Katie Oliver, Associate Executive Director and Timi Tullis
We’re pleased to share a special contribution this month from Timi Tullis who retired in 2024 after many years of dedicated service to Alaska’s school boards. Timi’s work touched countless board members across the state. In this article, she shares her top ten tips for effective board governance – wisdom gathered from decades of hands-on experience and heartfelt commitment to public education. So for one last reminder, what would Timi say…
1. Stay in your lane; there is a clear distinction between what the board’s role is and what the superintendent and their leadership team do within a district. When in doubt read through the Roles and Responsibility booklet and check your policies, most of your roles are clearly outlined in those documents. Remember the Board is the governance and the WHAT and the superintendent is the management and the HOW. That simple reminder will save board members a lot of heartache.
2. Plan an annual board retreat to do your board self assessment and grow as a team. Remember if you evaluate your superintendent yearly you better evaluate yourselves. One of the calls we hate to get in the office is the one asking for help after things are in crisis mode. If small issues are festering, don’t let them grow, ask for help before things blow up. If you do an annual board retreat, you have those opportunities to talk through small issues before they explode into large issues. Don’t skip those changes to gather and learn from one another and from an outside facilitator if one is chosen. Our team is here to help with them.
3. Support your superintendent by not micromanaging them. Ask yourself, “am I telling the superintendent to do something or am I sharing a good idea I learned at a school board training?” It is only the board at an officially called meeting that can give direction to the superintendent. Never, ever should a solo board member direct the superintendent to do anything. Secondly, Conduct annual evaluation of the Superintendent; respect your superintendent enough to do a respectful, thoughtful annual evaluation of them. It is YOUR job. Your board must conduct an annual evaluation of the superintendent. It should be based on the priorities outlined in the district Strategic Plan as well as any goals the board developed the year before during the superintendent’s evaluation. Take the time to fill out the evaluation tool, don’t just mark the grid with numbers, but rather add comments and share what is important to you and can help the Superintendent learn and grow.
4. Being a board member is a part time job! No truer words were ever spoken. Being a board member is something you need to set time aside in your week to accomplish. You need to read emails from those that elected you, you will spend significant time preparing for board meetings and you should set aside time annually for professional development, both board retreats and board trainings. Set aside time each week to do board work, read those emails, keep up on the issues and grow in your roles.
5. The Board/Superintendent Relationship is much like an Arranged Marriage and time is needed to build a trusting relationship. Spend time understanding what your job is and learn what the superintendent’s role entails. It shocks many newly elected board members when they learn all the tasks on a superintendent’s job. Offer the olive branch and work on the relationship of the entire leadership team. (see # 2).
6. Know what your policies say? AASB says it over and over again but 95% of the phone calls and emails AASB staff receive can be answered by looking at your policies. Now that most districts use the policy on line tool we offer, it makes it so convenient and easy to search them for specific topics. It is vitally important for each board to keep their policies up to date and adopt new/changes to policies as AASB sends them out.
7. Always follow, and then educate others about the chain of command; Each district has a complaint process and it is critical that you know how to direct people to the process. It is also important for you to help them understand you nor any board member can fix any issues as individuals. They must talk to the teacher first, then the principal etc.
8. Ask good questions, not ‘gottcha’ questions! While you are preparing for the meeting and something is confusing you reach out to the superintendent BEFORE the meeting and ask the question. Allow them time to find the answer and clarify what they have put in the packet. Once you are at the meeting you cannot ask the question in public and the superintendent will be prepared to answer. If you don’t ask in advance it may come across as a ‘gottcha’ and that is not healthy for any relationship.
9. Ask yourself “is it good for all kids?” Often boards get so bogged down in issues that ultimately have little effect on the students or even student achievement. In REAA’s some board members only focus on their community, not the others in their district. Once you are a seated board member it is up to you to represent ALL the students in your district. Remember what is good for all is good for your community.
10. Learn to laugh at yourself and laugh with others, not at them. Humor when used properly can be a bridge to success. Grow together, learn together and have fun together. This can only be done by developing a relationship built on trust. Do your best to work on those relationships.
