Tenet Leadership, LLC., AJ Crabill, and national school board members and coaches just had the fantastic opportunity to discuss school board leadership with Rod Paige, former Secretary of Education during the George W. Bush administration. Paige is a legend in school leadership and formally served as a school board member. He currently works with the Thomas Fordham Institute.

Paige has wonderful advice for school boards. Many aligned with the Texas Education Agency Lone Star Governance school leadership. Some of his ideas:

Board Mission: School boards should diligently and intentionally work to develop a “common understanding” of what the board wants to accomplish and its central mission. A shared mission helps school board leaders understand what they should focus on and, perhaps even more importantly, where they should stop focusing.

Board Unity: School boards should develop concrete policies and procedures for how the school board will govern itself and how members will interact.

Board Bonding: School boards should hold frequent board retreats and discuss board priorities and personal reasons for individual board leadership.

New Board Members: New school board members or individuals running for school board elections should attend a be robust orientation program. An orientation program helps new board members understand the mission and expectations for board member interactions.

COVID and Board Leadership: School boards are dealing with an urgent and novel situation. School boards must react with innovation, speed, new ideas, and flexibility. Holding frequent school board meetings and using out of the box ideas matter more than ever!

Have a great day and thanks for all you do for your students!