Visa Presentation Standards

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Trusteeship 101 How Schools Work
Patrick F. Bassett, NAIS President www.nais.org
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Independence Our Uniqueness

• Independent schools are independent in
• Governance
• Finance
• Independence allows our school four vital
  freedoms
• To define mission (and revise or refine it on
  occasion).
• To admit only those students our mission dictates
  we should serve.
• To establish our own expectations for credentials
  and performance of teachers.
• To teach the truth, as we see it (i.e., giving
  teachers the freedom to choose their own
  relevant curriculum and texts)

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The Evolution of a Math Problem (Why Its
Important for Schools Themselves To Decide
Curriculum) From Education Insight, , Vol. 1,
Issue 3, April/May 1994.

• 1960 - A logger sells a truckload of lumber for
  100. His cost of production is four-fifths of
  this price. What is his profit?
• 1970 - (Traditional math) A logger sells a
  truckload of lumber for 100. His cost of
  production is four-fifths of this price, in other
  words, 80. What is his profit?
• 1970 - (New math) A logger exchanges set L of
  lumber for a set M of money. The cardinality of
  set M is 100, and each element is worth 1. The
  set C is the subset of M. What is the
  cardinality of the set P of profit?
• 1980 - A logger sells a truckload of wood for
  100. His cost of production is 80, and his
  profit is 20. Your assignment Underline the
  number 20.
• 1990 - (Outcome-based education) By cutting down
  beautiful forest trees, a logger makes 20. What
  do you think of this way of making a living?
  (How did the forest birds squirrels feel?)

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Governance Power Bases Case StudiesIt is
easier to ask forgiveness than permission.
The Faculty
The Board of Trustees

Decision-Making
The Head Administration
The Parents The Parents Association ( The
Advisory Board or Alumni Board)
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Governance Power Bases Case Studies
The Board

• Self-perpetuating (not parents reps)
• The boards job is to govern (steer
  above the storm) by
• Holding the school and its mission in trust.
  Fiduciary duties of care
  (prudence, good faith, best interest), loyalty
  (no conflict of interest, confidentiality), and
  obedience (congruence with mission, bylaws, laws
  of the state).
• Setting policy (admissions, diversity, financial
  aid, class size, compensation, endowment.)
• Strategizing for the future Strategic Posture
  vs. Plan.
• Conducting Business via Committees Task Forces
  (3 Levels)
• Advocating the School 3 Rs.
• Hiring, supporting, and teaming with the head.
• Evaluating the performance of head, board, and
  school. (Accountability data-driven management
  via StatsOnline the Balanced Scorecard
  tracking alums mission map)

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Governance Power Bases Case Studies
The Parents PA, Advisory Council, /or Alumni
Council

• Self-selected customers of school PA,
  Advisory Council, /or Alumni Council job
  is to...
• Speak as voice of the constituency, in advisory
  role.
• Offer forum for input to school sounding board.
• Educate the constituency e.g., NAIS Parents
  Series
• Create a welcoming climate for all.
• PA Works to meet current needs of school.
• Alumni Council Works to preserve the best
• of the past.
• --------------------------------------------------
  ----------------
• Excerpt from NAIS Parents Series Its a
  blessing to have a crabby, unenlightened,
  uninspired 4th grade teacher. Wendy Mogel,
  author of The Blessing of a Skinned Knee

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Headmaster Fantasy of the Ideal Parent

• "I just wanted to stop by to thank you for the
  job you've done with our child. We know he's just
  slightly below average in intelligence, as we
  are, so the fact that he's learned anything here
  is amazing to us.
• Were thrilled that his class includes that one
  disruptive kid and that his teacher has strong
  opinions on matters we disagree with.
• We applaud that decision you made, in the name
  of diversity, to change the 35 year old
  traditional Christmas pageant to a winter
  festival.
• By the way, don't you think we should have one
  or two more annual fundraisers so that we can
  supplement that12 increase in tuition with some
  real money?"

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Governance Power Bases Case Studies
The Faculty

• Appointed and evaluated by head
• The Facultys job is to
• Teach and care about students.
• (In elementary school we love the kids, in high
  school we love
• the subject, and in college, we love
• ourselves.)
• Meet the needs of the schools customers.
• Grow professionally to lead program development.
  
• (What research team are you on, and how is what
  youve learned
• manifest in your students electronic
  portfolios?)
• Project a positive attitude (high performance
• /good attitude)

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Governance Power Bases Case Studies
The Head

• Appointed by the board, its only employee.
• The head functions as...
• The mayor whose job is to...
• Negotiate peace among parents, faculty, board
  (and other constituencies).
• Oversee day to day operations.
• Execute policies as set by board.
• Serve as facultys colleague, advocate, and
  boss.
• Also functions as leader of jazz band
• Responsible for laying down the theme
  encouraging talented partners to improvise.

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Head Authority
March 23, 1891 My Dear Sir It is my desire
that this communication to you concerning your
son and his iniquities will neither offend your
sensibilities nor cause a diminution of the
mutual esteem that we hold for one another. I am
expelling as of this date your son. His very
presence here bodes ill for my school. I will not
tolerate a liar and a cheat. Your obedient
servant, The Headmaster
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And then Theres the Student
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Governance Boundary Crossings

• ...by the Board e.g., bullying the head or
  misreading the culture of schools
• by Parents e.g., assuming a stockholder posture
  politicizing demands the telephone call to
  the trustee All the parents think.
• To Avoid The S.U.V. caucus (parking lot mafia)
• New banner policy for schools Having your
  say does not equal getting your way.
• Parental Signed Covenants and Parents on
  Probation
• by the Head e.g., free-lancing on policy or
  getting out too far in front of the troops
• You must always cultivate the favor of the
  inhabitants. Machiavelli
• by the Faculty e.g., subverting administrative
  or board policies, undermining collegiality, or
  ignoring the quid pro quo with parents.
• Resources from NAIS www.nais.org.
• CASE STUDIES

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Resources for Boards

• www.nais.org Search on topics by term (e.g.,
  tuition remission Browse Library for
  Leadership Governance. In About NAIS, click
  on Principles of Good Practice. Scroll down to
  governance in the Frequently Asked Questions
  (FAQs) section under Resources Statistics
• NAIS Publications for Trustees Trustee Handbook
  Trustee Pamphlet Services. Order from the
  publications page on the NAIS website.
• Board Online Assessment Tool (BOAT) and Head
  Assessment Tool (HAT).
• BoardSource General resources for non-profits.
• Case studies search for case studies on
  www.nais.org and www.csee.org and
  www.globalethics.org.
• Email NAIS for assistance (when all else fails!)
  governancehelp_at_nais.org

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The End! For More Resources on this Topic, Go to
www.nais.org
15
Appendix

• Related Slides

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Statutory Duties

• The Law says you collectively...
• Are responsible for the "business of the
  institution"
• Have power to promote and preserve it
• Must follow bylaws, policies, common law
• Must monitor operations
• Can appoint and delegate

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Statutory Duties

• The Law says a Trustee must individually
  exercise
• Ordinary prudence
• Loyalty
• Obedience

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Statutory Duties

• "Prudence...care you use in handling your own
  business personal affairs"
• "Loyalty...undivided allegiance to the
  corporate purpose"
• "Obedience...carry out institutional purpose
  per articles of incorporation bylaws"

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Statutory Duties

• Obedience...carry out institutional purpose per
  articles of incorporation bylaws
• Sample Provision
• The head of school shall have full charge of the
  administration of the educational program of the
  school the admission and expulsion of students
  and the administration of the faculty and other
  staff of the school. The head shall have full
  authority on behalf of the board of trustees to
  take any and all actions necessary for the proper
  conduct of the school as such, subject only to
  the power of removal vested in the board of
  trustees and to such budgetary restrictions as
  the board of trustees shall from time to time
  impose.

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Developing the BoardAdapted with permission from
the May 2004 edition of Board Member,Volume 13,
Number 3. BoardSource (c) 2004.

• The SAT Analogy
• Our board is to our school
• as is to .
• Our admin team is to our school
• as is to .

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Problem Solving via Strategic Governance

• Needed Three Levels of Trusteeship
• Level One Fiduciary (auditing function of
  oversight and assessment of mission finance)
• Level Two Strategic (leadership function less
  management/more governance via scanning and
  planning)
• Level Three Generative (visionary function of
  shared leadership, RD orientation for imagining
  and experimenting).

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Three Levels of Board GovernanceAdapted with
permission from the May 2004 edition of Board
Member,Volume 13, Number 3. BoardSource (c) 2004.
The antidote to micromanagement is
macroengagement.Dick Chait.
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Three-Tier Thinking

• Rising Benefit Costs
• Fiduciary thinking Increase co-pays to share
  costs with employees
• Strategic thinking Market our absorbing of
  increased costs as recruitment/retention benefit
• Generative thinking Form a benefit-purchasing
  consortium

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Three-Tier Thinking

• Add another Foreign Language
• Fiduciary thinking OK which other language do
  we drop?
• Strategic thinking Why dont we offer small
  enrollment courses (language or whatever) on an a
  la carte pricing basis?
• Generative thinking Which languages will be not
  a feature but a benefit in terms of market niche
  and long-term advantage to graduates? (German
  after WWII, Russian after Sputnik, Arabic now,
  Chinese next?)
• Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of
  other languages arent. Planning to be ready to
  engage with (the Chinese) rather than only
  thinking of them in terms of a challenge or a
  competitor is the smart thing to do. Scott
  McGinnis, on the rising popularity of Chinese
  classes in American public schools. (Newsweek,
  10/24/05)

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The Best Way for Boards To OperateHugh Price,
Chronicle of Philanthropy, 01/26/06 (Sr. Fellow
at Brookings Institute, former CEO of National
Urban League and Rockefeller Foundation VP

• Micromanagers need not apply boards that
  perpetually get in the CEO's backfield create
  chaos by transmitting mixed signals about who is
  in charge day in and day out.
• Authentic commitment to the enterprise and
  ability to shoulder the burdens of trusteeship
• Expertise that augments the skills of senior
  management in such crucial areas as finance, deal
  making, and marketing.
• A worldview that helps management detect and
  comprehend relevant and noteworthy trends that
  might not be spotted from inside the
  organizational bunker.
• Personal wealth, institutional resources, or
  influential contacts that help the organization
  generate critically important grants, contracts,
  or endowment gifts.
• Financial acumen to ensure that management cannot
  pull the wool over directors' eyes and that the
  organization meets all audit, tax, and reporting
  obligations.
• Diversity. Ethnic and gender diversity matter
  enormously because they greatly enrich
  deliberations and help keep the organization in
  touch with the real world.

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Governance Case Studies 13, 29, 1, 5, etc.

• The Brutal Facts
• Case Study 13 Taking Charge The Case of the
  Eager Beaver Trustee How do the head and board
  chair respond?
• Download from http//www.blueskybroadcast.com/Cli
  ent/NAIS/Case/case.html
• Volatile Version A prominent board member
  current parent calls the head of school to say,
  I just learned what your middle school science
  teacher said in class yesterdayif you dont fire
  him, Im withdrawing my 250K pledge to the
  capital campaign. How does the head handle this
  high stakes call? What does the board chair do?
• International School Version the call is from
  the Minister of Education who sits on the board
  and who threatens to deport the head if he keeps
  allowing the teachers to give his son so much
  homework.

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The Case of the Eager Beaver New Trustee
Leadership Issues in Play Ethical Practices at
Stake

• Is it ever appropriate for an individual trustee
  to go on his or her own exploratory
  investigations? To give orders to staff?
• What about the reporting path for business
  managers, admissions directors, and development
  directors, who frequently have board committees
  that they staff and provide information for
  committee chairs who in the course of their work
  sometimes need and request detailed reports?
• When there is a breakdown of the
  governance/management boundary by a new or
  aggressive trustee, how can the damage be
  repaired and prevented from happening again?

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The Case of the Eager Beaver New Trustee
NAISs Take on the Leadership Issues in Play
PGPs at Stake

• Trustees who work alone instead of as members of
  their boards can undermine the work of their
  boards and their heads of school. Generally,
  individual trustees and boards should not be
  involved in the day-to-day operations of the
  school and should keep their focus and work on
  the strategic bigger picture.
• Boards should have a process in place to gather
  the information it needs to make strategic
  decisions. Generally, the head delegates report
  generation to the appropriate key administrators,
  but sees, edits as necessary, and approves the
  report before the administrator delivers it to
  the board. Thus, the reporting path to the
  committee chair is through the head of school.
• The admissions director and business manager and
  development director must maintain the
  confidentiality of individual and institutional
  records and should inform the head if the
  security of these records is threatened.

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The Case of the Eager Beaver New Trustee
NAISs Take on the Leadership Issues in Play
PGPs at Stake

• To prevent bad behaviors from rogue trustees,
  the Committee on Trustees should conduct adequate
  board orientation and training, including
  intensive onboarding to the culture and
  governance vs. management boundaries of
  independent school decision-making. Frequently,
  there should be board-training for the whole
  board, using NAIS case studies like this one.
  Annually, board members should sign, along with
  their conflict of interest document, a board
  contract stipulating expectations of board
  members. (Samples available on the NAIS
  website.)
• Generally, the correction of course for a
  boundary-breaking trustee simply requires a
  conversation from the board chair. If that fails,
  then the board chair, Committee on Trustees
  chair, and a board colleague/friend need to go on
  a walk in the woods with the misbehaving board
  member. If that fails, boards should have and
  use the trustee removal clause in their bylaws.
• Return

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Governance Case Study 29 The Letter
Download from http//www.blueskybroadcast.com/Cli
ent/NAIS/Case/case.html

• The Brutal Facts Disgruntled Parent Version
• A disgruntled parent board member decides to quit
  the board and remove her children from the school
  in a fit of pique over her childs placement with
  a teacher she doesnt like.
• In an act of public defiance and retribution, she
  send a It is with a heavy heart I must leave the
  school I love letter to all the board and
  parents, indicating her loss of confidence in the
  effectiveness of the leadership of the head and
  the board.
• The letter causes quite a stir of concern in the
  parent body, not to mention the board.
• Whats the board and head to do?

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Governance Case Study The Letter

• NAIS Position How to counter a PR assault
• Its time to call your media-crisis consultant to
  help draft a letter to parents and to plan the
  response to the media if they come knocking.
• Its important for the whole board to get on
  board with repudiating the means of assault,
  especially if its an anonymous letter or email
  to the community, as shameful and remind the
  community how conflict is supposed to be resolved
  in a civilized school community.
• Loose cannon board members should be screened out
  in a try-out system before being appointed or
  termed out after a single term.
• Board contracts and parent contracts should
  establish behavioral expectations, including
  email and letter-writing protocols.
• Boards must establish and respect the role of and
  boundaries for the board members.

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Governance Case Study1 Harsh Transitions
Download from http//www.blueskybroadcast.co
m/Client/NAIS/Case/case.html

• The Brutal Facts
• Head has hired a new fourth grade teacher.
• Strong and vocal group of parents decide they
  dont like her and are about to launch a petition
  among parents asking for her replacement,
  immediately.
• Main complaints Shes too demanding. Doesnt
  fit the culture of our school.
• Heads judgment Shes the best teacher in the
  school.
• Board members getting calls Whats the head do
  now?
• --------------------------------------------------
  ---------
• International School Version
• The group is one nationality or another that
  thinks the program, texts, and staff are not
  American enough or British enough or host-country
  enough.

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Governance Case Study Harsh Transitions

• NAIS position How to handle parent complaint
  calls
• Board members re-direct the calls to the
  appropriate staff member
• Head supports the teacher but also
  trouble-shoots with the teacher.
• If necessary, the academic leadership meets with
  small groups of parents to discuss the issues.
• Eventually either the community starts to see the
  virtue in the teacher and program, or someone
  moves on
• Boards must know the role of and boundaries for
  the parent body.

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Governance Case Study 5 Clash of
Styles Download from
http//www.blueskybroadcast.com/Client/NAIS/Case/c
ase.html

• The Brutal Facts
• Head is in her sixth year of a very successful
  tenure in terms of school growth, parent
  satisfaction, and introduction of new ideas.
• A highly respected segment of the senior faculty,
  however, is not happy with many of the changes
  and begins to express its unhappiness to their
  friends on the board.
• Prior to the April evaluation session by the
  board of the head, a senior faculty confides to
  the board chair that there is a movement afoot
  for faculty to vote no confidence in the head.
• Whats the board do now?

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Governance Case Study Clash of Styles

• NAIS Position How to handle a faculty revolt.
• Examine openly the extent to which board members
  have neglected to cut-off such off the record
  complaints.
• Co-define with the head whats important and
  high impact activities, and evaluate the head
  accordingly, the substance rule.
• Recommend that the head conduct a school climate
  survey among the faculty and staff to ascertain
  the health of the climate and to seek counsel on
  how to address issues to improve it if necessary.
• Boards must know the role of and boundaries for
  the faculty.

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Independence Trustee Case Studies

• 1) You are watching your school (lose a hockey
  game) (perform abysmally on stage). Your child
  has often complained that the coach is "no good"
  and "mean." Another parent makes a remark
  indicating she doubts the abilities of the coach.
• (a) You tell the parent that you're concerned,
  too, and will mention it at the next Board
  meeting.
• (b) You change the subject and not report the
  conversation to the Head.
• (c) You ask around to see if others share your
  doubts, then report your findings to the Chairman
  of the Board.
• (d) You find an opportunity to talk to the Head
  about your worries.
• (e) You write a note to the AD/Department Chair
  to report parent concerns.
• Answer 1. D The inclination "not to bother
  the head" is often misguided heads appreciate
  input from various sources. If indeed the coach
  is unskilled and unsuccessful with kids, your
  comments may not be the first the head has heard
  on the topic, but they may be helpful in
  presenting an overall picture of a situation
  needing some attention. NOTE You should advise
  the unhappy parent to talk directly with the
  coach.

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Independence Trustee Case Studies

• 2) You are a member of the Executive Committee
  and President-elect of the Board of Trustees.
  You receive a registered letter signed by the
  faculty expressing their disapproval of the
  firing of the school librarian (15 years with the
  school) and asking for a meeting with the
  Trustees. Your committee had discussed the
  impending firing with the Head before the action
  was taken and had both agreed that it was
  necessary and helped to work out the timing and
  terms of dismissal.
• (a) You call the Head, report the mailgram and
  say that you feel it is necessary to meet with
  the faculty, preferably without the Head, at
  least to show them that you are open to their
  concerns.
• (b) You call the present Chairman of the Board
  and ask that a response be made to the faculty
  from the Board.
• (c) You ignore the Mailgram, assuming that the
  Board Chairman and/or Head will handle it.
• (d) You send a reply to the faculty saying that
  although you understand their concern, hiring and
  firing decisions are the domain of the Head,
  whose action you support.
• (e) You call the Board Chairman and ask for a
  special Board meeting to deal with the crisis.
• Answer 2. B One person speaks for the Board,
  the Chair. The Board must not be seen as a court
  of appeal by which to circumvent the decisions of
  the head, for such a posture inevitably
  undermines the authority and therefore the
  effectiveness of the head. The board chair would
  do (d), supporting the authority of the head.

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Independence Trustee Case Studies

• 3) You have overheard several conversations in
  which your child and other students discuss the
  drinking habits of a teacher. They feel he is
  often absent and/or hung over on Monday mornings
  - and his reputation as a heavy evening and
  weekend drinker is well established, at least
  among the students.
• (a) You report the accusations to the Head.
• (b) You tell the students that if they have real
  proof of their accusations they should speak to
  the Head, and if not, they are spreading rumors
  that are unfair and dangerous.
• (c) You bring the accusations up at a Board
  meeting.
• (d) You discuss the problem with the Chairman of
  the Board.
• (e) You ask the students what proof they have,
  and then inform both the Head and the Chairman of
  the conversation.
• Answer 3. A The issue here is the proper
  boundary between board (governance, sets policy)
  and head (administration, in charge of day to day
  operations, including supervision of personnel).
  Board members should never place themselves in
  the position of assuming a quasi-administrative
  role, as would be intimated by counseling of the
  students or by probing for evidence. The head
  must be advised of such charges or rumors, and
  perhaps the Board Chair, as well (although good
  practice would dictate that the head routinely
  share such concerns with the Board Chair and in
  some cases with the Board Personnel Committee).

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Independence Parents Case Studies

• 4). You have learned that the school is about to
  implement a new sex-ed curriculum, and when you
  ask to see the syllabus for the program, you are
  horrified that topics include some you hoped your
  son or daughter would never hear about, much less
  discuss.
• (a) You bring the syllabus to the neighborhood
  cocktail party to find out how many other parents
  are apprised of the new program.
• (b) You send a mailing to all parents, with a
  petition asking that the school drop the
  implementation of the new program and leave sex
  ed up to individual parents, where it belongs.
• (c) You write to the head of the school and copy
  the parents association officers to let the head
  know that at least you would object to the new
  program and that you suspect there might be other
  like-minded parents who would object as well,
  seeking some relief from the requirement on an
  individual basis.
• (d) You call the Head of the school to threaten
  removing your children is the curriculum is
  implemented.
• (e) You swallow hard and tell your child to
  feign illness during sex-ed class, and remove
  himself or herself to the school nurse.
• Answer 4. C. In almost all cases dealing with
  curriculum, wed counsel you trust the expertise
  of teachers and school authorities, the exception
  being issues that have religious and moral
  dimensions to them. In these cases, you may try
  to appeal for a waiver, but know that it
  may be a request not
  honored.

40
Independence Parents Case Studies

• 5). You see your child's backpack on the chair at
  home, pick it up and a note drops out. Without
  thinking, you open the note and discover it is an
  invitation to the entire sophomore class to a
  party at a student's house on Saturday evening
  (B.Y.O.B.). The student is the son of a friend of
  yours, and you know that the parents will be out
  of town that weekend.
• (a) You confront your son about the note,
  threaten to call the school about the planned
  party, but relent when he objects strenuously,
  accusing you of spying and indicating that you
  will ruin his place among his peers.
• (b) You decide to replace the note and decide
  not to mention it, given the circumstances under
  which you discovered it, but you make some
  arrangements for your son to be away for the
  weekend.
• (c) You tell your spouse of the discovery but
  your spouse argues that no matter what else
  happens, by contacting the school, you will ruin
  the friendship between the two boys, and between
  you and your friends.
• (d) You call your friends and indicate to them
  that you hope that they will alert the school to
  intervene to make certain the message is
  disseminated that the party will not occur. You
  wait a day, then follow up with the school.
• (e). You call the Realtor and put your house on
  the market.
• Answer5. D. The reason schools have trouble
  getting students to confront bad behavior with
  one another is that adults wont confront adults
  who are being irresponsible. The school has a
  legal and moral obligation to notify, since
  illegal behaviors are likely to occur, and the
  arrangements for them happen at school.

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NAIS Publications for Trustees