The Board’s most important duty

Most members of school boards are keenly aware that they are obliged to perform certain duties.

There are fiduciary duties – the duty of care, the duty of loyalty and the duty of obedience – which are expressed through compliance to legal and financial standards, risk management and program oversight.

There are also non-fiduciary duties which don’t have direct legal or financial requirements, but are nonetheless necessary for good governance.  These are matters such as development of and adherence to the board’s policies, overseeing strategic factors such as demographics and reputation, and so on.

When I work with principals and their boards, it often emerges (indeed, too often!) that one critically important duty is neglected by the board – its duty to care for its principal.

Let’s compare three comments I have heard recently from principals about their board’s care for them:

• When I was diagnosed with cancer, I resolved that the school would not suffer because of my absence.  So I worked right up until the day before my operation, and then I returned to school on the third day after discharge from hospital.  In hindsight, that was probably a bit too soon.  Having said that, it was disappointing that no-one from the board visited me in hospital, or sent a card or flowers, or even phoned or texted me – and there was not even any mention of my surgery at the next (or any other) board meeting.  It made me realise that I was no more valued in their eyes than any other resource or asset in the school such as a desk or a chair.
• It happened at the start of the second year of my headship.  The day after I returned from annual leave to begin the new school year, the Chairman of the Board took me aside.  He said it was his duty to pass on the concern of some board members that I had spent ten days of my break away on an interstate trip with my family.  He told me that my predecessor had always spent his annual leave in the house provided on campus so he could serve as unofficial caretaker and keep an eye on the property while the maintenance staff were away.  He informed me that ‘the board’ expected that this would be my practice henceforth.
• It had been a very difficult year, both for the board and for me.  The open revolt by the hostile group of parents against the board’s decision to change the rules for election to the board had placed huge strains upon all of us, and especially the Board’s Chairperson.  My role as principal was a simple one – to be a ‘shock absorber’ between the angry parents and the board, and to keep the school operating as calmly and as normally as possible.  And so it was both surprising and truly humbling when my frazzled Chairperson came in for our weekly meeting on Wednesday morning and said “Everyone on the board understands how difficult this year has been for you and your family.  We really appreciate what you’ve been doing, and we would like you and your family to spend a long weekend at a resort down south at the Board’s expense as our way of saying ‘thank you’.  Just let us know when you want to take the time off and we’ll arrange the air tickets and accommodation for you all”.

You can probably guess which of these principals reciprocated the loyalty and gratitude that were expressed to them by the board, and which principals decided to start searching for new schools where they might be treated in a more caring or professional manner.

In many ways, the board’s duty to care for its principal is arguably its single most important duty.  That may sound strange when there are huge legal and financial responsibilities resting upon board members’ shoulders.  However, it is important to appreciate that almost every facet of the school’s health depends to a greater or lesser extent upon the principal’s capacity to implement and maintain energetic leadership, and to guide the school along the pathway of the mission and vision set by the board.

It is no coincidence that successful schools are led by great principals (and boards!) 

Boards treat their principals poorly at their peril.  The costs of losing a principal and initiating a new search and recruitment process are not inconsiderable, especially when unquantifiable but real costs such as loss of institutional memory and interrupted momentum of initiatives and strategies are included.

In my experience working with many schools in various countries over several decades, the principle of reciprocity – “generosity begets generosity” – applies almost universally.  It is false economy, ethically as well as financially, for a board not to invest generously in treating its principal well.

-Dr Stephen Codrington