Roles That Build Trust: Board vs. Superintendent

Clear roles are the foundation of a strong board–superintendent relationship. In this episode of Board Leadership Bites, Brian Jordan and KASB Past President  Kevin Cole explore how role clarity, trust, communication and mutual respect help boards and superintendents work effectively together. From “the board governs; the superintendent manages” to practicing “no surprises,” discover the everyday leadership norms that build stronger governance.

This episode of Board Leadership Bites is sponsored by Stifel, a trusted partner in public finance for K–12 school districts.

https://stifelinstitutional.com/

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

Speaker 2 0:00

Welcome to Board Leadership. It's a short podcast brought to you by the Kansas Association of School Boards. I'm your host, Dr. Brian Jordan, the Executive Director of KASB. Today's topic gets to the heart of effective governance, the roles that build trust, specifically the district, but connected to roles of the board and the superintendent. When roles are clear, trust grows. When roles blur, tension often follows. With me today, I have Kevin Cole. He is our past president of KASB, longtime board member in Labette County. Been a great board member for many years down there, and I've seen that firsthand in your district. So Kevin, thanks for being here today.

Speaker 3 0:32

Well, thanks for having me, Dr. Jordan. I appreciate the opportunity to visit uh with uh on this podcast regarding to roles that build trust. Um, I think it's critical for district success success that board members and superintendents have trust within each other uh for ultimately student success.

Speaker 2 0:49

So talk talk to us a little bit about why the clarity between the different roles that each of those entities play, the board's role and the superintendent role, and how that is critical to building trust. If there's clarity in those roles, it builds trust. Talk to us a little bit about your experience and how you've seen that play out over the years.

Speaker 3 1:07

The important thing about clarity is that each each individual board member, but also the board team and then the board superintendent or the superintendent they absolutely know the roles. And when you blur those lines and you cross those lines, then it became it cross it causes confusion. And then even at times it could cause some chaos. So having a great opportunity, a great uh opportunity to you know make a connection with your superintendent, and then it just develops trust and relationships where he can trust you, and vice versa, he or she, and vice versa, you can trust your superintendent as well.

Speaker 2 1:39

So you've you've been on boards for many years. You're also the chair of your cooperative in that area. What would be if I'm a new board member walking in, what would be some things that I would be seeing uh or maybe not seeing if uh if those roles are really blurry?

Speaker 3 1:54

What you might not see is you might not see free and open dialogue and conversation. You could see an opportunity where there would be you know reservation and and not being freely speak and freely be open to having dialogue because you don't want to get caught in a situation where you get caught with a question that a superintendent can't answer, nor yourself as a board member can answer.

Speaker 2 2:14

Yeah, great. Um so we talk often about the board governs, the superintendent leads or manages the system. Uh how does that actually play out? What's that look like at board meetings, in between board meetings? Give me some things that you've seen. When it's working well, these are the key things that I see. The board's doing its governance work, the leaders leading.

Speaker 3 2:33

The board does its governance work, they work on policy, they work on culture, they work on those things with the superintendent and through the superintendent. When you uh have somebody that jumps outside that norms, it creates confusion and obstinate and absence of uh clarity, um, it does cause some confusions. So, a prime example is that is if a new board member was to come in and the next thing you know they're they're they're bringing up something, maybe a parent approached him on something and they didn't go through the proper chain of command and have with the superintendent, he may not have had any information of what this uh individual is talking about. And it's hard for him to address. So being clear, following the the the board norms and having those conversations in private uh with him can can absolutely be very transparent transformational with the superintendent.

Speaker 2 3:20

So so I know this has happened to you because I've talked to you over the years about this. So what would be a great tip or uh a piece of information if I'm a new board member and I have that angry parent come to me? How do you handle something like that?

Speaker 3 3:32

So the first thing is is what you know there's a couple of different options. One, you could talk to a veteran board member on your team. You can ask the question, hey, how do I handle that? How do I transform this question into a result? And it's always about following the chain of command. And then it's and then encourage them to go have that conversation with the superintendent in private so that there's no surprises. That doesn't mean you can't have a conversation that may be a little bit tougher or off the board, but you just you just have this, you ask the question and you frame it in a in a professional manner that hey, this may be an opportunity for us to grow in in in an improve in a situation or an issue, which ultimately improves the culture of your district. Yeah.

Speaker 2 4:10

I I I know that you do this because you've talked to me about it. And I it's always a good reminder also that if you're the board member that's gotten that parent and have redirected them, also letting the superintendent know, hey, there's a parent that that may be coming with this question or with this concern uh and trying to get get the the everybody's got the same set of information going into those issues.

Speaker 3 4:31

Absolutely. So if I was to receive a call from a parent or a constituent, I mean the the first opportunity is to you know receive the information and and understand what they are and show some empathy. But the next thing is to encourage them to take that back down to the bidly level, and if they're not satisfied with that role, follow the chain of command that that's established for that organization. And the second of it is just a simple follow-up call with your superintendent and just give them the heads up that you know what, this is something that was brought up to my attention. Wanted you to be aware of it, and then he can get on the they can he or she can get on the back side of that and really drive the message home.

Speaker 2 5:03

So that's a great segue to then my next question or my next statement, really. The the superintendent really only has one employee, which or excuse me, the board really only has one employee, which is the superintendent. Why is that such a critical uh piece to understand as the collective board that you really have this one person that you're supervising, guiding? Talk to me about why that matters so much.

Speaker 3 5:26

The important thing about that is is just really strict strictly around governance and uh accountability and then uh building policy. And that is just one function of one of seven board members. And so when you're you're governing the district, you have to make sure you realize that you're one of seven with one voice. It's not our role is not to get down into the weeds and deal with personnel issues or you know, coaching or whatever those other issues are. That's the responsibility of your superintendent, and that's what you hire he hire his administration staff for, and um it does cause confusion uh when you interact in that way. And it makes it makes it difficult because more people want to come back at you.

Speaker 2 6:04

Yeah. I I tell new board members uh over the years that if you start taking every issue and trying to solve every issue, you'll you'll never actually get to the big picture work because you're gonna be dealing with all those fires.

Speaker 3 6:16

And and that's correct. You you never really get into the big issue, which which is student ultimate student success.

Speaker 2 6:22

So we're talking about the relationship with your superintendent, and superintendent evaluation is a critical piece of that. Um how does that evaluation reflect uh or how should that reflect that relate? I mean, talk to me about what you do. Okay, you've you brought these concerns, the superintendent either is or is not addressing these issues. Uh what's what's the role of evaluation in that process?

Speaker 3 6:45

So the role of evaluation is to set clear, uh established uh guidelines uh or a direction for the superintendent, so he knows exactly what he should be he or she needs to be focusing on. Um if you don't have clear guidelines, then it's ambiguous, and you know the superintendent is basically you know following different directions and he really doesn't know where to land his land his compass. And so I think it's important and there's value in making sure that you 100% understands what the board's expectations are, what the board's goal is, and those all should be aligned with your planning, your strategic plan, and ultimately student success.

Speaker 2 7:19

Yeah. I think everyone thrives when we understand what's expected of us, board members as well as the superintendent. So having that eval is a piece to building trust, because you told me to do this, I'm gonna follow through with this on both sides of that equation. That's correct. Yeah. Uh so one of the things that we talk about is there is uh alignment that has to happen between the superintendent and the board of education, and then also the board um framing questions in a way to ensure that they're staying in the governance role versus the leadership role. Uh, what are some practical tips uh that you've used over the years or that you've seen used to make sure that that alignment of the board governs, the superintendent leads? What are some really quick things that new board members or board members should keep in mind that you've used or seen used over the years to keep that alignment?

Speaker 3 8:05

Always think about the question that you're asking and what value that it brings. What is the end result that you're really trying to get to? And when you ask the question, does it align with your with your values or align with your culture and does it align with what ultimately student success that you're trying to bring? And not only when you ask those questions, just think about the question that you're asking, does it also align with what your counterparts at the board table that sits in line with you because you want to make sure you're all aligned and marching to the same drone?

Speaker 2 8:30

I think I hear a topic for another day there. Working with the rest of your board as a board member, uh, that'd be a great follow-up uh podcast for us. So to bring this thing to a close, what I what we've talked about today is that clear roles really enable collaboration uh within the board and the superintendent across the district. When boards and soups understand that, uh the governance and the leadership really can start to align and make great things happen. Are there any final thoughts you'd like to share with our listeners today about that alignment piece and the relationship soup and the board?

Speaker 3 9:01

I think the core of the question is just making sure that you're you're you're you're doing everything you can with your teammates at the board table to align. And and it all is about every student every day, you know, and finding the commonality, um, and sure there are issues and opportunities that are going to come up, but address those that and those decisions that are made to impact all kids, not just some.

Speaker 2 9:21

Awesome. Thanks for coming in today, Kevin, and and taking part in our board leadership by this podcast.

Speaker 3 9:26

Thank you, sir. Appreciate being here.

Speaker 1 9:28

School boards make decisions today that shape their communities for years to come. Stiefel helps Kansas school districts navigate the financial side of those decisions from financing strategies to facility improvements and long-term priorities. With Deep K-12 public finance experience and a focus on lasting partnerships, Stefel helps districts move their plans forward.

Speaker 9:50

Thank you for listening to Board Leadership Bites. We hope today's conversation gave you a practical takeaway to bring back to your board table. Be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. And visit kasb.org for more resources, professional learning, and support for Kansas school board leaders. Until next time, keep learning, keep leading, and keep building stronger boards.