001Ah, okay. We'll try it again. We'll go ahead and have a roll call. Miss Medina, please. Mr. Ibara, Mrs. Haro, Miss Dorinoa, present. Mr. Fuentes, present. Mrs. Flores, present. Mr. Flores, present. Thank you for that, Miss Medina. Um, and we will have our pledge of allegiance. I'm going to ask Dr. Peterson, please lead us in the pledge of allegiance. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, Dr. Peterson. And just for our clarification, um is the meeting is being recorded, Miss Medina. And so just reminding board members even though we're relatively intimate environment here to please go ahead and use your microphone so that they'll pick it up on the recording.
002All right. Uh next item on the agenda 1.3 is uh any adoption any recommended changes to the agenda. Uh I see that there are no recommended changes to the agenda. Is that correct Dr. Murray? That's uh that's correct. Okay. So no ch no changes to the agenda. So the agenda is as is. No need to adopt it. And that takes the public comment. I'm not seeing anybody in the public, but I'll ask if there's any public comment. If not, we'll go ahead and close. Public comment. I don't believe we need to adopt the agenda. Agenda was posted as is. So, no need to adopt. Yep. Posted as is. Um, no public comment. So, we'll go ahead and move on to item 3.1, which is our board self evaluation. We have Gary Rutherford with us today
003to lead us in that. So, I'm going to go ahead and turn it over to you. Thank you, President. Okay, great. Thank you. So, I will stay put for the microphone and for the mercy of my back. Um, so you guys do what board should do and that is meet every year, schedule it, have it just to revisit and to make sure everything is going the way it's supposed to, that you're following your board agreements. I wish every board of trustees does this, but they don't. And one of the reasons you're as productive and as stable and as um effective a board is because you take the time to do it. And that way, if there's a little bit of movement away from your expectations, you can address and intercept it and correct it. And
004there's always something to revisit and improve. So, we're going to take a walk through, not page by painful page or word by painful word, but we're going to take a look at some sections of your governance handbook today, and we're really looking at it for fidelity. And that is, is this are these just words in a book that we put on a shelf, or is it really driving our behavior and action? And I'll be directing you some pages. So, just to kind of outline our expectations today and as we bragged about how great this worked, there it is. So, the first thing we're going to do is look at our um your handbook. We're going to review it, respond to it, affirm it, revise it if necessary, explore any implications for action, and um that'll
005take care of the first chunk. And the second chunk is we're going to study everybody's favorite subject, themselves. So, you guys were kind enough to to complete an inventory. I'm going to explain to you a little bit about what that inventory is when we get to that second chunk. And we're going to use that to better understand your own behavioral tendencies, develop a better understanding of the people around this table as well as you think you know them. You're going to learn something today about them. In doing that, you really come to respect and appreciate the differences in your board. And you're one of the most interesting profiles. I've done this workshop probably 20 times, and your profile is really interesting in good ways and in interesting ways, too, but mostly good. Mostly good. In
006doing that, we hope to en enhance the strategies you have for working with each other, for being productive, for keeping that effective team going. And finally, how you can use this information for growth and improvement of your team culture. The other condition I have, and I hope you know this from our other three or four times working together, if we don't laugh and have some fun today, then I'm doing something wrong because life's too serious out there. Every once in a while, we need to sit and enjoy each other, and I hope we find time to do that. Um, it's great that I can see your cabinet because they can roll their eyes and go and give me all kinds of signals from that background. You guys can't see them. So, uh, thank you cabinet
007for being here today. So, let's get started. There are four main reasons and we're going back and we I know you have a new book you're working on, but this was a governance core book that uh, we had kind of talked through last time. And um the important reasons to have protocols isn't just so that they're printed in a book, but it's the discussion when you talk about them, when you apply them into real life, when you say, you know, I had this situation. How did that fit within our protocol? Did I do something wrong? Did I do it right? Do we need what can I learn from that? So, I'm hoping we have some rich discussion around your agreements today. It'll help resolve problems before they occur. My favorite call from a trustee would
008be, you know, I was invited, the union invited me to come meet with the high school staff this afternoon. Is there something in our protocols about that? I have a feeling I probably shouldn't do that, but I'm not sure why. And so it it gives an opportunity to intercept. You may be stepping into something and your protocols will help you uh avoid that minefield. Uh it's especially helpful. One of these days you guys will orient a new board member and when you do this will be a really helpful tool to bring them on board. In fact, I don't know if if Dr. Miranda had a chance to do that, but I used to when people just even applied as candidates, I'd send them a copy and say, "You might want to read up on this
009because I'm always surprised the number of people that run for board who have never attended a board meeting and they pull papers and run for the board and I think I don't know if they know what they're signing up for exactly. Maybe they want to read the handbook and get a sense of how we operate as a board. And then for the purposes of tonight, the the fourth reason to adopt agreements is your benchmark for self-evaluation. And that's tonight. That's the reflection piece. You look at your own behavior. You look at the behavior of your fellow trustees. And you look to make sure there's fidelity with your agreements. So what we'll do today is we kind of walk through some sections of your handbook is what we call a keep, kill, tuneup, start. And we
010did this last time. Keep if we kind of if we don't discuss something or we pass right by and one of you guys doesn't say I want to talk about that, then that just says we're going to stick with that. That agreement's working for us. No need to discuss it. Kill is something that if we come across something that says, wait a minute, none of us follow this agreement. Why do we have this agreement? Because every once in a while agreements are written into protocols that are eventspecific. like something happened in 2016 and so we wrote this agreement that we would never do that again. Well, it's nine years later, it hasn't happened and the board kind of says I think we can move that agreement out. That's not important anymore. So, we may see
011something to remove. Tuneup is a a protocol that largely has it right but might need some word smithing or some tweaking to fit today's world in today's situation. Then at the end, I'm going to say what's not in here that we haven't talked about. Is there anything missing that you think you need a protocol for? And that will be our chance to sit here and draft one and um modify the book. At the end of that, we'll say what are our implications for action. What do we do as a result? And usually it's modify, make revisions, and then bring it back on the next board meeting for adoption, which shows the board's recommitment to your board agreements. So that hopefully every year you're bringing it back and reading it and making it current, reflective of
012your real work. So before we take a walk through, I'm going to give you a scenario. Last time I gave you three or four of these, but I thought this one's interesting. I'll let you take a minute and read it. Could this happen right here in Colton Unified? Something like this. Yeah. So, you're walking to your car and a nice smiling, happy person comes up. Looks like it might be one of your high school kids because maybe you think maybe they're here for a government class and they're just coming up to talk to you. So, you turn and greet them. And as you're talking, they take out their phone and you're, you know, they're they point it towards you and okay, I'm being recorded here. that's okay that they're doing a class and they start
013asking you a question because that night on your agenda agenda was a controversial topic that the board kind of had chewed on for a while in the public domain and this person's asking you questions about that and because you're leaning into this thinking you're helping along this young person you start sharing your frank and blunt ideas and when I say frank I don't I know I have two franks here so forgive me but um this isn't necessarily about you although it could Um, you start sharing your honest opinion about the subject and maybe even weighing into the controversy a little bit. So later that night, you go home blissfully unaware and your phone starts ringing because you've gone viral. The person you spoke to is a social influencer who has a Tik Tok account that
014is putting out videos. You didn't know this. You weren't aware at all. And there's your face on the Tik Tok video. Maybe your comments being taken out of context and you realize this person is highly critical of the district and you are now brought into that conversation and maybe appear to be supportive of that action. So that's the scenario happens all over these days. So we take a deeper look. Oh, my font changed, but it's still readable here. So the the a deeper look or three questions I always ask I asked myself as a superintendent and I'm going to pose to you now and that is okay let's we've got that scenario everybody was well maybe not everybody was good well intended but the board member was well intended so assuming the most noble of
015intentions why did the board member engage with that person in the parking lot what was their person that what could be the best reasons they might have engaged your concern. Well, I think as you mentioned, you know, the assumption that this is a student, maybe it's a school project. Uh they want to learn about the board of education. They want to learn about what we're doing. So, you take it at face value that this is a good thing with a student, right? They're helping somebody. Other other thoughts? Politeness. Just being polite. Someone came up and asked you a question and you don't want to get rude and run to your car and lock the door. That's not such a nice reaction. a young person tends to seem harmless and and with you you don't think
016of the intent of what's behind their their coming up to you and so forth. You're assuming this person is harmless and you're assuming goodwill of positive intentions. That's in most of life assuming positive intentions is a good thing. I think you kind of captured it. So there's lots of good reasons why you'd stop and have a conversation. So, um, what are the pot? Well, we know the potential unintended because the scenario included it, but so those are the best of intentions. You help some nice kid with his government assignment and he's going to go back and say, "Wow, he got a interview with a schoolboard member. He gets an A." That's the best intention. So, what what um are the possible negative consequences of engaging? Exactly what happened. Exactly what happened. You end up without
017realizing it participating in a media event. You don't control how your words are used or the context in which that sound bite may even sound critical of your board colleagues. Whatever you said when it's repeated back, you say, "Wait, wait, wait. That's not how that conversation went. That was edited. That can happen." And you end up maybe getting sideways with your board colleagues. They're saying like, "Gosh, don't we have an agreement here?" the board president is the one who speaks to the media. Don't we have an agreement that um our PIO, whatever your agreements are around communications, did you violate it? Um so take that same scenario, picture yourself in that parking lot with that happy smiling face coming your way. Um what are some actions you could have taken to have incorporated the best
018of number one and avoided the pitfalls of number two? What's another way to approach that? Well, first of all, I would want to know who the individual is. You know, ask for a name. Uh who do they represent? You know, the rationale behind their questioning. Uh primarily because if they're going to record, that should be a red flag right there. Okay. So, you would clarify who they are, who they represent. Do they have an absolute right to record you? No. You can say, you know, you're not in a public meeting. You're in the parking lot. Um, so there's potential. I know you want to kind of avoid being hostile because maybe it is a nice high school kid. But to say, I'm I'm not comfortable being recorded. Do you mind? Is that all right? You
019know, you can you can ask and if they refuse, you can say, you know, I'm I'm not comfortable speaking on record uh here in the parking lot that I speak on record in the board meeting. So there, you know, it sounds um sometimes you have to take a risk at sounding a bit impolite to protect yourself and in your in your role as trustee. Citizen Flores, you can do that, but board member Flores has got a different expectation. I'm speaking to both Flores now. Sure, please. But everybody Well, you kind of are. We are. When it comes to citizens, too, they see us, right? No, you're right. And I I think Frank, you can share there has been situations where you've had social influencers. I mean, this isn't a completely foreign concept, right? Oh, absolutely.
020Uh board is aware of many of them. Kurl uh has had to deal with them uh and quite a bit over there. So uh I thought of one of the unintended consequences Gary was that it also for the influencer they keep coming back for more. So it's it's uh you open the door uh or you try to be you know nice and respectful and all that and try to answer the question but then they keep coming for more and then they'll be coming back and uh and then encouraging the person to uh to uh just you know for the next story or what have you. Uh and you know then it's hard to say no at that point. Right. They may then think, "Okay, this I I'll be calling Joanne at home from now on
021because she gave me a nice juicy soundbite out there." And so she's my new source. And all of a sudden, you find yourself uh having somebody reach out to you. Did you have some to add down? Yeah. No, this is a topic actually Dr. Miranda and I have talked about because it's changed so much over the years. When I started working in sort of the political and government arena almost 20 years ago now, um you know, the rules of engagement for media and the press was pretty pretty standard, right? they would reach out, a reporter would reach out to you. There would be rules of engagement. They would understand uh you know, they would have protocols for how they would ask questions, what they would publish. Of course, it would have to be vetted and
022um so it was pretty straightforward when you're working with the newspaper or the press. Now, it's a completely different story. Everybody's a reporter and not only are you going on record, but they're video recording you, they're posting it. And so, uh and there are other means, too, where you're being tagged in in social media. So a story could be posted where they tag us and then it feels like everybody's looking for us to respond. So I think we need to have conversations about how do we handle all of these new different scenarios that we are now being brought into via social via social media. And to some extent, it's okay for us to require them to sort of identify what's this about, you know, and in the case of being asked a question in the
023parking lot, it's also okay say, "Hey, I can't answer the question now, but if you will give me a call to the office, here's my card. Shoot me an email. Let's schedule time to chat because then you can reset and make sure that the rules of engagement are understood. Who are you? What are you asking in terms of context?" And then I'm happy to respond. Katie does a great job of that. But yeah, it's it's the folks with their cameras. It's being tagged on social media. Um, it's getting emails from change.org that you're being asked to go on record for this petition. I I've never seen such a thing, but folks can see whether or not you respond or not. And if you don't respond, that sometimes sends a message, too. So, those are all
024the things that didn't exist years ago. 100% correct on all of that. And your best friend are your board protocols because for you to say no and run to your car is a bad look. It's just a bad look for you to say, you know what, our board has agreements about making statements. You know, maybe you clarified that they are not doing a high school assignment. And even if they were, you want to be very careful, guarded. You've maybe asked them not to record, which doesn't mean there isn't somebody else recording. You know, I gave a polite scenario where that you can see visibly they're recording. That that isn't always the case. You may be being recorded and be unaware. is to um is to fall back on your protocols and say, you know, really
025our agreement is that our um PIO speaks for the district or our board president does. Um you know, you heard our dialogue in the board meeting. I really have nothing to add. I invite you to come back to the next board meeting and you you're welcome to address the board and share your point of view or make an appointment with our PIO and um and address it. So, you're being polite, you're being transparent, you're not violating the norms, and if you're following agreements, that gives you that gives that buys you a ticket out of that situation is saying, "I'm sorry, our board has agreements on this." And I'd love to talk with you. I wouldn't love to talk I'd love to talk with you. And um but unfortunately, I'm I'm going to direct you back
026and wish you all the best. And then you run to your car and lock the door and squeal out of the parking lot. So, as Dan pointed, this is just one example of an incredibly changing world. You know, when I was superintendent 10 years ago now, um there weren't as nearly as many ways to get in trouble. There just weren't. And when a story broke, you had a minute to gather your thoughts. Um that's not the case. Most often, we hear a story broke because a parent's calling us because they've seen something on social media that we're not even aware of. You know, I was in my office minding my own business when I got a call one day in Desert Sands that a young lady was wearing a swastika on her arm as part
027of a um soldier zombie. And um so it wasn't honoring anything or making a statement. It was a costume, but it was an appropriate costume. I called the principal and said, "What's this about? It's all over social media." He said, "I don't even know what you're talking about." At his own school, teachers didn't know. They had to go room by room, but some student had taken a picture, put it on social media, and the blast was everywhere. And so, and we're the ones chasing the tail, trying to figure out what's going on and how to intervene in the middle of it while our phone is ringing that literally the BBC was calling to get statements on our this program. So, um to say things can go viral quickly is an understatement. The scenario gave you
028is completely possible. And it really calls on you to be vigilant and aware and sadly guarded. You know, that's the world we're in right now. And for your safety and for the safety of your colleagues on the board and for the integrity of the district, it calls on us to really revisit these protocols and take them sa and take them seriously. And and uh Gary, if I can just add that some of these uh situations or are confidential in nature and there's other agencies involved. So we also have to protect the integrity of whatever's happening um and of the people involved and and I know it's hard. So that's that's tough because uh we are uh under not only the governance protocols but also the uh policies district policies uh ed code penal code those
029kinds of things that we have to follow. Uh so it's uh so that's right we have uh our protocols with uh this you know contact uh our uh director of communications Katie Orloff and uh and then she goes through a series she's an expert at this through a series of questions of you know identifying who this person is for the board or for us and who is this person what are you know what are the questions uh is it a parent is it a student and then we we treat them as such uh and and then before we we provide any kind of response and so uh but there is there's certainly a process for them. It's an easy one to violate unintentionally just as our example is. You nobody set out to violate a
030board agreement but it can happen. Um if you would turn with me to page 18 in your handbook in this These are your protocols for effective governance. These are the agreements you have about how to operate. This puts your values into action. You have your vision statement, your mission statement, you have your norms. And then this takes those things and puts it into context and say, well, what are those how do those values play out when it comes to and number one is visiting school sites. And um by the way, I've used your handbook with other districts looking to adopt handbooks. Whenever I read and see samples in governance core and next level and then I read yours, I think, yeah, they they could have used you guys' as an example. These are some these
031are really strongly written. I love the way you start with the principles. Like what are the principles for school visits? Well, it's it's showing that we are moving towards the achievement goals. It shows that we're supporting our people and getting out there and having firsthand knowledge and we want school board members to be at schools. uh we understand that schools are busy places and that a presence of a school board member can be distracting to the work. We don't want to distract, we want to enhance the work. So how do we go about that in such a way that we can capture the good elements of a school visit and avoid the pitfalls. And I'll ask you under best practices to read those three bullets and then we'll talk about if those are adequate and
032if everybody's following them. So, I really see district norms being honored in a couple ways. Number one is you're encouraged to visit school sites. There's nothing about this is telling you we don't that the district doesn't want you there. In fact, it's just the opposite. you're encouraged to as a courtesy advanced notice. Two days is great, but obviously there may be situations where you hear about something and you really like to visit a school that two days may not work. You would still contact the superintendent's office and say, "Listen, I really like to get to so and so school. They're having an art festival today." And um you know that's a different kind of attendance isn't it than going and visiting classrooms where it's a you can get a lot of uh traction out of
033being in a opportunity like that and be less distracting as well. The other reason it's important for schools to know is let's face it at the end of the day you're public officials who are elected and you have a duty your community. It's good that your community needs to know you're there supporting those schools. And advanced notice allows the opportunity for them to introduce you. And there are some board members that always say, "I hate to be introduced. I just want to go there and be one more person." Well, too bad. You're a board member. And it's it really is good for the school and good for you to show the district's concern and the board is aware to be introduced. The last one about accompanying, how do you guys feel about that? has that
034been the way it's been working and it's working well. I love the one that says to let the teacher know they don't need to interrupt their lessons because that when I would do my walkthroughs, I had a couple teachers who would have the kids stand and face me. When I whenever an adult walked in the room, everybody would stand. And I think, good lord, if the principal is in here a couple times a day, that's a lot of instruction all time wasted with kids jumping to their feet. And also felt a little I don't know, like a dictator walking around that people have to stand and genulect when I walk in the room instead of just keeping I want to see them learning. I don't want them to see me. Any uh is this working
035for you? Are I'll ask Frank and the group. Are trustees adhering to this? And is it working for you? I'm looking at you Pat. I can't read your m. Is it all working for you? Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Uh no, absolutely not. Uh we we don't want principles to stop the instruction happening when we walk through. That's my teachers just know that I when I walk in, I don't want them to stop. And if anyone walks in the room, the kids just continue on with what they're doing. So I I hope that's not happening. that that's uh it to be honest with you, it does happen on occasion when we walk in and and the teacher will stop and do an introduction and we don't tell them no, you know, but at the but that's not
036we tell the principal that's not necessary and we've let them know. We I mean this year I forget the amount of thousands literally thousands of walkthroughs that our principles are doing. Uh and so we absolutely imagine if we had classroom has to stop. So no even when cabinet goes through I go through uh I will tell you a funny story though I remember um I think Mr. Fuentes, right? Soon as walk in, the student gets up. He says, "The president of the United States, which is nice, right?" But but I just went out said, you know, I didn't want to mess him up and said, "Absolutely. Nice to meet you." It was and you know, uh but yeah, I to answer the question, yeah, we we definitely d principles and uh don't tell your teachers
037not to stop because we want to see the instruction. Absolutely. So, uh, and but it does happen. Not not a whole lot to be honest with you. You could always I could always tell when I would do my rounds the teachers who had told their kids that somebody very very important is visiting today. Right? And I'd walk in the room and it would be they look and I walked by a little girl once and she slid a paper over and she said, "Can I have your autograph?" I took my pen. I screw she's going to be very disappointed when she gets home and figures out. So, I'm not sure who she thought I was, but she knew dog important I just Bertha. Yes. That this is working for me because I um I always tag
038along with Yeah. time she's visiting sites, I you know, she invites me and uh I truly enjoy that. Um walking in and out of classrooms, talking to the kids, talking to the teachers. You know, we do not interrupt the learning. Sometimes the teachers will come up and say hello. It's a quiet moment. Sometimes kids are working independently and yeah and uh you know our conversations uh I really value because you know we we're talking instruction. We're talking curriculum and so um I really value those those visits. Thank you. And I will tell you I work with a lot of school boards doing reviews of their protocols. This is probably the hardest one in most districts. So, I'm enormously respectful that you guys understand the value of this protocol because there are many trustees who feel
039like it's their right. I'm not going to call the superintendent's office. I'm I'm going to show up and catch them like I'm going to I'm going to find out what's really happening when they don't know like suddenly we're going to redo the whole world because of trustees coming in. So, I know speaking on your staff, this is an important thing for schools. Speaking for the school's integrity. Um, and I will also tell you I have accompanied many board members. I see classrooms in a different light when I'm with a trustee. Like it really helps me to look more carefully. It also helps when we get outside the room. Uh a trustee might say, "What what were they doing? What was that activity about?" And it gives a context to educate a little bit and and
040to find out a little bit more about what's going on and explain so that there's some wonderful things happening in classrooms that we love to show off. So great. So that's so I'm hearing no changes to the visiting school protocols. It's working well. Yeah, it is. One other one other thing that I'll mention, Gary, that I think about um from our own protection uh as far as you know, we don't want to be seen just wandering around alone on a school site, particularly if we're not there every day because we're we take security and safety very seriously. Uh and to be honest, you know, to be candid, we're the only folks, I think, in the district that have one of these that haven't been background checked. Let's be honest, right? Every employee and and actually
041every volunteer does a live scan and they're subject to those protocols. We're not. Now, I have been live scanned through my work, but that's not reported to the district. So, again, if we're serious about safety, if we're serious about security, for s, you know, ensuring that we and everybody um follows protocols, it's it's wise that we be in an environment where we're following we do. We do. Yeah, absolutely. Um and that should be and we should be wearing our badges when appropriate as well. So again, just in the world that we live in today, being as safe and as secure is the most important thing. I think I'm sure like you guys, one of my favorite things is if I happen to walk out into a playground, I'm watching the kids play or whatever. I
042love the noon duty aids who would come up and say, "I'm sorry. Can I hear I am in a suit and tie the but you know, um, do you belong here and who are you?" And so, uh, yeah, I I it's interesting the live scan. Who's HR? Is that are trustees considered employees? Are they supposed to be? That's never a question I've had posed. Okay. Okay. Okay. That's true. Okay. So, you have a year to get your acts together, guys, because life scan's coming your way. You know, I I would encourage that. I would encourage that because that way there's a a feel of the safety and if any parent or any resident or any of our constituents were to ever ask yes we are life scanned and we're asking it of many of them
043right so and so I think that's that would be a great idea I don't know if the rest of the board is good with that but I would I would I wouldn't have a problem doing it I wrote down in this margin and I'm going to hand this to Joanne when we're done today I know she's taking notes I wrote live scan question mark as a thing for cabinet to discuss and see whether or not even if it's a voluntary thing made available to you to step the site visits on my part it does it does work for me I mean it's it's a great I've gone many times with Dr. from Miranda and we'll walk into a classroom and the kids are still doing their work and the kids sometimes are the ones who
044say, "Oh, this is what we're doing." And they're excited about that. They're excited to share what's what we're doing. But when we walk in, teacher continues to show the class. We just kind of briefly say hi and then we leave. But I think this is working for us very much. But you're right that they do warn them that we're coming. Yes. We don't warn them. Exactly. We notify them. The president of the United States is coming. That's right. That's right. Um, excellent. This is Oh, I'm sorry, Frank. Please. Yes. U just want to say that I think uh for me uh I prefer going with an administrator, superintendent preferably because anytime we go on any site, it keeps us on task. Uh you know, we usually have some kind of agenda. we know what we
045want to go see and allows us to discuss whatever issues or anything that may come up as we're walking through any particular site with the superintendent and there's times where the superintendent may even see that as well and then it opens some doors for some positive things. Um I think that what it lends if we go independently it lends us to be open to other things being approached by other uh staff that have other issues that maybe we should not want to get part of and it's not our place to because there are the other protocols other ways and they see a board member oh I'll circumvent the the system and go straight to a board member. So, there's some uh a lot of positives to go with administrator and and uh in that sense
046and I've learned that over the years just watching others, you know, and uh I think it's uh it it plays a big part in us being successful as we go to the sites. Earlier I said like the last reason why you definitely want to have these is onboarding people and you can see how this particular thing would help a new person understand an innocent person with all the right intentions who thinks well my job is to be at the school and in classrooms and that's why I was elected and I need to be there to say yes that's part of it and let let us help you find a way to get there that we have protocols and agreements about how that happens. This is a really valuable thing. It's working well with you guys
047now, but introduce one new member and it's important to revisit. Yes. Just to clarify, um, we get a lot of invitations and, uh, Joanne uh, does a really good job putting it all on our calendars. When we have those invitations, I don't call or let them know because I've been invited. Um, for example, um, back to school nights, science fairs, things like that, you know, is that how do you what is your agreement around those? And and Joanne, you probably could weigh in on that, too. When there's when a school invites, they're just they're sending an invitation to the whole board to come to their art fair. Um, do you I mean, they send me information the school sites, principles, and then the assistants will send me and I just put it on their calendar.
048Kind of always expected like they know some board members may be at that event that day, whether whatever it may be. Yeah. What I would suggest to you, you'd consider, and this is not a protocol, is to make sure you make your way to the principal, whoever's in charge of that event, and introduce yourself and let them know you're there. They'll want to know that, and they'll want to be able to introduce you. You don't have to do that, but I think it's always it's just good form to let them know Joanne, you're hard to miss, so they would figure when they see you coming in, they know you're they know you're a trustee and people the waves are parting as you come wheeling in. So, and for the rest of you, show up uh
049for those invites, they'll see us right away. The school principal will or the assistant principal will, and they'll approach us right quick and say, "Oh, we got a seat for you up at the front." Or something like that. So if if for some reason that doesn't happen, I usually approach one of the principles. It's never bad form to let a school, you know, I got the invitation. Thank you. I'll be coming. Not required, but not wrong either. And you know, the other thing is that Joan and I work on the calendar, and I'm fully aware of the items that go put on the calendar, board's calendar, or if there's something I want on the board's calendar, I'll say, Joanne, uh, put this on there, please. So uh you know it's an event or something and
050sometimes and it's not a regular protocol pro where depends on the event it we'll ask uh who plans on attending because we want to ensure that uh you know this the board gets introduced or something like that. So uh yeah you know and and so it's uh you know it's not a uh a strict protocol per se but definitely uh and and I'll just you know that we follow like I mean in terms of um we put them on the calendar we say uh we encourage the board attend and uh and I'll just say this for the record that again uh please uh if you want to do site visits u anytime time and I know you're busy. More than happy. I know Tina does a lot of site visits uh with uh Bertha and
051and I you know any time the board wants to go with me on Wednesdays usually is my time that I go. Doesn't mean I can't go other days. I make myself available for it. I try to be conscious of what's happening to at the school sites like right now as we know testing's happening. So I'm not going to interrupt uh that happening. It's we be a a big disruption for the school site. So, that's kind of important to uh that's why it's important for us to know so that way you you know uh with all due respect that we don't uh mess up their testing uh you know things like that. So maybe Joan I also wrote on this one a possible of adding a bullet a line just about invited to an event which
052is a school visit but different from the from that in terms of the protocol. So thank you for that. Now, if we take that long on every protocol, guys, we're not going to get out of here. So, that was the one where we go slow to go fast, right? Got to. So, the next one, handling concerns from public and staff. This is probably um something you guys all encounter. I bet a week doesn't go by that someone doesn't stop you at the store or on one of your school visits to share a concern with you of some kind. So, I'm going to let you read through your agreements around best practices. is when a member of the community comes up with a complaint or a concern. So, let's talk about this room from the easy
053ones to the hard ones. The easy one is when someone comes up and says, you know, I think there's an area I'm not sure that playground equipment on my kid's school is safe. I've had a couple my kids come home with a bump on his head and you know, has anybody looked into that? Does the district know about it? The easy that's the easier ones. You say, you know, have you brought that to the attention of your principal? I'm sure your principal want to know that. And there will be some people that will go to you before the they're go, I'm going to go right to the top. I see Mr. Ibar over at the market. I'm not going to go talk to the principal or teacher. I'll I'll go right to him. And you
054and most hopefully well-intended people hear that and say, "No, I haven't. I'll I'll give the principal a call. Let's say they say I'm uncomfortable with that or I have brought it to their attention. Then you would take that up a notch and say, well, you know, you I'm not sure exactly who's in charge of the playground equipment there, but if the principal is not if you're concerned about that, would you like to, you know, might contact our superintendent's office and he'll direct you that office will direct you to the correct entity that can share your concern. If you feel like the person's really anxious and you want to take it up a level, say, you know what, I will send an email and ask our superintendent to get in contact with you to just I'll
055communicate for you. Let's say you're not getting involved, but if for sometimes people will say, I'm scared or I'm afraid of retaliation. Um, it's amazing how I'm sure you guys hear it. I'm not telling you anything you haven't heard before. So sometimes if you can do the communication because you're assuming this is really good. superintendent wants to know if kids are bumping their head. You know, the principal wants to know. We need to figure that out. Find out if we got a problem over there. It happens. And sometimes we find out about it in the market that we've got a problem we that nobody knew was happening. So obviously the right answer is to empower them to do the right thing, but occasionally they're not going to feel like they can do that or they're,
056you know, maybe they're from um, you know, a lot of our parents didn't have wonderful experiences in schools themselves in every district. And so their their idea that their voice matters or that we would take them seriously sometimes is it's sad but it's undermined. And sometimes you can help be their voice without intruding. You know, you're not inserting yourself into it. You're the conduit for information. So do you guys typically do you follow this protocol? You send it. Somebody stops you and says there's a mean recess lady who's, you know, my kids had detention six times in a row and he's the best kid in the school and he hates her or she hates him or whatever it is. Do you have do you have those protocols in order and know how to direct that?
057Okay, it's working for you. We good with this protocol? Okay, now don't move too fast. You got to stick with me a little bit, but good. Good. You know, Gary, it does work because a lot of times we'll get emails or something from a concerned parent or something and I'm one of those that just forwards it straight to the superintendent or to Joanne and then they'll respond back. We'll take care of it, Mr. Fuentes. And that's it and it works. So, and even is the person included in that exchange or you just forwarding it? No, I just forward it to them. There's yeah there's times where what I'll do is I'll ask them who have they spoken to because there is a a protocol you know if it's the site administrator the principal have you
058spoken to the principal uh and if they say yes and they felt felt it fell on deaf ear then I I would say well let me notify the superintendent and I would let Frank know this is a situation that occurred and uh he does an excellent job of following up. Not all the time. When there have been times where I had trustees, let's say it was a really significant issue, you know, my child is being beat up for their race after school. I mean, something that really not a more complex situation. There have been times where I asked to be kept where a trustee has asked me to keep them in the loop on that. Like one thing it's one thing is just sending it to Frank. Another thing is saying and can you get
059back to me? I'd like to know how this resolves. And then Frank's obligation on that last bullet is to share those concerns with all of the trustees so you can be aware of the concern and the answer. Now I doubt he might not do it on the bumped head on a piece of equipment. But when it rises to the level of like chronic bullying or something that that's um significant, then that's information all of the board needs to hear and know, you may be having that person come address you at a board meeting upcoming and being frontloaded with that information is going to be very helpful to you as well. So I will ask the board, is Frank following through and letting you guys know when these things come when there are complaints or concerns
060of significance? Okay, Frank. Well done, sir. Even our executive cabinet also sends out sometimes to his office and then from his from Frank's office we get sent out on behalf of Dr. D or Dr. Ortiz or whoever it is, you know, we have this blah blah blah. And it's really good. It's really good communication. And a lot of times if I do have somebody approach me in person and that's what I'll I'll ask them, have you talked to the school principal? Have you done this? Have you done that? And sometimes they just feel like, okay, well, you know something, let me have your information. I'll forward this to the superintendent. And that kind of kind of says, okay, they're listening. What's perfect in that answer and about your practice is what you never what you
061want to avoid doing at all costs is inserting yourself into being a part of the solution. You can become the clearing house for complaints if you yield and do that. And frankly, you're the only person um less powerful than you to make that is probably your superintendent. When people call me and want to talk to me about their kids experience on the playground at recess with a new date, it's like I wish I had all powers. let me get you somebody who's really got the power to to work on that and fix it because um yeah, I I probably can't. So, but the minute you insert yourself in there, then that's your new role and that word gets out and you'll find yourself having way too many concerns to deal with. So being the conduit
062and being the friendly conduit to help them get to who can help them, best bet. You know, u there was a situation years ago with the other superintendent. I'll make that clear where there was an issue that pretty much went up the ladder with nothing being resolved, nothing being done. after uh I discussed it several times with the superintendent, it continued not to either matter or nothing was resolved. So what I did was I brought it to the board and there are going to be times where the board uh was informed. They listened to what the situation was, got all the information and the board collectively directed the superintendent to take action. Yes. So uh there are times where the board has to and will have to take charge you know and you would prefer
063that it when gets to the superintendent it does resolve in some way get some information or whatever depending on the situation but I've seen where you know in at least in here at Colton where the board had to make the direction to the superintendent to take action. That is absolutely your authority and responsibility. Um individual trustees requests for action. Okay. Gary, just one other I wanted to ask you your thoughts on something that is relatively recent here that I've been wrestling with a bit when it comes to interactions and communication with the public. So obviously we want to be transparent and share information when we can. But when it comes to things that we can't share, personnel matters, for example, close session related items, but predominately personnel matters, this is where things get tricky because
064to some degree there's just things the per the public's never going to know, uh can't know. And as a result, there's very little that we can say to them to assuage their concerns or questions. We're seeing this a little bit more and more, I think, as as you know, decisions are being made regarding personnel. And I I really hate setting them up for disappointment. you know, I rarely say come to the board and share your concerns because we can't really respond in that setting. Number one, and number two, we're never really going to be tell you the whole story what's going on behind the scenes. Um, so how, you know, in your experience and how to handle those situations where we have to make a difficult decision, uh, regarding personnel, public or parents, students may
065not necessarily like it, but of course, we can't tell them why it may have happened because of what was done or not done. That's all confidential. Great question. one of the most awkward moments you'll have because it is frustrating and you're right. If you tell somebody, you know, maybe you want to come to share that with the board, you know, you're setting them. So, they're going to take a whole night off. Come address the board, say that. The board's going to look at them and say, "Thank you." And they're going to say, "Yeah, good advice, Dan. I came and spoke to the board." I think your superpower in those situation is listening. Is to frame it just as Dan said. You know, that's a personnel matter. I am not allowed to speak about it. It's
066confidential, but I'd be very happy to hear your thoughts, what you'd have to share with me and um and and thank them for that and not weigh in on it, not engage in a conversation about it, but say, "I'd like to hear your concerns. Thank you for sharing those with me." End of conversation. Um if they I think you you have to refer back to your responsibility and your obligation, right? There's not a hard Right. You know what's what any situation where you have to say no is really challenging. And so I always I when when I'm in those situations I think is there anything in this I can say yes to like I I can't engage in a conversation but I can listen. And so that maybe is my yes is you know I
067I'm I'm interested in hearing your point of view on this. Well, my niece was not was non-reelected and you know I think it's because her principal doesn't like you know they have a whole story to share of why there you know that's not an uncommon thing during March is to hear those kinds of comments and so my superpower even as superintendent is just listening and saying you know thank you for sharing that. I really can't discuss it at all. I know it's frustrating, but I can't say anything about it, but I've heard you. And then the next level is what I hear you saying is you're concerned your niece was non-reelected because of some kind of bias from the principal. And um thank you for sharing that with me. Done. So, you've reflected, you received,
068but you haven't engaged. And are they going to leave and say, "Boy, that was a great conversation. I really like that guy." Probably not. So, but at least you're not desert sands there. I had more than a few people where I looked out into the parking lot before I ran to my car, too. It's hard. It's hard. So, in individual trustees uh requesting action, again, this is this is um I'm called in to do this kind of workshop sometimes where that's happening where trustees are going into the superintendent saying, "You know what? I want that principal fired. I've heard I'm hearing too many complaints over there. I want that action to happen now in in one situation. And if you don't um you're going to have a problem like just a absolutely unveiled threat of
069uh take this action or else. Um your protocols I'll give you a minute about what happens when an individual trustee this says requesting action. I'm going to amend that to demands action from the superintendent. There are few things in the life of a superintendent that would cause me to walk away from my job and this is one of them. If I had a trustee or a board that for political reasons, for family reasons, maybe it's their niece that I'm, you know, that's being non-reelected, that would come into my office and demand that I take an action. And if the board supported that, as hard as it would be, that would be reason to to walk away from a job. And I have I work for AXA part of my job, so I kind of people
070call me when they're on the ledge. And and this is this happens more frequently now than it did the first few years I was doing it where ideologies have and politics have taken over school boards in some situations and people are asked to do things that are outside of their own personal ethic range. This this is your protection. You know each of you have a voice but as a singular voice you have no power. Your power lies in the board and in the board majority and that's a correct form to carry out your request. and a good superintendent as you have should that you be tempted to come in one day and say Frank I really think you should Frank will hear that process that and um if necessary take it back to the board
071or thank you for your input and explain why he is going in a different direction or may take that under advisement but your authority lies with the board majority and again preaching to the choir here I don't I don't hear that this is an issue because I asked Frank what are the issues before I come here and this is not one of them with you guys yet. So we'll keep that on there. Anything else about individual trustees questions, concerns, thoughts. Well, this fall this follows up individually with giving direction to staff. This now takes you out of the domain of the superintendent and is about that back row. So sit up. You guys wake up back there because we're talking about you. Now, what are your protocols and agreements about when you have a question
072that that you know it's a Christina question or a Brandon question? Um, what are your agreements about ha how to handle those kinds of contacts? Let's read through and see what they are. It's only those couple of lines. So the trustees agree you do not tell you do not direct staff how to work. It's only given by board meetings. What about the questions? What about when you have a question or a concern for what are your agreements about reaching out to cabinet members? How does that normally work? Do you have an expectation in that area? I sure do. So, uh, I've, uh, with cabinet, what I, uh, sorry, I'm just getting a call here. With with cabinet, I' say, you know, and and I, the actual board reaching out to cabinet, I think, um, is
073absolutely fine. Uh, there might designate questions about the budget or service like that. The only thing I ask, I always ask uh, my executive cabinet is to inform me and let me know. So I'm aware of what the question is so that you know next time I meet with the board member or it comes up then I'm in the loop. So uh I think u and and they do a phenomenal job with that. I would say that the board uh primarily uh emails Joanne uh and and I think that's pretty much the protocol that this board follows is emailing Joan Medina and then um I get that uh email from her and then she'll ask me uh who do you want to send it to? or show since she already knows who to send it
074to and uh then the the executive cabinet member will respond to the question uh and it goes out what our protocols too is it goes to entire board so if one board member asks a question yeah everybody sees it so everybody's in the loop of it even if it comes from one board member so that way everybody's right it's usually pretty like you know you're in a classroom and are you hearing a Mom tells you, you know, they don't have enough geometry books at the high school for kids. There are kids, they're sharing books. Why is that? Gosh, I'd want to know why that is. You know what? I don't know. I hadn't heard that at all. Let me find out. That's the kind of thing you shoot an email off to Frank to Christina
075and you say, you know, is there a problem with geometry books? You know, I heard it in the community, you know, I want to set that record straight or we having problems getting getting books for kids. That's an important piece of information. Frank will want to know about that. Christina will want to know. they find out whether it's true or not and then get that information back to all of you. Um it can intercept a problem before it becomes bigger uh if you pose it correctly. You know, one of the things I really uh appreciate is the fact that our our cabinet is willing to answer questions if we have questions pertaining to their individual departments and and it's for information only. But uh when I've ever done that, I've always let the superintendent know
076that I made contact with the individual and what the question was so that he's familiar with it and so forth, whether it's a phone call or a text or so forth, but uh there's times where uh uh super may not be available and he does have his design available and that's the person that we talk too. So, there there's there's instances where uh the assistant superintendent, you know, are are the go-to persons in this district primarily when the superintendent is out. So, we do have contact with them. That or is this board being pretty good about that stuff? Okay. Because they were rolling your eyes the whole time you were talking. No, they weren't. They were not really there. [Laughter] Great. I think Brandon is the one that I as I've asked the most questions
077for. Yeah, probably. But it's usually when we see them here or there and then something pops up in their area. I really like it. I know about it. That's 99% of the time. You know, it's as much about your intent as anything. If your questions are genuine questions for information, staff loves to get those because we need you to have the right information. We know it's important for you to know what you're doing when you're making board decisions. The challenge is when it's a gotcha or feels like a gotcha like uh and and it you're a little blindsided. Those are the ones even That may not be your intent, but you want to be careful how you frame a question too that isn't like why aren't you aware there aren't enough geometry books? What's up
078with that? You know, that's a different tone than do we have a problem with geometry books and maybe I can help type question. No, you're not like that guys. It won't always be you. Sometimes when I meet with Superintendent Miranda, I'll ask him and I'll say, "Hey, do you mind if I reach out to so and so assistant soup about this issue?" and I'll let him know and he's like, "Oh, yeah, go for it. No problem." And a lot and and I know like for example, I've reached out to Greg before and and and then he'll reach out to Dr. Miranda because you know I've called him. But uh a lot of times I try to let superintendent know, hey, do you mind if I give so and so? Oh, no. Go ahead, Mr. Quent.
079Give him a call. But there's a lot of times too where he'll just pick up the phone and call them. Yeah. Come on down. Yeah, that's true. And you know, I've seen him do that with and faster you can resolve things. Just also if you have a time frame, make that clear because you know we take your request with a sense of urgency and that means we're going to stop doing something to answer your question. So if there's not a sense of urgency it really helps us if you say you know listen I don't need this answer right away but when you get a chance what's going on over you know can you give me some clarity on this? That's why it's a good idea to run it through the superintendent. The other thing that
080I really appreciate is when I get the follow-ups a lot of times I've contacted Dr. expertise and he'll he'll call me two days later and say, "Hey, Mr. Fentes, just wanted to follow up with you and let you know that we have resolved this issue and that's all I need, you know, and I really really appreciate that." And Dr. Miranda's done the same thing. And uh I think it's I think it works. It's a real good thing where we communicate. That's the key. The communication part of it is the key. And resolving the issue right away is the key also. Thank you. So, I'm going to facilitate the last one a little bit aggressively to get through it so we can get to our workshop about you guys. We're on page now, and this is
081around governance team communications, how you openly exchange information between your team members, and making sure you all have access to the same information. I'll let you read. This is a little more lengthy, but it describes your practices around the information you receive. This is probably the most clear and complete explanation I've ever read in a protocol around board communications. It really covers just about everything. I can remember when I was in Desert Sands, we had four comprehensive high schools and a couple continuations. One of the board members once said, you know, I saw an ambulance in front of the I want to know when an ambulance reports to one of our schools because people ask me why was there an ambulance in front of the school. Sounds reasonable. So I started giving them alerts. You
082know how often ambulances are in front of high schools? They said uncle after about three weeks. It's like you don't have we get it because you know a kid twists his ankle on the PL. I mean you don't know all of those things can have an emergency vehicle dispatched. It's not like a gunshot. It's a lot of very minor things. And after being alerted with buzzes about six times a week, they decided maybe they didn't need that information. They understood. I said, "Believe me, if it's a significant issue, you know, I'll let you know, but it's often not." Like for that was the second bullet was what prompted me. Serious staff or injury or health concerns. You know, you certainly want to know if there's a serious injury. If a teacher fell ill in a
083dramatic way in class, it happens. Sadly, do you guys feel like you're getting information that you need? I think so. Yeah. Yeah. For myself, I I feel like we have a good balance of what's important, what's urgent, and I'm so I'm okay with that. I say, are you text people? Are you email people? Combination. How do you What's your forums? Are you all different? Joanne, do you have to customize your communications to these guys a little bit? and text to them and I just I do one email to the one text to the board and the board's really good. They never respond to, you know, make sure we comply with the Brown Act, but and it's justformational like I email I text them this morning, don't forget your books. Right. Right. That's I do searches
084for school districts and very often if I'm sending them a search update with timely information, I'll just shoot a text and say, you know, I just sent you an email with some timely information. please check your email and um that way they they don't read it that night and thought, shoot, I missed an opportunity to weigh in on something. You know, it's funny that's such an important question now as I'm working with younger folks, right? You have multiple generations in the workplace and I've got young folks, all they want to do is text. And I'm telling them, guys, you got to send me an email if it's a requisite for, you know, resources, time off, something send. And these this, you know, you know, to me, I'm I'm still, you know, of the age where
085texts are still kind of social, like, you know, what do you want to do for dinner? Um, who's picking up the kids. My work for the most part, 90% of it is email, right? That's how I track it. That's how I can search for it. That's where I know it's going to get done. I can forward it easily. I think we found a nice balance. The urgent stuff, Joan does a great job. Hey, heads up. This is happening right now. Be aware. Um, but I do appreciate the majority of the larger stuff, policy things come via email because then I can go back and file it, search it, save it, forward it. So, but it is a relevant question. I'm finding particularly, you know, as boards change and you've got younger folks and folks of
086different generations. Um, folks, some people don't know how to send an email. These folks in their 20s, they don't. Yeah. I I feel the same way and I'm notoriously bad. I treat my inbox for my text box like I do my inbox at work. I deleted as soon as I can because I feel like I'm piling up. Well, that means important information that I could have saved in an email. I could have archived it is is lost on my phone or it takes me so long to go back and find it that it's useless. So, I I tend to default the weight of emails as well. you know, just uh I'll just add that I think today I just feel so comfortable with the board to call and sometimes I feel bad, but I know
087it's necessary. So, uh, you know, I I I think, you know, like last week a couple times, and I call seven and, uh, anytime there's a major situation, weekends, uh, Friday nights, whatever, uh, and leave messages, sometimes long messages to make sure or follow up. if I don't get the call or sorry the if the um the call doesn't get picked up I'll call again and then I'll call again and to ensure that there's followup and it doesn't matter if it's a Friday uh e you know evening at 6:00 it has to happen and so but I I do appreciate the fact that you know I feel definitely comfortable calling and and you know Gary next to my wife and my daughters he's the third one if he call if he calls I'm answering in
088the phone. It could be could be Saturday I'm on vacation or whatever. He gets to get the call picked up. So, well, you know, my rule is always if they're going to go home and turn on their TV and see something, then I want them to hear from me first. So, that's when a phone call goes out. I email, too, that I'll call just to make sure they saw it. Social media post or a social media post that's viral. Exactly. It's usually, "Hey, we're sending you something. We already saw it." Yeah, because it's the speed of light, you know. But it's good. But it's good. It's a good practice. Also, I think it's really really good to when when you're able to call right away and just get that done. I think it's a great
089communication. These are excellent protocols and communications and even better harder to implement the practice. So, well done. And then the last one is kind of where we started with our exercise around the social media influencer. Um, this is a brave new world that talk about protocols that weren't in the books when I was superintending. I'll let you take a minute about reading through this about who your spokespersons are and why that's important. So, if I was going to write a scenario to test this one, this would be the scenario because I just worked this through with another district. There's a board member who um for decades has been intensely involved in city politics as a you know goes to city council meetings regularly is very involved not in a negative way in a positive way
090just tracks council. The um council knows that this individual is a trustee and will occasionally on their televised meeting stop a meeting and say so and so you're here from the school district what's the school district's position on and and ask her a question. you know, she's there innocently. She's not inserting herself, but suddenly she's called to the microphone to speak on behalf of the school district. Um, how do you handle, you know, her best intentions would be to be good partners with the city, to be responsive, and to share information? Um, but being called to that microphone, she's one member of a school board. So, how would you handle that if you're in that if you're that person in that city council meeting? during that was it wasn't it wasn't on a city council
091or anything it's just a group of people and my response to them was I really would know how to answer that question but if you would like more information on that certain question I can get you a hold of the superintendent of the district or somebody on his cabinet that could probably answer the question better than I can that was it situation but I wish and the trustee wishes she had done that as well. Um, so thank you. That's that's what I did because I know where did and she did it and she did it for all the right reasons, but it really infuriated her fellow trustees because they said, "You're not there representing our board." It happened to be around. there were some civic center charges and things that that they were in negotiations
092at revisiting their um agreements with the city and so her words were coming at a highly sensitive time um and they had to do some unraveling to fix it. Again, not because she set out to do anything to cause a problem, but it certainly turned out that way. So, your best practice, this is this is your guide and your safety when that person approaches you in the parking lot regarding how you handle requests for information um that allows you to direct it. And by the way, is it this says PIO? Should we change that to a director of communications? Is that the right title? Okay, you might as well because you're gonna get called both, right? Yeah. By the way, I didn't have a PIO till my last job and I don't know how I
093lasted so long with that one. It helps. There you go. A doc. There you go. Any questions? Amendments that last section. First off, sounds like we're hearing um fidelity to your agreements and that's what we look for. That's your self-evaluation. and you get an A in your assessment today. What is not uh in these protocols? Is there something you've confronted, a situation that you think maybe might be worth taking some time to discuss and add a protocol? We probably won't do it today, but we can absolutely get that thought out. What's what's missing here? responsib Sometimes people Yeah. responding to that question. Sorry. So yeah, I was looking at board uh so for those listening uh uh bullet point number three where it said individual trustees have the responsibility to identify personal viewpoints as such
094and not as a viewpoint of a board. uh a lot of people see us as board trustees which is very hard to sometimes to say well you know my answer current my answer that I'm going to give you is not of the CJUSD board but it's of me but a lot of times they don't take it that way so we have to be very careful I think it's one of the bullet points that I always keep in mind before I answer anything you know publicly like that one way certainly She could have in that city council meeting have said, you know, I'm not here as a trustee. I'm here as a citizen and um I really don't speak on behalf of the board as you have said and to pass that on because maybe they
095think she's there representing the board and that's why she's attending the meetings and um if she hasn't been so ordained then best to do exactly what you said and that is I you know I'm I'm here as a as an individual and I'd be very glad to share that concern have somebody get back to you. protocols hit the big areas, communications, crisis control, um, lines of authority, roles and responsibilities. I don't see any glaring gap. And if you're not experiencing any, then I think you're we're affirming your board protocols tonight. We comfortable with that? Okay, you guys, you got an A. Why don't we take a fivem minute break, refresh, and then we'll start the workshop. Sorry, I had to step out. My wife was rare. Everything okay? Well, Matthew, my son's a senior, so
096she got she was excited. Thought you were gonna say it's the wrong size or something. No. Does he go here? Where does he go? She she just she just needed you. Very very That's very sweet. But yeah, it's been hard. He's our only one. Yeah. Oh, is that right? And then is he going off to school or is he gonna stay home next year? No, he's going to school. You got a a few cheerful days, Eddie. Okay, thank you very much. Uh, I'm going to ask you to get started with a little personal reflection and a com you have to be completely honest on this one. Not that you wouldn't be on a piece of paper, just a scratch paper. It can be on the back of your handbook or anywhere you've got. Think about
097when you're performing your very best as a trustee. You're having a great night. You're making your best contribution. What do you think the characteristic or trait is that you most contribute to the board on that best night? What do you think you really offer the board? Like if you weren't there, it might not happen. You're a real asset to the board. You all have one. I know you do. I know you do. That's That's maybe it though. That's maybe it. So if you you don't have to write it down, but remember it because we're going to circle back to it and I'm going to ask you to share it later, but not now. So, of course, if I'm going to ask what your greatest strength is or what asset you bring, you know, I'm going
098to ask you next. On that night, you come here and you're tired and maybe you're hungry and or you had a fight with your spouse before you got here or your kids, um, what trait might you slip up on and let out that you that that you um wish you you would wish you hadn't, but it's your default bad trait. the be the um you had no trouble with the when you're a problem, but the one when you're an asset like your best thing you offer and I'll I'll share mine as an example. Um I can lighten a serious subject. I I have a bright, happy spirit and so my sense of humor can sometimes take a situation that feels heavy and lighten it up a bit. On the flip side, uh I'm a smart
099alec sometimes and my comment can sting or I can use that sense of humor for evil instead of for good if I'm tired and I'm not mindful. I know this comes as a huge shock to you is now that you've worked with me a while, but trust me, it's true. All right. So, kind of hold that in the back and we're going to start our disc journey. Thank you. Each of these guys, by the way, they took a online disc inventory in preparation for this meeting. You're going to get like a 17 20 page report that tells you in detail what um I'm going to share very surface level tonight. So, you'll have a chance to really read some things that may you may find very enlightening um based on your results of that inventory.
100So, DISC is an assessment that assesses your personality. Um, it's one of the most widely used inventories. If you know the MyersBrigg, this is like a MyersBrigg light, if you will. But it's been used for more than 30 years. Fortune 500 companies use it across this nation. 40 million plus people have participated in DISC and it's got an acceptance rate of over 95%. So, it's a powerful tool that makes simple some of the components of personality and especially in the workplace can be helpful to understand your own style as well as the styles of those you're working with. So, these are the you can see there are four quadrants to this circle. Dominance, an influencer, steadiness, and conscientiousness. And what's interesting about this disc I'm going to try the back out. Is it long enough?
101In addition to these four quadrants, it's divided by halves, D's and I's, the dominance and the influencer, which I'm going to share more about those in a minute. They tend to be fast spoken or fast-paced and outspoken. So, if you're a D and an I, you move quickly. You have a lot to say. Okay. The C and the S styles, the bottom half of the quadrant, are more cautious and reflective. Thank you. They are um yeah they are more cautious and reflective. Slow the group down, talk more, want to understand more. Dan made a joke saying, you know, the board meetings go faster if I'm not here a minute ago. We'll see if that's true to his style when we get there. So on the flip side, the D and the C ask more questions
102and are more skeptical. They want more data, more information. and they want to they want have it proven to them. The I and the S style is more accepting and warm. They're look they're consiliatory. They're looking for people to get along. So, you can kind of see how these work and we're going to find out where you go. Also, it's important to know like on an S, which was the um uh steadiness, if you are down center of the S, you're a pure S. If you're S but getting close to an a C, you're an SC. Those styles are slightly different. They they share some of the same category or some of the same traits and attributes, but they also incorporate some of the C's. Similarly, if you're an SI, if you're an influencer and
103a steadiness, if you're an SI, it's a little bit different. You'll see which quadrant you fall into and what those implications are. So, you're going to gain some self-standing, understand your behavior patterns. You're going to figure out how to capitalize on those strengths and minimize those weaknesses and improve on your effectiveness, your relationship with others. I'm going to skip by here. This is important to know. There's no good or a bad profile. It's not judgmental. We need people in every single quadrant. All have style strengths and unique talents and abilities. And each style has unique goals, fears, and potential limitations. And in a minute when I show you each style and explain them, I'm going to show you public personalities that um fall into these quadrants. And you'll see there's also dark and light sides.
104You can um well, I will let that story tell itself. Here's a D. We'll start with D. Direct, driven, strongwilled, confident, daring. Look at some of the faces of the people. Oh, you know who? Somebody exclamation point out I'm trying to Oh, um Merryill Street is that person. I don't know why your image didn't appear, but it was Merryill Street. Is it on yours? Is it? Isn't that weird? Maybe. So, um those are four people who who one would say carry those characteristics. Who's your D in this group? There's only one. and he's a DC dominant, determined, demanding. That would be Frank. Frank, I have a question for you. In the beginning, I asked you on your very best on a board meeting. What did you say would be your best quality when I asked
105them to reflect on what you brought to the board meeting on your best night? You remember? Okay. Okay. So, know where you stand. Self-confident. How about your worst? What when you're tired and cranky? Uh what what quality might we see that you wish you didn't miss? A little maybe a little sniffy. Would you like your cabinet to help you, Frank? Uh they had a they gave me a whole list of things on this one. Joanne Joanne's raising her hand back there. No, she's not. No, you said it. You said a a little snippy. You said you could be a little snippy. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe you recognize it. So that strong will it can be a super asset. You're confident. You stand you want a confident superintendent, right? Someone who who who is in charge, but
106it can also have another face on it. And Frank's goes to a DC and you'll find out later. So the C is that conscientiousness, the attention to detail, um the wanting to make sure it's done right. So while that that conscientiousness in his case is leading to um that that decisive direct and drivenness like I need to have the data if I'm going to drive forward with confidence. So that would be his leaning the D straight pure D it's just about power and and and with these most superintendents fall in at least have a D either as their primary or backup. Most I shouldn't say superintendent CEOs people in charge of organizations usually are either CD, DC, or what's the next one? DI. So, are most DC's or any of these are they usually No.
107Do they um look for other DCs in their when they're Yeah. Randy, I'm Can you give me back or Brenda? I'm trying to get back to where I was and it's going the wrong way when I Can you get me back to the D slide, please? I'm sure it's me, but for some reason it seems to be going. Yeah, thank you. There we go. Um, so do they know D's D's a D and a D can butt heads, right? So they do they normally look for other people like them? Not necessarily. In fact, having a balance on the team Who's our D back there? I can tell. So yeah, there you go. We got a D back there. Great D. So when you So a D with a D that could they can butt heads
108but it can also brings to some really good decisions because the one D is going to make the other D listen because they are being strong and in that comes the best decisions. The difference is one of them is boss and one of them isn't. So there's a certain amount of at some point deferral. She does a master plan back there. I just got to warn you. So a D is motivated by winning competitive um success wants the district to be number one and has his eyes on the other districts next to him and around him making sure they're doing as well or better. competitive values competency, concrete results, and personal freedom. D's like a lot of autonomy. You know, I want to be able to have free reigns to do what I need to
109do. Now, as with any style, there's a healthy and an unhealthy face of that. You know, the unhealthy is is a dictator is someone who just wants my way. I don't care how it affects anybody. The healthy D wants everybody to win and wants us all corporately to do well. So, so what's a D style and their priorities? As a DI, the qualities, Frank, that would be your default would be taking action. So, he would he would have a a bias toward action as opposed to long meetings where you talk about it forever and at some point, you know, you leave the room and nobody's made a decision. That would be the kind of meeting that would drive Frank nuts. He likes getting results and he's a he generates enthusiasm to those things. But remember,
110it's towards an end. It isn't enthusiasm just to be rah rah. It's enthusiasm to win. So a a quote for a D is, "What's the point of playing if winning isn't the goal?" That's right. Can we just stop the workshop here? I think that's all we need to know or pray. Okay. So, you're going to communicate, cabinet, listen up. You want to be heard by a D. Give them the bottom line. Be brief and speak up. Focus your discussion narrowly. Avoid making generalizations. Don't repeat yourself and focus on solutions rather than problems. So, you're going to come in tell you're going to come into a D with a problem. Start with listen, I'm going to we got a problem, but I think I've got a thought about how to address it. kind of frontload it
111that way and offer a solution to the problem. Um my I have D is my backup and my director of or my assistant supered services used to say to me, Gary, um I'm going to tell you something now and I need you to listen to me all the way to the [Laughter] end. And she was absolutely it's like she did everything but hold my face in her hands and say, "Now look at me. I'm still talking. Don't don't move on to something else. So, a D, you have to be concise, direct, get the message out. Let's go to the eyes. Look at those lovely people in eyes. I um I picked those because I'm an eye. Um, eyes are are are charming, collaborative, energizing, trusting, enthusiastic, but they're impulsive, um, optimistic and and persuasive. Um,
112so who are your eyes in this room? Mr. Fuentes. Yeah, M. Those are your two. You're cheating. You're looking at it. The handout. I wondered how he guessed that so well. He really knows his board members. No, he doesn't. He's a cheater. I like the wind. So, so I will tell you I know a little about about IDs. I'm an ID and I've by the way I've taken this eight or 10 times in the last 20 years and I generally sometimes you can change styles like your work is demanding you to be something that you're not and you'll find yourself shifting but normally your default falls within a range. So, I tend to be in that I range towards D. Sometimes it can go more towards S, but the I is pretty pretty much me.
113But the but what's important about an ID is all of that charm and influence and persuasion is to get our way because we're back up D. So, it isn't just that we're lovely people, is that we have a goal in mind and we've figured out the best way to do that is to um um charm people over to our point of view. So, you have to really control that persuasive element because sometimes it comes to getting your way more than it does doing the right thing because you're persuasive. You're motivated by social recognition. Uh you you ID you like to have your name called out at those meetings. You're not the one hiding in the background. It's a good thing. I'm that guy. Um group activities and relationships. You like coaching and counseling, freedom of
114expression, and you appreciate your individuality. Again, you you appreciate being your own person. So, what's important? So, eyes and their priorities and you guys are both IDs. You have also have a bias towards taking action. So, you're ready to say, can we get on with it? I think we've heard enough. Let's let's vote. Uh generating enthusiasm, getting results matter to you. So, you can see it's very similar. That's the D part coming through. But the I really values the collaboration more. A D's B will tolerate the collaboration and hopefully use it to shape that final decision and I really values it and will and will um encourage that collaboration towards an end. Their quote, whoever is happy will make others happy, too. Right? I'm going to inspire you to be happy like I am. So,
115you want to communicate with these two guys, with Israel and Frank. Share your experiences. Tell your stories. You don't have to get to the bottom line so quick. They want to hear the feeling part of it, your experience. Allow them to ask time to ask questions. Uh focus on the positives of even a bad situation on the positives. Avoid avoid overloading them with details. Again, you can see my picture my assistant superintendent asking me to listen all the way to the end. Uh and don't interrupt them. Eyes need to to have their time to say their piece. I can see a little of that just in my interactions with this group. I that resonates with me. So, I'm gonna ask you guys, what was the quality, Frank, when you I said, "What's the best the
116board can get from you?" And then what's on your worst day, what's the problem? Okay. Okay. And what about That's consistent. What about your weakest rate on a on a week night? What might you do you regret? Okay. So getting is it is that sulking a little bit or is it just Okay. Okay. That makes sense. That's the D part of you. You know, self-confident, assured, and so if you're not feeling like you're prepared or on your game that night, uh, that's going to be a bad night. How about you, Israel? Did what was your strength you thought you brought to the board on your best night? Let's get it done. So the bias towards action and what about your weakest was maybe don't feel confident or are just in the mood. Okay. Right. Right.
117You feel like you should have weigh in. Is your mic on by the way? That's all right. I think just for the next time. S's the S's um are social. They're concerned with the norms of how things are done and how we get along. Sensitive to feelings. They're more calm, patient, more predictable, deliberate, uh stable, passive, loyal. Um these are the people that really are the feelers of the group. They're often the district historians, you know, or or they want to know, um, you know, they're they're the ones that might say, you know, we've never done it that way. This is the way we've always done it. Like, do we want to change? Um, they might say, um, have we thought about how this decision is going to affect people's feelings? I think this is
118going to be challenging for they're they're looking at the impact emotionally on people. And I haven't had a chance to work with Brenise very much, but Brenise was an S. So is Pat and so is Bertha. Now I don't know Baron but you guys are pretty different personalities. So it was interesting to me to see you all but you're falling in S's but in different sides of the S. So Bertha you are that feeling level but you're looking for data and you're conscientious about things. You want to know how it's going to impact and the reason you want to know those impacts is you're thinking about how it's going to impact the bigger culture and if it's going to be received well or not. if we've thought this through. Um, you're more of an SI,
119which means you're you're you're an influencer. You're looking to make a difference out there. And so you're you're um using that influence and persuasion to protect the culture in some way. Um, often deliberate, predictable. You have you have a pattern and Frank can probably anticipate what both of you are going to where you're going to fall on an issue because you're pretty predictable. Your your values are such that you're he can follow that and trace it. You're motivated by cooperation, opportunities to get help, sincere appreciation, values loyalty, helping others, and security. A lot of our teachers are S's. teachers, as a general rule, fall into the S category. So, your styles, you'll see there's some similarities and some difference. Bertha, SNSC, I didn't mean for this to go with each click. I don't know how
120that happened. Um, maintaining stability would be a value that's important to you. Giving support and ensuring accuracy. Pat, as an SI, you also value collaboration and giving support and generating enthusiasm. A little more of a rahrah in there part of that. And Barrenise, who's a purist, giving support, maintaining stability, and valuing collaboration. So you can see the values they bring. A challenge would be well, let me ask you first, Bertha, what was the strength you thought about on your best night with the board? Look at that praise and and so you're positive. You're giving support. Maintain some enthusiasm. What about on your week on the night that you're uh not on your game really? Withdraw. Yeah. Yeah. And actually that would be al that's an S trait in general like you Bertha you may have
121to be invited into conversation sometimes like I was facilitating I might say Bertha I haven't heard from you what have you got to say about this because S's tend to be a little more reticent. Yeah. Yeah because we're tired. Well I don't know sometime because all of these things there are some common traits. Yeah. Yeah. Well, if you're tired or hungry or mad, there's some common things you're all going to get. Well, and the reason I ask is because a lot of times, you know, we we've had a busy day or we had an issue at work or something and and then we got to come here and make decisions and we want to be clear about what we're going to we're going to do. And that sometimes to me for me is just to
122stay quiet. And sometimes even they Izzy, you're a little too quiet. What's going on? you know, they'll come up to me and they'll ask me why because usually I'm upping it up and, you know, doing all of that. All those factors, the thing to think about, yes, all that's true, is what is your default when that happens? And I'll give you an example as an I because I'm persuasive. Sometimes it's hard for me to let go of a position I've taken because I'm so interested in persuading you to my point of view, I might stop listening and then suddenly I'm persuading you and I'm missing that might help inform my decision because I'm being my my goal is is to be is to persuade you to something. That's my fault. So if I'm really tired,
123my tendency is not to withdraw but to stop listening maybe. So So I think the fatigue certainly fall and and your what's happening in your life will will bring out all of our we have to we have to really work hard to bring our best to the board on those nights. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I have to do I have you know and I want to do the right thing and you know I'm trying to be real here but you want to do the right thing because after after either going listening to someone at work or doing something or like this past uh board meeting I didn't even get a chance to go home and change. I was able to grab a blazer and boom get here. But I think that's just part of life I
124think. Of course. And and but if you're mindful of it and you think, "Okay, I'm a court low tonight for me. I better watch my sense of humor tonight because I might say something that sounds like I'm not taking it or that I'm not taking it seriously, like I'm being glib." And that sense of humor that can be used for a good to lighten the load can also have people think, well, he's not taking this seriously at all. So I have to on those nights, I have to watch myself. Yes. Um, I would say tired. So, I can't say I'm tired because I worked all day, but you know, so I think honestly for myself, I'm when I'm quiet, I something is off. I feel like something is just not right. Uh, and that applies
125to, you know, family life, you know, professional life, sitting in the board, just something is off and I'm not comfortable and therefore I withdraw. you're aware of that then you then you consciously make the effort and say you know what I don't have to weigh in as much as usual tonight but there are some I may my voice may be needed it's also where a board president may can turn and say Bertha I'd like what are your feelings about that you and you're the gatekeeper for people who aren't you know coming in sometime um Pat did I ask you we got did you yeah would you share me what were your what was your best and your most challenging best would be passionate and um and praise for our teachers and staff. Challenge that's consistent
126with the n for sure. Um I think sometimes self-confidence. Yeah, I would not have thought you were going to say selfconident confidence. That surprised me. That's also consistent with an S style though. Interesting. Interesting. How about Brenise? Does that sound descriptive of Brenise? Have you guys you can talk about her. She's not here. Yeah. I never understand that quote, so I'm going to skip it. I need a new quote. So, you want to communicate with your S's. It's It's Oh, I see. I'm pushing it backwards and it goes forward. I know I pushed it backward on that one. Thank you. The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common. I understand the quote, but I'm not sure how it reflects to an S. I need a new quote. That was from
127the disc. That's exactly what I'm doing. I'm hitting it left and right. Thank you. That's strange. This It's This isn't broken. It's Are you saying it's me on this? Huh? Oh my gosh. So, to communicate with an S, be personable and amiable. Um, the S's in the world have the hardest time when someone's angry at the deis. You know, they they feel it. It feel they'll recoil. I Well, nobody loves it, but it's a hardest on on S's. Um, if you want to communicate with the nest, express your interest in them and what you expect from them. Be clear. Take time to provide clarification. You want to be patient with the nest because they have a lot of questions. They need to sort through things. Be polite. So, an aggressive approach or um a dismissive
128approach is going to shut down an S. And so, as I said before, B avoid being too confrontational or too aggressive. C's, look at those C's up there. These people are cautious and systematic. They're more private, analytical diplomats, but they're accurate and reserved. Accuracy matters. getting it right matters to seize and that's a lovely gift and completely annoying to the eyes who just I don't don't slow me down with facts I got a plan here so you can see who that is a CD and a pure Joanne you are as clean as C as I've seen you're you are all C would agree you know that my sister-in-law worked for a Joanne a C and she would have her when she did a curriculum guide hold the pages up to the light to make sure
129that the print aligned like the one didn't start I mean m like page to page guilty is charged guilty is charged there you go okay they're motivated by opportunities to gain knowledge to show their expertise and their quality work they value quality and accuracy Sound about right? Yeah. So C styles Joanne as a purity, accuracy, stability, and offering challenge. And Dan, inclusive, humble, and affirming. That's a C leading towards D. Interesting. Those from working with you guys, those kind of make sense to me. So it now this does fit. I do understand this quote for a C. Get it right the first time. Get it right the first time. Let's not go back and fix it. You your mother was a C. There you go. You aren't quite there yet. So communicating with the C.
130Focus on facts and details. See the difference? You work for an I I doesn't I doesn't want to hear the details. Explain carefully. Be open to questions and feedback. Lots of questions. Provide information in writing when you can to prepare them. Minimize pep talk or emotional language. When I was a new superintendent, Frank, I wrote my first Friday letter. So proud of it. My board president, who I now know was a C, sent me down and said, you know, I don't really care how you feel about all these things. Get rid of all the language, the emotional language. Just give me the facts. And so I did and the next board president came in and said, "Gary, I used to love it when you would talk about the PE." It's like, "Look, I get it.
131I'm gonna have to change for board presidents." Yeah, they don't want pep talk or emotional language. Be patient, persistent, and diplomatic with a C. So, if you look up here, S's and C's. Um, oh, no, not up here. Keep going. There, there's your array. So, when you just at a first glance, without reading names or anything, what do you notice in your profile? You got you got people in every quadrant. That's when I said you've got a your team is a good balanced team. You have an equal number of voices. If you all play according to type, you're going to get really good decisions because you each bring something different to those conversations around things that matter. Yeah, I've this is not typical. Um I often work with boards that everyone's a D. The wor
132for me the worst kind of board would be the C's a C board and I love C's I need a C on my team but C's will C's and S's will spend so much time analyzing that decisions it's hard to get a decision out of them because nothing is guaranteed in education the data is not going to always turn out right and and there's always more data to mine under the data so a really aggressive C can keep anything from moving forward because they're just asking okay thank you for that information but what about does and it just it could go on endlessly. I found some of you know when answer when do going through the the through the process I found that depending on what the question was like none of the answers really
133fit the question or that it depended like how I would answer would well I wish I had more information because I was like I don't in different situations I would answer it differently. Okay. So that's really fair. The research would say that you know this is your default in and it's also in the workplace. So the inventory was taken in the concept of how you behave at work which may be completely different than how you behave at home. Y that's how I took it was this is the work situ right. You did it you did it correctly. That's how you're supposed to do. But I still didn't like some of the choices for me were difficult to pick one because it was like I think everyone can agree there there are times you read some
134of them were very simple like I got that yeah that's me and others you said so you pick the one that's closest to how you think you might that that's the best you can do with some of these also nobody operates in their domain all the time if you're I know when I need to be a C you know it's out of it's not my preference but I know when I'm in a group and we're going to do something big that I need to slow down. I need to bring my C out and I need to really ask the deep questions and and get some data. Um if I forget the C's on my cabinet would remind me. Um and oftentimes who's our CBO you I would did did you resonate with C when you
135were looking through it? Is that or D? Yeah. Yeah. The um it isn't unusual to find um HR people and um and business people in a C domain. isn't unusual to find ED services people in in an ID or an S mode. Um and so we that's why the team is so critical. And when I give this to cabinet sometimes they'll say gosh we don't have a seat. Um who's we're going to make have to make sure we slow down ask the questions and not get excited. As an I I'm the guy who would walk into cabinet after going to a seminar and they'd all go great. Gary went to a seminar this weekend. I'm sure he has ideas. So they were the ones that had to slow me down and say well that's interesting.
136What are we going to stop doing, Gary, if we're going to do this? Is should we stop our literacy emphasis? It's like, well, yeah, that doesn't sound like a good idea. Maybe I need to think about this a little bit more. You have a really good balanced team with good voices and a a discussion in this group could be very interesting. And it also can help when um Joanne is being extra C or Dan's being extra C that instead of that annoying you that you learn to slow down, say, "Oh, I see what's happening here. I'm I feel like I'm being slowed down. I think I need to hear what he has to say." Because he's bringing something to the table that that I need to know. Yeah. Yep. Exactly. So, I'm going to skip
137this activity in the interest of time, but we can just talk it through. each of you have strengths and challenges in your in your and normally I'd have you pair off and in pairs just talk about it like why is it great being and I kind of pair you with people different from you you know Frank M is a DC barrenise isn't would it be an S and for them to have a conversation about how does that work between the two of us and how do we feel about that that's that's an interesting conversation if we had 20 minutes or a half hour to do it but I don't want to be guilty of turning you guys into your worst side of your board memberships by testing your uh testing your resilience tonight between you
138and dinner. Um so what are the lessons to learn from disk and again you can see your array. What's most important to know is that uh I'm not you and a lot more makes sense after that. You know most of us do transference. We assume everybody's seeing the world through our lens. Absolutely. Why shouldn't they? And when you really accept that, you know what, I'm going to have a conversation with Bertha. Bertha, but we're going to be Bertha's going to be talking about how it's going to impact people and I'm I'm more interested in the bottom line. And so if we have a conversation, I can do both because I'll learn from her about slowing down, taking some people in consideration, being that S. On the other hand, I'm going to help Bertha make a
139decision when maybe she needs to be so incremental that she's not ready. And maybe in that conversation, I can help that bias toward action to get it done. So your greatest strength is often your greatest weakness. D's you're good at directing and deciding Frank you but may become autocratic. So your worst day you can become overly directive eyes. You're good at promoting and persuading but may oversell and manipulate. Okay I'm being really persuasive but um what if I'm selling isn't going to deliver? um I need to slow down or what if I'm manipulating? An S is steady and agreeable but may struggle with change, resisting it or giving in despite their concern. So an S can can have the biggest challenge with change and C is good at analyzing and checking but may become perfectionistic
140which is par you know if you're a perfectionist you get paralyzed because you can't take action unless you know it's going to be perfect and indecisive. And this I love this. So you you can't read it. Re it reformatted. So I hope it works. So you come back tomorrow to your office at work and your office has been rearranged. Someone has come in and given you a gift. They've rearranged your office for you. Ad says, "I'm offended I was not involved or consulted in making these decisions. I have suspicions about what they're up to. And frankly, oh that's interesting. Frankly, I could have done it better myself. It's a D review and I says, "Well, this looks really nice, but we invested a lot of time to get the office set up in the first
141place. Now, who's sitting by me now? And let's go get a cup of coffee and talk about how we're going to make this work. So, we're going to influence our way into getting it back to what we want." And says, "I was just just getting used and I liked everything the way it was. I wasn't doing anything special this weekend. I could have helped move the furniture. Did the workers get paid overtime over the weekend?" that that outward look at others and a C says doesn't say anything. C shuts up and says after about 20 minutes they come out of the office with policies and procedures and a handbook and they want to know what about workers comp. Was their overtime paid? Did they comply with OSHA rules when they did this? And is everything
142properly documented? Guilty is charged. For the record, I spent about three hours writing policies today. Literally. Bam. Yeah. This man is in the right job right there. That's the correct job for you. So, the platinum rule, you know, the golden rule, do unto others, you know, this is do unto others the way they would like being done into. So we it kind of changes the golden rule by saying be reflective on what Frank needs, what Bertha needs, what Pat needs, what you need, and reflect on that when you're approaching somebody and make sure that you're they're presenting it in a way that they can receive the information. Simply stated, treat people the way they prefer to be treated. You'll get a lot further. So in your group culture normally when I get to this group's
143default and it's like okay your your school your board is a deculture. So what does that mean and how and how what are your what are the strengths of a deculture and what are the challenges of a deculture? You guys don't have a specific culture because you're so balanced. So what this looks at is your individual um I'm going to skip these what it contributes. So here's your culture. uh do you have a culture that promotes caution and reflection or is fast-paced and outspoken? So 38% of your team this again it's very balanced are fast-paced and outspoken while 63% are cautious and reflective. So your group bias is a little more cautious and reflective but you have a good balance of people who will move it to action. So what implications would there be in
144in your deliberations for that? questions. You need to make sure you set aside enough time for those cautious people to have their chance to chew on it and ask the questions. People who that 38% that are more fast-paced need to breathe and um listen before they move to action and make sure it's been said. On the flip side, that 38% needs to move. the people that are overrelecting maybe overanalyzing maybe getting paralyzed and at some point say I think can we all agree we have the as much information as we need to make this decision now and help those C's and S's move to that decision mode so is your culture more questioning and skeptical or accepting and warm and again it's the same 38% 63 38% of your team are more questioning and skeptical
145while 63% tend to be accepting and warm. That's a nice balance. That's a You guys do good recognition programs. I would imagine I imagine people feel very appreciated for those recognition because it really is where the board's heart is. Um when it needs to be, there are people who can be questioning and skeptical when that new idea comes forward or that new program's implemented. uh there are people on your board near, you know, 38% that'll stop and say, "Can we talk about this a bit? I don't know if I'm comfortable with this. I need to understand it better." During the break, case in point, dad said, you know, I felt like we need to know more about um um conflict of interest. You know, some nearby boards are being caught up there. Conflict of interest
146is is um defined much broader than we think. There are much more that falls into a conflict than would come to our mind naturally and I had shared it. situations where a board member asked, "Is this a conflict of information? It seems so remote to me." I said, "No, that that's very remote. The fact your wife's a consultant for somebody that's a consultant for somebody that works for somebody went to our attorney and they said, "Oh, no. That's a classic conflict." I was dead wrong. So he had said this is a very sea thing to say. I would love a bird board workshop to better understand conflict of interest to make sure we don't step out and end up in the newspaper on something that we all think is is completely clear and okay because
147I bet all you guys are related to somebody that works for the district. Yep. Everybody is. What does that mean exactly? How do we stay out of trouble and when do we recognize when we're stepping in it? Um most districts are like that. So, just closing reminders. All disc styles are equally valuable. There's nobody in this room that can go home and say, "Yeah, I'm a I'm an eye. I'm I win." All those styles are needed. Everyone's a blend of all styles. When you watch it, you kind of go, gosh, I I'm an I sometimes. [Laughter] Yeah, Joan could be a D. I bet I wouldn't be too surprised. really more of an Syri thing. So some of that so you have a natural default and there's the side you develop would be what the
148researchers would say is that you've learned to be an S and um or you've learned to be a C to get done what needs to get done. But that your style it's interesting but both styles are cautious and reflective. You know maybe that's the common denominator is more cautious and reflective than fast-paced. Um, people can adapt your styles if it's situational. I said before, if you need to be a D, I bet each one of you can be. If you need to be a cheerleader and an influencer and being persuasive, you can do that, too. So, success is really not what style you are, but knowing what style you are, understanding others, and adapting to the needs of the situation, being who you need to be. So, reflections on what you've learned tonight. This is
149our closing slide. Is there anything that implications for action from you? I'm I'll be sharing or Joanne has your individual reports to share with you um that you can take home with you and read over in detail thoughts about how this might influence you as a as a board. I think maybe when we have our board meetings and listening to, you know, when we make comments about a particular item that's on the agenda, um I think kind of thinking about this and how we're, you know, we're different but we're the same. I think it'll be a little more thoughtprovoking as to their reaction or their comments rather than just like why are they being difficult or something like that. I think that's excellent. If you find yourself getting frustrated with one of your colleagues, that's
150a great time to stop and say, okay, wait a minute. What is this? What style is is he or she? And maybe that's exactly my first recognizing is half the balance. Okay, I'm going to adjust my approach a bit because I'm I'm I'm I'm in conflict and it's because of our personality styles. Makes it less feel less personal, more externalizes it a bit. Thank you, Pat. Well, you'll know more when you I encourage you to read your full report. I think you'll find a lot of good insights, a lot of um not only self insights, but insights about your colleagues as well. And with that, I want to thank you for inviting me again. I always enjoy spending time with you guys. And I will give some notes for the governance handbook to Joan, although
151I suspect she's taken better notes than me. You know, I did, Frank. Thank you. I take a look and I'm just conscious of time now. I took a brief look at the book you're reading. I got to admit I haven't read it cover to cover yet, but I did mark a couple of pages and I'm going to ask you to when you get home because I don't know if all of you had it. Page 79 has um this is an example where I was reading their sample norms and then later their protocols and I thought, oh, they the author Ralph Baker would have been better to come get your handbook. I liked I like the things that you have better than this, but you might see some insights. Tonight's workshop really centered on Yeah, page.
152I'm looking at the chapter. I don't know if you chaptered it, but it's um that's a section that kind of goes through board protocols, vision statements, mission, but honestly, you guys, I think you're knocking out of the park. And the the bottom line um the his bottom line on this is to set aside time for reflection and fidelity. Don't spend all your time writing protocols and then never um pull them out and look at them and revisit them and amend them like you did tonight. So, found it very affirming. I'm sorry. Thank you. Oh, no. No worries. Okay. I uh Well, we just gave the book tonight to the board anyways. And Oh, okay. Yeah. So, no. Uh we just thought we'd give you a little gift to read. I do. So, yeah. That's the
153only right reason why I mentioned it. Always good to work with you. I'm sorry I wasn't able to see Bernie tonight. Maybe. All right. Thank you very much. All right. Anything any other parting comments? If not, we'll we'll adjourn our meeting. Cool.