrate the success. How do you do that? Yes. Extending contracts. There might be merit. Okay. You know if you achieve X you earn Y. >> Just acknowledgement in general to the

090teachers. Yeah. Like you know that are >> putting the work in to make it. Right. And feeling valued is so critical. We talked about some of your rise as, you know, the staff report attracting the most talented educators, but once you get them in the door, you want to keep them in the door. And one of the most important ways you keep them in the door is you acknowledge them. It's hard work. Um, and when things are going in the right direction, people want to know that you noticed. So, it could be as simple as public recognition. It could be as simple as a handwritten note. It could be as simple as an email um from the board, you know, to the principal or the teachers or the pair professionals or whoever, the bus drivers,

091the food service, the custodial staff, the maintenance people. It doesn't matter who. If they're getting the job done, acknowledge them because nothing breeds success like success. And people want to be seen and valued. And so that is key. So the superintendent sets the standards uh and put it best. We have to trust that he knows what he's doing and that the system and the people that they hire are bringing the best educational program, the best assessment. They're they're they're aligning our system so that it all works to cause student rights. So far so good. Educational program. Our most important work. Superintendent takes the lead. Board of Education holds accountable ensures that everything is going in the right direction but at the end of the day it's next slide. Okay. So this leads directly nicely into

092employment. Okay. CEO, superintendent, acts as the board's agent in implementing district for the district and performance goals established by the board. Manages and oversees all district operation. Works collaboratively, key work collaboratively with the board to ensure effective governance. That's what we're talking about. Engages in ongoing and meaningful professional growth opportunities. We haven't talked about that yet. So your employee is the superintendent. The superintendent goes and does all the other work and he acts as your agent. He makes sure that the vision and values the policy policy the vision values and the goal setting the goals are carried out and achieved. The board of education's role with this employment of their CEO or their superintendent is that you hire a qualified superintendent. You establish peer performance expectations. You work collaboratively with your superintendent to ensure effective

093school district governance and you evaluate that superintendent's performance annually. Okay, that's super important. Um, and when do you do superintendent evaluation? Spring or fall? We do it spring. Spring. Okay. >> All right. And so you you have clear performance expectations, I'm sure. Do you know what your superintendent goals are? We've >> established that I guess. >> Okay. That's one of the things that you'll be doing soon because it's very important for the superintendent to know what his goals are so that he can make sure that he is working towards that achievement of the goals. Because at the end when you evaluate his performance, we'd like to know in advance which would be the criteria uh what are the priorities that you set for his most important work. We know that you should narrow that most

094important work to just a few things. They can be your goals that you set. >> I was going to say so far that's what I've been operating off of is the goals of what the board set before I came on board. >> Right. The whole point of the and the whole point of the goal setting to provide a bridge as the previous um strategic plan sort of came to a sunset. >> But yet there was still work to be done within that strategic plan and there almost always is right you almost never achieve them all >> and at least if you do achieve them all they still give you categories to move forward. So you have communication achievement and maintenance right those are key pieces. So there would be a beautiful place to start especially

095in this transitional year and it gives clear expectations right we want to move the needle with student achievement we don't want any of our schools in the bottom 5% we worked collaboratively with the instructional leaders that were here to identify what was reasonable for growth we don't want to set a goal so high that we fail but we don't want to have goal so low that we don't move the needle uh we want to make sure our facilities are maintained and communications came through as a priority And if you want to improve the reputation, your superpower there is your communication, right? So that all makes sense. That's beautiful work for you. It's work you've all thought about and it's aligned with all of your vision and your values. So it makes perfect sense. >> Um

096but you all have to decide that. I can't do that for you, but that's where I would suggest. Um, and so he's your employee and where you're headed and what you're doing with all of that. So, do you use our evaluation? I can't remember. >> Yeah, we use our uh board attorneys. >> Okay. So, employment and staff. We talked a little bit about this earlier when we were talking about policy. Yeah, looks like Kyle, you do a really nice job of saying like it's fair and equitable and umbrella >> and then Michael articulated the standard operating way of how you would make the hire and the different layers and processes. >> Turn to talk. >> What do you What do you think about this? office based on our president. Yes. Yeah, I can't believe Oh,

097wait. I had my husband. Okay. So, what did you come up with there? Employment, superintendent role, board. >> We came up with them as being the lead. >> Take the lead and then you're in supporting role there. >> Yes. >> Okay. Agreed. I agree. Yep. So the superintendent proposed employment policy that the board recommends all personnel to be hired is responsible either directly or indirectly performance evaluation ensures comprehensive professional development plans are in place and there are consistent law. Does that mean that Michael has to do all his work by himself? >> Absolutely. Absolutely. >> He has HR. Right. So, but when you look at your organizational chart, who's at the top >> and everybody reports up, right? So, at the end of the day, he makes sure that they're doing their jobs, but he

098could not possibly do all the jobs. Some of our really small school districts is a different story. I sometimes wonder I one of I'm doing a strategic plan for Jackson County school district. very small and I think I'm like well maybe you need somebody even part time right because if that's where you're falling down you don't have anybody >> the superintendent can't do anymore so maybe that's a place to set a goal right to make a change right so but this is a big system you have tons of schools it's a big machine and you really have to have the right people work and then Michael has a policy on the different department. So from the board's perspective, you adopt policies governing employment. You have a policy. We talked a little bit about that earlier.

099Um salaries and salary schedules, merit pay, terms and conditions of employment benefits, professional developations are consistent with the law district. When you have collective bargain contracts, ultimately they're not ratified until the membership agree and who else. Right? That's super important and that's really important work. Do you have any contracts up this year? >> All four in the spring. >> We're gonna be busy. >> Absolutely. That is exactly what's going on. >> Okay. Well, that's okay. Gives you lots of opportunity to rise above and do amazing work. Um, wow. You guys got it all going on. That's all right. It's all right. >> We don't mess around. >> Yeah. >> Clearly. >> So, we don't mess around. >> You'll just get it all done. So, all of them are up. >> Yes. >> So, when are

100you going to start? >> We care. >> Yeah. Yeah. You may as well, right? Because one leads to the next. But there there's a method to the madness to the order that you go. So, >> okay. So, that's super important. None of those contracts will be ratified until the board of education agrees and signs. Um, so that is a big it's a pivotal year for you guys. So all the things that you said in your why, you can really have impact this year. You're making a major decision. So that's huge. That's great. It can be pressure. You can see it as pressure and negative or you can see it as a super opportunity to really have things and I would do it in the second because um okay so process for employment I worked when

101the first I worked with you were doing a self assessment and I was I was with somebody right and I was learning and I was just sitting very quiet and there was this board member who everybody was mad that because every time a recommendation for hire came up, he voted against the hire. Did I tell you this? And everyone was mad at him. He kept voting against the hire because he was mad at the superintendent because he did not like the hiring standard operating procedures. He did not like that they use committees and the stakeholders as part of the committee. He thought it was a waste of resources. It was a waste of time. He thought it should be, you know, the cabinet or you or those secrets like he was mad and he was

102using every hire as an opportunity to protest that he did not like the process. And I was literally sitting quiet the whole time. And finally I said, you know, here's the thing. How do you think those people that are getting hired feel? You know, people bring their family to board. You know, they bring their family, their their spouses, their children when their hire is being approved, especially the big positions like school principal or assistant superintendent. They go to the point of pride in people's careers to get to that level of leadership. And then you sit in the audience with your family and your people or even just by yourself and you board me every voting against your hire. I said, "Is that the message you want to convey that for whatever reason you don't support

103them?" And I said, "In a competitive environment where we're in a massive shortage and the person out of the gate already feels not supported, you think that's a way to start that relationship that you're they're wanting, right? That their gifts and talents are either why they're so mad about the process because do they know that they just walked in the door >> and now they're not even unanimously supported?" And maybe they shouldn't be supported. I don't know. I'm not saying you should be a rubber stamp. I'm just saying what is the communication? And I said I would recommend that you take your grievances and air them other ways. Right? So air your grievances in a different way instead of making that candidate that's been hired be super proud to be a part of your community

104feel like they're not. And so your role to approve hires is a really important one. You don't want to just be a rubber stamp, but if you trust your superintendent and HR in the process that they are bringing the very best candidates, then in some ways you do want to try to be as supportive as possible because anything else communicates that maybe they're not. So there's all these layers and nuance to this work. And even if you feel like, well, he's a lead, but I'm just supporting. Your support is critical because remember National School Board says that one of your key roles, one of your five key roles is setting an example of leadership, right? And so if you don't like a candidate that's coming forward, could you address that? And how would you address

105that? What would you do? What should you >> have that conversation with superintendent? >> Yeah. before >> Privately. Yeah. So, it's not that you can't, but you always know that you're sending messages all the time. Just make sure you're especially if you're trying to shift and change. So, employment of staff, it's all filtered through your superintendent. You support, but you have critical roles in the bargain contracts and agreements. Um you ultimately have a say over when healthcare is changed and shifted and that goes through the question context which also comes to you. Uh professional development talked about that. Why is that important? Professional development >> things are always changing. >> You have to stay current. And how effective is a new curricular program if we just say here you go teachers or here you go

106people here's your stuff but we don't teach you how to use it or support you in the process of implementing it. So you it's really important because your the value the valuable district resources will be spent in some cases hundreds of thousands of dollars in rolling out curricular programs especially in big systems. And if that stuff gets delivered in boxes and it sits on the shelf and no one cracks open the fields, it's a waste of money. And unsupported curriculum and unsupported district initiatives are a waste of money and valuable resources. And at the end of the day, we're not going to use the instructional. So what's the point? >> You invest in something that is not what is truly needed by the data that you see from the school district to move that. That's

107right. So your role is super important to make sure that the resources go behind the work. You can't you can't have unfunded initiatives. I mean we can we call the department of ed but uh it's not good and we don't get the outcomes that we want. And so when you have local control like you do as a school board, if you're saying we want our schools to not be in the bottom 5% and the problem you think and is reading and writing, then let's make sure we have the very best tools in the hands of our teachers and let's make sure that our teachers are developed and supported in the implementation of the best work and that we're doing what's best practices to help those teachers move the needle for those kids. Right? You can

108hold the system accountable to that. I just saw the Mississippi uh story about their whole reading program, how Mississippi was the worst educational system in this country and then they made a major shift a few years back on phonics and now they're like they raised to like the middle of the country with their scores. >> Yeah. >> Their reading scores >> they were number 50. >> Yeah. Their reading scores they focused on that. Their academic scores went skyrocketing. So I will tell you from an educational standpoint what did you teach? >> I have a secondary. >> Okay. >> Yeah. So when I went to school and we went to a lot of us went to school we we were taught phonics and we became pretty good readers. Then there was this whole moment of whole

109language. Then you heard Quincy Cochran's readers in writer's workshop which was my kids whole experience which is probably your kids in high school or just graduating experience and that became the she became the guru of reader and readers and writers workshops. I have an article in my bag that I just pulled about how basically states are abandoning it wholesale because it isn't producing good readers or good writers. In fact, they can't spell. They can't. They're not good complete sentences. They're not effective readers because we didn't include the science of reading, which is the phonics based instruction. And I did not know that example about Miss, but I'm going to research it. That's a lovely thing. >> So, I was talking about what I was just doing before I came here, which is Youly University of

110Florida literacy initiative, and it's a very systematic phonics-based instructional program that we're launching. And I will tell you that at November 1, we have kindergarteners who are starting to be readers, most of them. Um, now it's very, you know, systematized reading, but they're making meaning. They're able to read. And moreover, they call themselves readers, which is what I was just saying in our professional learning is the most important thing we can do is cause kids inner voices to be I'm really good at school. I'm a reader. I'm a good student. I'm capable. I can do hard things when they're little. Because the reality is when they say that's true, it will be true, right? It will be true. And so that piece is huge and I'm not your curriculum person, but looking at a phonics

111based piece in addition to the other things is really important, right? And that's I think what was a miss and that's why I think systems are healing struggle. Um because especially if kids are coming from rich environments of literacy and really rich experiences, they don't even know how to hold books, right? They don't know how to turn pages because they don't have books at home. So our families don't ra the point. These are the kinds of readings you should be doing, the questions you should be asking. The more informed you are, you can ask the right questions because remember, you're holding the system accountable, right? You may not be the expert, but you can sure read and learn and you can sure ask the right questions and help to set the direction and expectation system.

112But then when you set the directions, you got to put the resources behind it. But then this PD, which is what got us on this topic, is so important because if you're going to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on revamping curriculum and buying materials, you better make sure it's implemented with fidelity so that it has the impact. So this whole cycle of things that all is related to accountability in in the nicest way not assuming the worst but assuming the best and making sure that the system is accountable to the end users which are the children right >> staff employment CEO good to go everybody's good >> we're doing it We talking about finances and resources and now we're looking at budget. Let's take a look. You look my ministers adopt you. I need

113to adapt. Yeah. Sure. Yeah. I don't know. So cool. Yeah. November here. good looking or this delegates our CFO is going to be the lead initially but >> and then you adopt the budget. Yes. So the uh superintendent recommends and administers policies related to the budget development and management. Creates and implements the process in a calendar for budget preparation and monitoring. Develops and proposes the budget to the board. Makes revisions to the budget is requested by the board and administers the budget adopted by the board. Budget amendments January. >> Uh usually February I think up close. Um so and they get amended based on count right and uh count in the fall and count in February. Yeah. >> And also any other things that are happening along the way, right? Building needs in the winter,

114you know, a boiler fails, buses go, cost of things go up, >> etc., etc., right? So always monitoring that. Now, your superintendent doesn't do that, but as you said, Luke, the CFO does. Um, it's a collaborative piece with the whole cabinet, I assume, I imagine. Um, and then you, uh, it's an ongoing process. Budgeting is an ongoing process. The board adopts the policies related to the budget creation and management reviews the proposed budget submitted by superintendent and assures the alignment of district goals and verifies the reliabilities and assumptions on which the budget is based assumptions. What assumptions are go into creating a school district's budget? Key assumptions. >> Enrollment. >> Yes, that's the biggest one, right? What do we predict will be our enrollment in the coming year? That's our main source of revenue and

115look for pupil foundation allowance. There are of course other revenue streams for federal funding and so on grant funding specialized funding professor funds and three funds and all of those things but the bulk of the budget is for pupil um foundation allowances based on how many kids are actually sitting enrollment going up down or staying steady. composite of trend right now. >> First time in 40 years. >> How many >> that we're waiting for the official numbers to be tabulated, but uh it looks good. I'll say that much. >> Double digits or triple digits? >> I would say we're looking at triple potentially. >> Good. >> Choice or just people moving? >> I don't know. We don't know that. I don't think we have that, do we? >> Okay. All important information though to know

116where are the numbers coming from? Who are the kids? Are people moving in? Is it affordable housing? Is it uh >> I'll say from what I looked at it was like you could tell the the track because of the where the locations were. It was certain neighborhoods that stand out to me because you could tell definitely in the tracking of where the biggest gains were. >> Okay, good. So, that's super important to tell. That's great news. Um that's great news. Um, okay. So, here's the other piece. As board members, you ensure alignment to the district goals. That there are budget amounts aligned to district goals. We talked about unfunded mandates or unfunded initiatives or unfunded goals are likely not to be achieved or they're likely not to be achieved at the level we would hope.

117There might be some progress, but they might not be achieved. We cannot say we want reading and writing scores to be improved and then not carefully look at how we're supporting that. Do we have instructional coaches? Do we have the best uh curricular supply? Are we examining current trends and research that says this whole language approach where phonics is in a priority? Are we moving in that direction? Are we considering the science of reading and as well as the the art of reading, right? and all these other pieces, like where are we headed? Examples, but these are the things that you want to be asking questions about and are you properly funding those things? Most systems have like a cycle of textbook review or I know textbooks is kind of an old term I guess

118because so much stuff is online now, but still I you know still the book that you can hold and the pages that you can turn have value, right? So, are you annually reviewing and making sure everything is up to date? Or does your civics class have a book from 1985? Like, where are we at in the process? And if they do, how are you funding that process? And what is the cost to keep things current? A lot of that can now be subscriptions to certain, you know, online resources and so on. Um, it's not just textbooks, although that's generalized term that's a little outdated. Um, so all these things are important. uh the board uh the superintendent takes the lead and we might go back to Ann's logic because he's they're the expert on the

119numbers and all that in the same way that the educational program they're the expert on pieces. So it makes sense then that the superintendent takes a lead and the board is more supporting whereas vision and values and policy and goal setting board making progress is the next one. Okay, let's take a look. Superintendent facilities. He analyzes, interprets, and communicates the needs of the school system to the board. Develops and maintains a district facilities plan. Recommended recommends and supervises facility renovations and new construction projects and champions funding initiatives as directed by the board. The board ensures alignment of district facilities to district mission and goals, approves and monitors school facility improvements and related funding and communicates proposed construction plans to the community. Have you had a bond? >> Yes. >> 2021. >> Oh, so you're still

120working on carrying out the bond initiative. >> Yep. >> Okay. So, um that's a perfect example, right? the board want agrees it's probably a collaborative approach that you needed a bond then the superintendent champions funding initiatives they usually need bonds there going for goals approaches and things and then he might go out with his team to make sure that there's a communication plan and to get the word out to make sure that the outcome is is positive as possible and people go um ensures alignment of school district facilities to district vision goal uh goals and approve to monitor improvements. So, who's taking the lead here? >> Well, it looks like the superintendent should, but in recent years, it's been four year. It's been backwards a little. >> Well, and and maybe a little backwards. This

121is a bit of a collaborative one, too. I don't see super in strong. I mean assures it sure is a strong verb of course but at the end of the day it's a collaborative piece uh the board should be taking uh the lead on some of these pieces right if the superintendent is going to champion funding initiatives as directed by the board that means the board has a lead okay on those pieces but then in the other way daytoday stuff the superintendent takes the lead and the board supports. So this is really a back and forth one >> like if the boiler goes out like the board supports >> or your condition, >> right? And so the day-to-day stuff, you're going to trust that he's going to do the right thing and you're going to

122support, but on the big picture things, the future focus thing, you will take the lead and then he takes the support. This one is a little trickier because it's a back and forth. It's more collaborative. It's more even and depending on the situation. That's the way it's supposed to work. That's the whole point. This is a reset. Remember, we're talking about how it's supposed to work in, right? And this gives you the the stand. >> We'll see. The next workshop though will be in a new room. So, we're all moving. So, >> might have better tent. I don't know. We'll see. So, the last one we're going to look at is community relations, and I'm going to let you dig into it. Take a look at your verbs. This is a short one. Take a

123look and see what do you come up with the lead. Is this more of a collaborative one like facilities or is it support? This is something that also the other thing because >> yeah, but the way we're set up So what do you make of this one? >> Is there a clear lead in supporter or is this one of the collaborative ones? >> I think it can be a collaborative but I think the superintendent takes that. >> Okay. >> And the reason we our discussion was you know in our meetings everything if there's public comment Mike or one of his someone he appoints will be that response. or we sit and listen and >> try to be neutral. >> Exactly. >> You even say it in your comments. >> You gave directions at the beginning.

124I was listening to what you were saying and how >> any questions you'll receive an answer from the superintendent or the >> right. >> Okay. So, that's really good because then everybody who has public comment knows they can expect or they have questions that they'll get a response. It's not just who's gonna give me an answer, >> you know. And the flip side of that is every one of us has been out in the community and someone brings something up and then it's >> texting Kyle or you know and get it to Mike or or getting a hold of Mike and all right hey just a heads up this might be coming down the pipe or um you know so that and that's where I see where we take the lead from the community standpoint.

125Yeah. >> And that's where I was looking at this too was like a big part of the way I view my role. You know, I have an expert on cabinet is finances. I have two experts in curriculum. I have an expert in HR. This is one of my key central things that has to be part of what I do. >> Yes. And that's really important that you view it that way. I will tell you it nothing is more more frustrating or uh deteriorates trust more than a community member going to the board saying something that's super important because obviously they're taking time out of their schedule to go and address the board and then they hear nothing back. >> Yes. >> Uh that erodess trust pretty fast. I will tell you that >> I went

126and talked to the board for the first time ever. I never thought in a million years I would ever but I was so frustrated with something that happened in our our school community and the impact it had on my son. all the kids. It was terrible. And I tried to get answers, couldn't. And so I felt like my last resort was going to the board. And I I I went to the board and they I never received a response. And when I received a response, you're we've heard your concern. That was it. It wasn't It was important. It was nothing. And I'll tell you what, it stuck with me and and I'm an educator and I do this work and I went and I got nothing. Uh, and it's it's frustrating and it does erode

127trust. And so I it's really important, Michael, that you see that because if you're trying to establish a new I'm not saying you're it sounds like you're trying to establish a new >> vision and perspective for your system. One of the key ways you do that is by responding to people and making them feel valued and heard instead of small and insignificant, >> right? >> Super important. And I can say for sure when you ignore I actually said that to our superintendent. I you made me feel so small and um and here you're trying to use the right things. You're trying to like I'm not a difficult parent at all. I rarely ever contact with this thing was not good and it didn't matter. So don't be that. Don't be that. Anything is better than

128that. Um so community relations is really important. If you go back to the national school board's roles, the five goals, not only the leadership and setting the example, but the last one, I want to use the right words. by developing positive relationships. Number five, the way you do this is communication, trusty over time. People that take the time out of their daily lives to come, it's something they're concerned about. It's real, right? Um and so, uh building that opportunity. So, every problem is an opportunity. Every new contract is an opportunity. Every hurdle is an opportunity to do it right, maybe different. Um, make people feel valued in the system. Even if you can't do what they say or even if you don't agree, giving them the respect that they've been heard and that their voice

129is valued and that their thoughts are taken into consideration is really important. Okay, so we've looked at all the big ticket items that a board of education is trusted to do. Vision and values, policy, goal setting, finance, employment of the CEO, employment of the staff, your facilities, community relations, and I might have missed one, but you get the gist. This is that one pager that I was talking about. Uh, I love this handout. I think it's one of the best ones Masc has. Two extra here. This is something that you might want to keep with you. I know a lot of boards of education will put this in their binders. Like some of them have binders that they use and they have at their meeting. This is a different lens on exactly what we just

130talked about. the role of the superintendent, the role of the board of education. Um, those are bullet point. And then if you flip it to the back side, it's almost a perfect crosswalk to the PowerPoint, but it's not exactly the same. It's a little different variation. So, you have the goal setting and policy. We talked about that. Budget, we talked about that. Curriculum is the educational programming. So, that's the crosswalk there. staffing and appraisal, that's employment and evaluation. Facilities is a crosswalk and then the superintendent of responsibilities is set aside, but that was part of employment. So, this is an awesome handout. I'm not going to read it to you. It can read it, but it's a nutshell sort of cliffnotes version, if you will, or spark notes. uh version of the PowerPoint that I

131love. You guys doing okay so far? >> Okay. All right. We will end early which will be like taking a break at the end. >> Okay. Good. >> Questions thoughts. Okay. Sure. It's hot. >> It's like kind of cool. >> Oh, well, where is it warm? Because I want to go there. >> Gosh, >> come stand here. >> Um, okay. So, I love this one. Um, do you guys remember the movie Ferris Day Off? >> Do you know the scene at toward the end where Pam is at the art museum or it's on their day? Yeah. >> Their their adventure, right? there at the art and he stands in front of that picture in the park and he's staring at it and then every frame it zooms in. It zooms in and zooms in to

132where it's like the pixels. This is what I always think of when I see this slide. So, we start with the board, then we go to the administrators, and then we go to the teachers. And that's like starting from the big picture to a more narrow focus to a very narrow focus. kind of like that image of Cam standing in the the art museum and studying that picture embarrass. So the board of education, you're the big picture. You're like 30,000 ft. You're overseeing the district and organization and all the parts that create the whole. You focus on representing the community's interest. You're looking in the long term three to five years. That's why it is important eventually to get a new strategic plan because that helps you get to that point and it brings all

133your stakeholders in. Um provide overall structure through district goals and setting clear targets for improvement. Big picture and you have your administration starting with your superintendent to your cabinet to your building leaders to your teacher leaders and so on. They're like still a big picture but not as big as you. 10,000 foot view as opposed to 30,000. They're overseeing now the schools and departments coordinating the component parts of the organization focus on working with constituent groups and they're looking one to three years out providing structure creating and deploying plans that need to improvement. So they're the boots on the ground but they're the leaders. Okay. And then now we're really closely narrowly focused right into that classroom with the teachers. They're the local eyes point of impact with kids. They're in the trenches day in

134and day out. They're the ones teaching kids how to get in line, how to, you know, come to the carpet, how to become leaders, how to become citizens in the high school, all these things. They oversee the classroom department, teaching teams, and they're coordinating the specific parts of the organization. They look days, weeks, and months ahead. Very different than you guys three to five years. They provide classroom structure and they refine adjust plans for improvement. So, this is sort of how your system works. I think you already know this, but I love just the idea that we reset and we think about it. So, you guys are like the big umbrella and then Michael, your superintendent, and his team are underneath of it. And then everybody else is underneath of that. all reporting up to

135you. Okay, next slide. Okay, this is not a sales pitch. Uh there is a process that you has that is a board self assessment. When you get to the springtime, you may want to consider this process. I'll tell you why. A, you're going to have hopefully ratified contracts. You're going to know if interim superintendent becomes superintendent or what the path is for that transition. You're going to be through a transition year where it sounds like you've got a lot of change even on the cabinet in central office. um and you've got new board members relatively new, not super, but relative. This would be a beautiful time to do a board self assessment because it takes a pulse of where you think you are as a board of education. So, it helps to create lots of

136good conversation. Unless you're the school district that fights and then that was really hard. um that it creates lots of good conversation. It um helps to improve the board's understanding of its roles and responsibilities even more than just this workshop. It helps to gather your perspective and it gives helps you to identify clear directions for improvement. So Ann might think you're really great at the board at something, but Luke is like, I don't agree. And it doesn't reveal who said what or how you rated it. It gives a composite, but it helps to identify where the strengths are for celebrating and where the opportunities are for growth of the board. Okay, this is a board self assessment. So essentially what you would do if you did this is you go on to the website where

137we would send you the link and Ann would take it and Darl would take it and Luke would take it and all the board members would take it and you would go through all the categories that we just talked about and you would rate yourself on these statements. And this is a sample of the data you get. The darker the green the more positive this statement was or this category was for how effective this board was. If it's yellow, it's kind of like in the neutral. And then the orange and the red are areas where that is not going well. And essentially what happens is you all get the you all rate yourself in all of these areas. You self assess and then the composite scores come out and then someone like me or me

138would come out and help you facilitate the conversation and dig through it and we could come up with outcomes and opportunities for celebration throughout. So that's pretty cool. >> That's probably really good to do right before setting next year's goals. >> Yes. Or embarking on a new strategic plan. >> Either one. >> Yes. >> Yep. >> And I will tell you this tool is pretty pretty good tool. I mean I believe I work for them. It's a good tool. I've done many of these and they are very effective and they're useful. Can you do the next slide? Thank you. So this is what the kind of reports look like as you dig through there. Um and then the one in the bottom corner uh they those are the statements and then you so you can

139break it down by statements. So some in the categories are really strong like do you see the top two are all green? So those are strengths and then you see red and orange and then that can be um areas where we would need to where these are. Okay. So just food for thought. It's a nice place to go and directly related to governing body culture is what you kind of dig in and dig through yourself a sense of where are we at um is the focus here. So culture is so positive or so important is what I should say. Culture is the positive or negative atmosphere created by the way people in the organization treat each other. That's bottom line. Teams have unwritten or written agreements about how they will behave with each other and

140others. The behavioral ground rules often called norms enable teams to build and maintain a positive culture or shift to negative work. What do you think the culture is like in on the board of education within all of you? Would you frame it as neutral, positive or negative? >> I think it's positive. >> Generally positive. Some of the things you talk about. No, but collectively we want the same goal. And so whether Daryl and I agree or disagree, we still come to an agreement that this is where we're going to take it. Like, >> and what happens when you agree that this is where we're going to take it? What happens if if not everybody in the room had the same opinion, but you collaborate and you come to an agreed upon approach? What happens then?

141What's the expectation then? So maybe I came to the table and I wanted X to happen but I listened and I agreed on why then what is the expectation of me to have the different >> that you're going to support it. >> I'm going to do the Y and I'm not going to undermine by reporting the somewhere else in the parking lot. And what happens if I say I support Y and I'm still mad about X and I go out and do what I do? >> Yeah. Undermines the validity of what we're the board itself. >> That's right. And that starts to create the negative tension because I'm not sticking to the norm. The norm could be once we agree upon a direction or a decision or a priority or a goal that we all

142then get behind it and support it. even if it wasn't initially what we had hoped. That's key to creating and maintaining positive culture. And I said earlier, culture will eat structure for breakfast. If you're in a toxic situation, you can have the best standard operating procedures. You can have the best policies. You can have the best people. But if people don't regard each other with respect and they don't stick to things, they don't state their words, it undermines rightly pointed out and it creates toxic homework. And so who cares about the standard operating procedures if everybody's going to undermine the process? So this is arguably the most important thing to stay focused on. Not just your board's culture, but your district's culture. What's happening in the culture of your high schools, your middle schools, your

143elementary schools? What's happening on those teams of leaders as the elementary principles come together? Is that a positive culture? Do they have positive norms? Do they regard each other respectfully? Do they come to the table and agree on something and then do they all go back and do it? Or is there something else that's happening? Don't know. Just asking. So culture is the positive or negative atmosphere created by the way people in an organization treat each other. Do you have norms for your board? What are some like examples >> like these ones down here like >> look at examples. So a lot of times boards and it might seem like it shouldn't matter or it doesn't matter or it's not an important exercise but it is a really important exercise and I'll tell you why.

144Because when things get controversial and they get tricky just like I said earlier if you can just remember your role like we're having a education policy discussion. Okay. I got to remember he's the expert in his team. So I got to take his lead. I got to trust his handset. He's going to bring the best things forward. And if I'm not sure they're the best, I'm going to do what? >> Ask questions. >> I'm going to ask questions. I'm going to look for data. I'm going to look for information. If I'm not sure, I'm not going to act yet. And that's I'm going to stay in my lane. I'm going to do my role. And we're going to get through this. The other guiding factor to get through difficult things is having clear norms. So

145even though binders are like old school, it's not always bad to have something that sits on right on the counter during a meeting and in it are your board forms, your vision and mission. It might also be um your cheat sheet because you might be getting stuck in the weeds in your mind on an issue or the we might be heading down the path, you know, and going down the rabbit hole and you can say, "Gosh, this is a budget issue. Who's doing what now? What? What is that again?" And then you open it up and you're like, "Yeah." And you can just be reading it. Nobody else knows what you're reading. It's just right there. So, if you go to Norm, can you go to the next slide? Okay, here's some sample. I don't

146know why they're falling off the bottom here. Um, but I think it's translation. I have a violence giant. It didn't translate well. She had to pull it in. But anyway, sample norms. We'll treat each other with respect. We'll be present at all meetings physically and mentally. Listen to learn. These are examples. You could write any. We had norms at the beginning. Remember that little post-it note? >> We set norms for this meeting. you can set norms for the board of education. Um, and they help guide the way you're going to do business. Uh, earlier Luke talked about how if a citizen has a comment, you know that your role is to do what? >> Sit and listen. And you know that who's going to respond? >> Superintendent. >> And the superintendent articulated that that's his

147most important role. He takes that very seriously because he wants his constituents to feel valued and heard and and he has the team of experts underneath of him in order to do that work. Well, that's a norm. I know that that's how we're going to operate and we stick to it and we all can trust each other because remember we're a team and trust is super important that that's how we're going to operate. When we all operate in that way and it's predictable, we continue to foster trust and we function. That's point. So these norms are really important. So it would be a worthy activity for the board to set its norms and then have them readily available all the time. Some boards of education have tall name tags and they literally put them on

148a sticker on the back of their name tag because it's right in front of them during meetings when they come in. These are not they wouldn't put there but you could have a binder >> with them in there. And these are things that help you be effective. Remember this is an effective governance workshop and these are strategies and tips to help you be effective. So while it might seem uh sometimes people want to say well that's we know that you know it now but sometimes when things get controversial or tricky, you got four contracts to ratify and figure out like that could get controversial and tricky in your community, right? It could. And so this helps to set the guidance for how you're going to act and how you're going to be and how you're

149going to regard each other and all those things which is the point of all this work. So that might be a useful activity um if you don't already have them. uh sample we're moving on here supportive structure and process remember I talked about culture super important cult structure for breakfast the structure of the protocol support a structure right so effective teams discuss and agree on formal structures and processes used by the board and superintendent and their functioning as a team protocols are the processes followed by the board and superintendent as they work together to govern the district you talked talk about a protocol. Community member comes, the protocol is we listen. The protocol is superintendent response. Um, can you think of any protocols besides? That's a good one. We've used it a few times now.

150Are there other protocols that you use that help govern how you, the board, and your superintendent work together? Um, probably like establishing agenda meetings prior to board meetings to go over the actual meeting, making sure it's all outlined correctly and making sure everything's correct. >> That's how you're going to operate, right? Process is followed by the board and the superintendent as they work together. So, you can count on getting the board meeting agendas when >> prior to >> how how far before? >> Friday. the Friday before the board meeting, which is always on a Wednesday >> Wednesday. So you have the weekend plus two days >> to review them. So that's a protocol. This is how we get it. This is when we get it. >> And if any adjustments need to be made, Monday

151is the deadline for that, too. >> Okay. So we know that adjustments are by Monday. Okay. What else are That's a great example. Can you think of another? That's a great one. >> Friday afternoon. >> Okay. So the cabinet provides an update to the board about the week, the stuff, the things >> that are happening day in and day out so that you're a team. So you can count on a protocol as you work together that on Fridays, this central office cabinet is going to give you an update so that you're a team going into the weekend. So if you're in the grocery store and someone stops you, you're like, "What?" You already know because your superintendent has told you, right? So this is these are examples of protocols and you can readily talk about

152them and how they operate and work which means you're in a healthy place. So this is an effective governance. One of the ways to be effective in your governing is to have policy cultures and norms and others. Okay, next slide. You guys are in great shape. You guys should be really patting yourself on the Okay. Protocols for consideration. So, you gave some examples. Public comment, communication, agenda setting, timelines for agenda. Those are some. Here's some other things to consider. Board orientation and development. Luke and Jod come online nine months ago. How do you orient them to the board? >> I'm Stephanie. I just moved to Jod. >> You're right. You're right. >> It was for the teamwork. Yeah. >> Okay. So, I apologize. >> It's fine. >> So, how you orient new board members when

153they come on? >> Something to consider. >> Yeah. I sat down with I think each of them. >> Yes. >> And kind of went through gave them all the contracts, board policies. They got a massive binder of the district's board policies. talked about >> yeah the last like a few agendas superintendent reports were in there >> talked about those types of things ongoing projects what they're jumping into gave a bond update all that >> beautiful >> yeah not walking in blind might be overwhelmed they might be walking in >> but he's also great about like if we have a question he will answer his phone we can text him anytime so >> right so that's trust clear communication, protocols, expectations, consistency over time. So, we're hitting communication, >> right? Um, one of the communications that

154you can count on again community member like the key somebody, what happens if you're in the grocery store and you hear about something or at the football game and you hear about something, you didn't know about it. What do you do? >> Call Kyle. >> Cally Kyle. Can I call >> generally generally it's a text so it's more private right but >> yes >> yeah so you all knew that >> right >> so you have protocols for how you communicate >> right and the flip side if something's going on in the district that >> we all need to know about it goes out >> it goes out so you count on each other and you all knew >> you put it to Kyle Kyle put it and everybody knew the directions right or when it's

155something that's more pressing, that's when I will put it to all of them at the same time. Some of it I just go to >> Yep. >> Kyle. It's not something that's >> an immediate issue. >> But even both of them like they never make it like if there's something going on, we call there's no like >> Yeah. They don't ever make it seem like it's a bother like you're doing the right thing like you know, whatever. So that's good. super good because if they made you feel shut down or not important wouldn't pick up. >> Yeah. You're not going to be engaged. I mean kind of like your example of going to the board meeting. >> Yeah. It's not good. It's not a good feeling. >> So that that's really important that it becomes

156this form of open communication information requests. Do you know how you handle information requests? >> We wonder like what exactly? Well, there's all kinds >> like freedom of information or just >> all depends. >> Yeah, it all depends >> if somebody comes and asks for information. I mean, there's different ways I'm sure that it be handled. >> Absolutely. Depends on what it is, right? >> Ultimately, it's going away. >> Those examples where I'm not going in, right? You guys follow certain things. Yeah. I gota make sure >> requests go a different way. Um, >> you know, bus routes. I want to know how the bus route was changed. Well, that's different than So, the idea is that you you you have go to the right people. Mike will help direct you. You can count on

157your superintendent to guide you and help you. And you if you're not sure if you're out and about, you can push it to Kyle. Kyle can figure it out and push it to Mike. Point is that you're not trying to just independently respond to people on Facebook, right? that's bad. Um, or you're mad about something and you blast it on your Instagram account and your role as board member, right? Like that becomes problematic and believe it or not, systems do that. >> Sure. >> Um, handling complaints and concerns from community and staff, we've talked about that. Public comment, we talked about that. Confidentiality, you talked about sometimes it's more private if it's a text as opposed to phone call. >> Right. when I when I see that I I'm thinking close session type confidentiality thing

158that has to stay within the group. >> But again, you know, as I mentioned with the text, right? It's hey, there's these people that need to know this right now. And if it got out, would it be critical? Probably not. But it's easier just to let one mouthpiece put it out there. >> Like when I send you the Friday updates, I have taken one of my protocols I've started using with you. because there are certain ones where I tag in bold and red ones that are confidential. >> Yep. >> Between us. >> So that's protocol. >> Alert alert. >> Yeah. >> You need to know, keep it confidential. It's the private information. >> You might even get the email. If it's an email that says confidential at the top, you've been like >> it's all

159the indicators of how we do our business. So you you you're doing all the things. If you don't have norms, I would recommend you do those because you guys are so thorough with everything else being able to have those, too. Okay, good. All right, so um let's wrap up the thought. So, tonight we talked about roles and responsibilities, and we broke them down into nine different categories. vision, values, policies, uh p um budget, finance, employment, facilities, uh vision, vision, values, and um and educational programming. We looked at the National School Board Association's five priorities for you. We took each of those categories and we broke them down to know who takes the lead and who's supporting. A lot of them are the more taking the lead. Some of them are the students have taken the

160lead and some of them are a little more collaborative depending on what it is. Um we have a one pager that breaks it down and we talked about the importance of the fact that this is a governing team. We defined what team means. We talked about the importance of trust in the team. And if we go back to this arrow chart, the storming, warming, swarming, and performing, storm, forming, storming, norming, and performing. Um, where would you guys put yourself on this gradient? Are you storming, storming, norming, or performing right now? team. These are the stages of team development. You see the arrows going all towards performing. So obviously performing is the goal that sometimes the arrow can be fast. >> Are we ready? We can just answer. >> Sorry, I wasn't going to be clear.

161>> No, that's okay. um just based on like all the changes that are going through right now and everybody's kind of like learning their places and what are we doing next and um aligning stuff up to like get I'm going to go with norming but I want to say performing because I do feel like we work well together and everybody's on the same page but um just because we're just still kind of aligning things up and hiring and placing >> I'm going to go with morning. >> That's those are great reasons. >> You agree? >> Yeah, I'd agree. There's a lot of transition and it's just >> a lot of pieces are getting solidified. So, it's like not there yet, but we're getting there. >> Yeah. But it's almost like a like you're bouncing back

162and forth like you said, like you're moving forward, but there's a couple things that put us kind of backwards a little. So, >> okay. Fair. as a board unit just the way we interact with one another systems in transition I think that's what I hear you saying a lot of pieces getting aligned getting put in place but as a system as you're as a board is what I should say as a board of education as you're navigating all these transitional pieces are you norming or performing just as a governance team There's just a lot of stuff going on. >> I was actually even back up between storming and norming >> moving towards storms. >> That's where I think the difference is. I think >> the issue >> my team within the last two weeks when

163we were going through all these replacements that we were definitely storming like as we were doing all that replacement piece um but I think it's a board I don't know that >> I'm between two >> I would say >> there's just a lot of stuff >> I would say as a as a team I feel norming I think as a team facing the issues we're storming because the issues are creating >> like it's a lot and so I think that always challenges the team >> it does >> when you face yeah >> it passes how you are going to yeah >> deliver in the face of adversity right >> so but I will tell you listening to you talk and how cohesive you are in understanding roles and responsibilities and protocols and your culture and

164how you regard ard each other and your respectfulness and your willingness to work with each other. You had really a lot of great components and as a team at least from my perspective tonight and when I was here in August it feels like you're performing a lot of the time now. You're facing a lot of adversity which is going to test you but I feel like you're really in a really solid place and you should be very complimentary of yourself and one another that you're navigating these transitions. This is a tough year. You're going through a lot. But you all are coming to the table with a really positive mindset. You know your why. You know why you're here and you're going to get through it. But I do encourage you and this is a

165great I'm really glad you did this workshop. I hope you are too because if you use this guidance document and you keep reminding yourself what is the topic that we're dealing with, what what category does this fit in? And what is my role in this work? It will help you get through the weed. You know, there's I had a friend that was really going through a lot of things in her life as the year started and and we were talking. We were together on a trip and she just was facing this mountain. And I said, you know, the only way over the mountain is not over is over the mountain or through the mountain. You can't like avoid it. You can't you got to go through it. You know, we were in Pittsburgh a couple

166weeks ago for hockey. Has anybody been Pittsburgh? >> Okay. You know the the the tunnels? >> Yep. >> The There's a tunnel and everywhere we went, every race we went to get back home, we had to go there was a tunnel and it kept it crazy as I looked at this mountain. The only way through that mountain was through it. >> You had to go through it. You couldn't go around it. You couldn't go. You just had to like burrow on through. And that's kind of where you're at. Like the only way forward is to go through it. And the only way through it is to stay together. this together is to know your role and stick with it. And I think you can and I know you will and you're in a great place.

167Know your goals, stay focused, and you got this for sure. And then when you get to the other end of it, you should evaluate where you're at and use that as an opportunity to celebrate what you've accomplished and then also what are your opportunities for growth. So that's really the meat and potatoes of the workshop. What questions do you have? gave me a lot of next steps. I have have them listed. I have eight of them. So, >> take them one at a time. Do you have any questions? >> Have one last task for you. Take a moment to reflect. One or two takeaways from tonight. Something you learned, something you knew but you hadn't thought about in a while, or something you're going to do as a result. So again, something you learn that

168you didn't know before, something that you knew before but you have thought about or a next step that you're trying to take away tonight. And yes, I might share that. >> Then last one was takeaways. >> Yeah, just one of those. So any of those. So, I think for me being new, um, seeing the roles written out and and assessing them puts in perspective and solidifies everything we've been doing, >> right? >> Yeah. >> But it's like, okay, is this my role? Is that our role? Or, you know, and it it just solidifies what we've been doing as a board to say, okay, hey, yeah, per these standards or per the definitions, >> we're on the right track. Yeah. Yeah, >> that was my biggest tip. >> Reaff sure especially in a lot reaffirming is

169really important and value. I I would agree it was going to be what I said like just seeing it like laid out you know and like highlighted like this is his or this is ours or you know those were kind of eye opening and just actually like hearing everybody say like you know their why and like the vision and the values of why they're here and want the best and stuff. So to like kind of hear everybody is literally on the same page is nice like and reassuring. >> Yeah. >> To me just see you know we're all on the right track. >> Yeah. You have so many things. >> Yeah. >> You really do. I mean, I might not feel like it right now because you're going through a lot of things, but when

170you take a step back from an outside perspective, a lot of great things are happening. >> I know. Um, I just think that um it was more reaffirming that uh gas decisions that we've made are were the right ones. >> I think uh for me the biggest takeaway was being on the board. This is like the first time like I think we did one workshop before. Let me just tell you totally different. It was MLI. It was rough. not to down them, but it was just yeah, >> this really put into perspective the whole time on my board like this was kind of what we're leaning towards going through the challenges we went through in the past. It's to know it's good to know that we're on the right path now. And it's also good

171to know that we have a relationship with our superintendent that we can have that flexibility of knowing the roles and knowing that what we're doing now is what should be do should happen >> and that's what's really nice. So that was what I took away my reaffirm. >> That's really good. I think it's a good lead in because the the big thing even early on we're talking about team was I circled on here the in the Simon Synynic quote the trust part >> and that's you know that could go right into that definition of team because that has to be there like that's part of what's going to make things work. That's right. >> Well, and and kudos to you because I'm new and I knew you knew. I can feel your warmth and your

172approachability and your dedication to this school district and how you even talked about like that is where I have seen you're clearly very reflective and um there is another YouTube video. It's old. You'll have seen it. The Rita Pearson one, every child needs a champion. Have you seen that one? >> You might not have, but it would be worthwhile to watch it. It's a TED talk, Rita Pearson. Uh, and she talks about this premise that all learning is relationship. Everything we do is relationships. A child to their teacher isn't going to rip what the teacher has to say unless first they have a relationship. You think about your day-today lives, your interactions with people that matter. It's all relationship. You go to the old Maya Angelo quote that we might not remember what you said

173or what you did, but we'll never forget the way you made us feel, right? These are all relationship components. And so if you can keep these lines of communication open and know your roles and responsibilities and keep the relationships real and genuine, uh Stephanie uh pointed out back I got it right that hearing people's why was really important because it said in commonality of why we come to the table and do this work. You're giving countless hours voluntarily to serve your community. So it has to be pretty important to you. And so if you can trust, and I think you can, that the people coming and sitting at this table are here to the same values and vision and reason, that makes all the difference, right? So you're going to navigate a tough year and

174that's going to give you an opportunity to be really proud of yourselves in June. So yes, it's a challenge, but it's also an opportunity. I think you're going to do great things and I absolutely loved getting to work with you guys. an amazing group of people and I want to thank you for starting this community >> and doing this work. >> Well, thank you. Thank you for coming here doing this workshop, doing our goal workshop. It's been actually wonderful to have you here. >> Well, I feel safe. I love you guys and I'm happy to be here and I love this work and people are like, "You're doing much tonight." I'm like, "Oh, no. I love this." So, and we ended a little bit early, which is we would have taken a break. So, >>

175thank you. anything to help out. >> I hope so. >> Okay, good. >> Thank you. >> Well, thank you guys. >> Thank you. All right, we are returning from recess at 8:44 p.m. Moving on to item number six, board member comments. Are there any? >> Yeah, I do. I actually have two. Um, we forget how what the time is, but uh I went to the choir band concert and it was wonderful. Um, the only thing that was that I didn't like is that we can't provide well right now. They don't have a venue worthy of their talent. And um, one of the reasons I'm so so adamant about reading is that I think reading is the basis of dreaming. And I want all these kids to dream big. So that's endless. And you can't get

176that if you can't if you don't read, then you don't know the possibilities and you can't dream. I want them all to go to Harvard or Yale, wherever they want to go. That's my two. All right. >> Um, I actually am I did the trunk or treat for Myers >> and that was super fun. It would be super cool if um each school could manage to do that because all the kids were there. Well, I guess there was a lot, but um it was my first trunk or treat that I ever did and I had so much fun. So, I'm looking forward to doing more. Um, but I even also just thought maybe um our high school could do something um you know with and invite all the elementary schools to it. I just thought

177it was super cool and um thank you to Myers for having me. Uh it was fun. So I look forward to next year though. >> I do I know I didn't have a superintendent report on tonight but I want to throw in that um that's why you say that about opportunities. I did get an email right before we uh started the meeting tonight um about the days that they're going to be doing the uh turkey day servings for the cafeterias and they want me to put out to you guys to invite you to help serve if you want. I know I will be picking one of the schools to go serve because I love getting out and being in the buildings but I will forward you that email from Jeffa to give you that opportunity.

178Um, and then, uh, the other piece I wanted to say, and it fits in with everything we've been talking tonight, uh, with the goals and that, uh, next week I should be releasing my first, uh, newsletter to the community. I know that that was listed in the board goals that you guys have created prior to to me coming on, but next week we should be releasing that first one. >> Awesome. All right, moving on to item number seven, adjournment. Is there a motion? Motion by Miss Block. Is there support? Support. Support by Mr. Thomas. Mrs. Thomas is absent. Mrs. Shufeld. >> Yes. >> Mr. Wright is Yes. Miss Block. >> Mr. Heath. >> Yes. >> Mr. Myers is absent. Mr. Thomas. >> That carries. 5 Z. Board of Education. >> No. >> Oh. The Board

179of Education regular board meeting for November 1st, 2023 is adjourned at 8:48 p.m. Have a great night. >> Thank you.