Update for New Superintendents - August 13, 2007
Dr. Richard Voltz, Associate Director
Update to New Superintendents:
It has been two weeks since our New Superintendents’ Conference and I am sure you are busy getting ready for the new school year. To help get conversation going on the New Superintendents’ listserver, I thought I would write this update to generate some postings.
School Board Convention:
Following are a couple of hints concerning the Triple I (IASB, IASA, IASBO) Conference, November 16-18 in Chicago. The first hint regards registration. The former superintendent or district office staff should have already registered and secured rooms for you and your board for the conference. Do not panic if you do not have enough hotel rooms. Many superintendents use the IASA listserver to list rooms they have available as we get closer to the conference. You should be able to pick up a good hotel room over the next few months on the listserver.
Now is the time to review your school board policy concerning reimbursement of school board member expenses at the conference. You first should determine how your school district handled the expenses in the past. Most school districts reimburse board members following attendance at the conference. The following IASB policy also allows for the advancement of expenses. It is your responsibility as superintendent to make sure all laws and rules are followed in regard to expense reimbursement. The IASB Policy recommendation for school board member expenses includes the following:
“Board members may not receive compensation for their services. The board, however, has the power to advance its members anticipated "actual and necessary expenses" incurred in attending only those meetings listed ( 105 ILCS 5/10-22.32). "Actual and necessary expenses" are those reasonably anticipated to be incurred on necessary travel and attendance days ( 105 ILCS 5/10-22.32).
Expense reimbursement is not guaranteed and Board members should seek pre-approval of expenses, except in situations when the expense is diminutive. A member must return to the District any portion of an expense advance not used. Members must submit an itemized, signed voucher to support any expense advanced or to seek expense reimbursement. The voucher must show the amount of actual expense, attaching receipts if possible. A Board member submitting a bill for a group function should record participating members' names on the receipt. Money shall not be advanced or reimbursed for: (1) the expenses of any person except the School Board member, or (2) anyone's personal expenses.”
The problem with the above policy language is that it may be impractical to carry out this policy. School board members (and often their spouses) may go out to dinner with the Superintendent and maybe even some district staff members. When having dinner at a downtown Chicago restaurant it becomes problematic to ask the restaurant to divide the bill between the different participants. It is my recommendation that you do divide the bill and let board members pay for their own dinner either with funds the district advanced to the members or with their own funds and they later submit vouchers for reimbursement. At the very least, do not include any alcohol on your district credit card.
Tip for the week:
As I matured into a veteran superintendent, I learned that school board members often want a role in the leadership and direction of the school district. After all, why do you think these busy individuals run for the school board? As a new superintendent, I recommend that you develop a regular dialogue with each one of your school board members. A method I found very useful was to go out to lunch about once per week with a school board member. Thus, every seven weeks or so, you have an opportunity to converse with each individual board member. You get to know them better, and, more importantly, they get to know you better. I have found this to be very beneficial toward developing a good working relationship with each member.
Be careful not to play favorites with school board members. It is good practice if you tell one school board member something concerning school district business you tell all school board members. Thus, if during these lunch meetings you discuss specific school district business you should make it a point to inform the other board members in your “Friday Notes.”
In the August 2007 edition of The School Administrator, there is an article by Doug Eadie on “A Healthy Recipe for a Presidential Relationship.” Eadie writes:
“The superintendents I’ve seen take the time and trouble to build a really solid working partnership with their school board president have realized a powerful return on their investment in relationship building:
• Their
school boards tend to function as higher-impact governing bodies,
doing a more effective job of addressing the really critical
strategic and policy issues facing their districts.
• Their working relationships with their boards as a whole
tend to be close, positive and productive without dysfunctional
stresses and strains.
• And their district’s images and public relations strategies
benefit from the superintendent and board president creatively
collaborating in the external relations arena.
An underdeveloped or eroded board president-superintendent partnership can cause no end of trouble for your school district, making the superintendent’s life miserable, lowering the school board’s governing productivity and tarnishing the district’s image.
Fortunately there are superintendents around the country who have blazed trails in building creative, productive partnerships with their board presidents, providing us with lots of practical wisdom we can apply in a notoriously high-risk arena.”
By the Way:
The key to getting a good room for the conference (Hyatt, Swiss, or Marriott) is to get your registration in to the IASB as soon as possible. I would recommend 1) bringing the completed registration materials directly to the IASB office; 2) faxing the materials to IASB; or 3) sending it overnight mail the day you receive the information from IASB.
