Linda Dawson is IASB director/ editorial services and editor of The Illinois School Board Journal.
Over the course of the next few weeks, hundreds of thousands of people will head to auditoriums, gymnasiums and outdoor arenas to attend graduation ceremonies for high school and college students. One of the event’s staples is usually a graduation speaker.
You may not have thought of it like this before, but in a number of ways, board members are like speakers at graduation ceremonies. Here are the similarities:
It’s an honor
Colleges often invite “big name” speakers to talk about the future that awaits graduates. Many school districts choose members of the graduating class to do the honors. People consider it an honor to be chosen to speak before such a gathering.
No matter whether you’re a “well known” name or just one in your “class” of community residents, it’s also an honor to be elected to a school board. It makes you one of a select few.
In Illinois, just more than 6,000 residents can say they are current school board members. That may sound like a lot, but when you consider Illinois has a population of 12,830,632, according to the 2010 U.S. Census, school board members make up less than one-half of 1 percent on any given day.
That number also pales in comparison with the Illinois school population, which is about 18 percent of all residents, according to the most recent census.
A position of responsibility
A graduation speaker is only one person, and yet the speaker sits on stage as a part of a small group with certain responsibilities. The speaker is responsible for the remarks, but someone else does the greeting, another presents the class and yet another may actually hand out diplomas. Collectively, everyone functions to make the ceremony run smoothly and efficiently.
The same is true in your role as a school board member. You are just one of seven members of the community elected to your position on the “stage” of school governance. Each board member has a role to play, but you have no actual authority as an individual to make decisions. It is only as a collective board of seven, working with your superintendent, that you come to agreements and lead the district.
Representative or trustee role
When speakers are selected for graduation, especially if they are students, those who make the selection want someone who will represent the graduating class well. They put their trust in that speaker to make remarks that are appropriate for the audience.
Many student speakers are required to submit their remarks to someone in authority before the ceremony. Straying very far from those submitted remarks can result in sanctions that usually are spelled out ahead of time.
Voters elected you to be their representative and be their “voice” on the board. But they also invested their trust in you. They trust you to be fiscally responsible with tax dollars. They trust you to make decisions that are in the best interest of their children.
A difference, although sometimes subtle, exists between being a representative and being a trustee. Representative government implies that the person serving listens to his or her constituents and then makes decisions based on what the majority of those speaking have said. A trustee, on the other hand, takes the welfare of the entire group into consideration before making a decision.
While you were elected in a representative form of government, sometimes you need to sit in trust and make decisions that, while not popular with some or even most of the community, are essential for the best interest of the district as a whole.
Consider the district that has an older building that has outlived its maintenance life. Repairs are costing more and more each year, but the community has strong, nostalgic ties and wants to keep the building open.
A new building not only would be more cost-effective but allow students more opportunities for enriched curriculum because of technology. What do you do?
Your representative side might want to hold out and keep that building open as long as possible, because that’s what your constituents want. But your trustee side would argue that millions of tax dollars are being thrown at a situation that will not improve the basic problem (an old building) and students are missing out on new opportunities.
The decision will never be easy or popular with everyone, but sometimes you’ll be called on to make those tough decisions because you do sit as a trustee for the district’s finances and their children.
Just like students who stray from the script, you may face sanctions at the polls for voting your conscience. But at least you can do so knowing that you did your best for your district … and that really was what you were elected to do.
Balcony perspective
Sitting up on the stage, a graduation speaker has a much different view of the ceremony than the graduates or the audience. The speaker is close to the action, and yet not always a part of it. The speaker comes to the dais when called for, but maintains a distance from the rest of the proceedings.
The same is true in your role as a board member. You need to have a different perspective, one that was explained by Richard Broholm and Douglas Johnson in A Balcony Perspective: Clarifying the Trustee Role.
Board members need to maintain their “balcony perspective” in order to stay above the day-to-day business of the district. As a board member, you may set a policy regarding student decorum during graduation, but you are not in charge of the front-line discipline.
A balcony perspective, like sitting on the stage at a graduation ceremony, allows you to observe the big picture of how the district functions. Just as the speaker is not the one to go out into the sea of graduates to confiscate the beach ball, you don’t need to be involved in what goes on “down on the floor,” other than to observe and note whether the policies that you have put in place are being carried out reasonably, efficiently and effectively.
Opportunity and legacy
Graduation speakers are given an opportunity to make their statement and leave their mark on a particular occasion. Their speeches usually convey hope for the future and confidence in the new graduates to go forth and live productive lives. Some may utter phrases that stick with graduates for years, just because this was a special time and a special moment.
Board members also have an opportunity to leave their mark and create a legacy for the district that will endure.
According to IASB’s most recent member survey, conducted in 2008, 59 percent of board member respondents said they have achieved or made progress toward the goals they had when they were elected to the board.
When asked what they would most like to accomplish, board members were able to choose from:
• Improve achievement levels of all students of the district
• Improve the way in which the school board and superintendent operate
• Engage the community more effectively in pursuing a vision for the district
• Improve the district’s financial condition
• Leave schools in the same good condition as when I came on the board
The top two responses were improving achievement and engaging the community.
You may have your own idea of what you want your legacy to be, and it may not be reflected in any of the above choices. But whatever your legacy, your time on this school board is special — not only for you but for your district.
No two graduation ceremonies are ever the same. No two school boards are ever the same either. Look to your future on the board and govern as if you were the best graduation speaker ever to take the stage.