Get on Board: How 2 superintendents reach out to school board candidates

A mistake many districts and superintendents make—after the votes are counted—is not putting newly-elected board members through an onboarding process, say Ethan Ashley and Carrie Douglass, the co-CEOs and founders of School Board Partners, which offers training in anti-racist leadership and diversity. “That power dynamic plays an important role in how relations should be built,” says Ashley, a member of the Orleans Parish School Board in Louisiana. “It allows for a level-setting, and it’s about knowing that disagreement in itself is not what your relationships are built on. They’re built on mutual understanding of why the board members are in the role, the impact they’re trying to make and the legacy they want to leave.” Onboarding should cover concepts like mission statements or social contracts in which superintendents and board members set goals that will be aligned with the superintendent’s evaluation. These documents can also establish a roadmap for dealing with disagreements, adds Douglass, a former teacher and charter administrator who is now board chair at Bend-La Pine Schools in Oregon.