Board President Interview

There is evidence that efforts to develop best practices are being entertained in PDC however from other conversations with their superintendent it is apparent that it is the other board members that have difficulty getting on board.  The fact the president is attending the WASB conferences and attempting to bring back information and practices is encouraging.  

In the assigned reading it is not so much a book of definition, but instead a book of painting a picture.  Painting a picture (Board Governance) with each brush stroke (best practices).  This analogy can be further understood when you think of an artist painting a scenic picture (applying board governance) as compared to someone throwing random paint splatters on a canvas (traditional lack of governance).  It is difficult to determine what you're going to come up with in the end.

Thank you to Board President, Christiner Panka for her time and effort to give us such great insight.
Interview via Google with Ms. Christine Panka-Board President from Prairie du Chein School District. July 19, 2017

1. Does your board engage in board retreats in an effort to discuss matters in a non-committal environment?  Outcomes?

When I was first on the board and not serving as the Board President, we had a planning meeting at a non-regular meeting site--we were in a bank conference room. I thought it was productive except for a rogue board member who thought that the planning meeting was a violation of open meeting laws.  Regretfully, that was the last planning meeting for nearly 5 years.  With a new administrator coming into the district, we will be having a planning meeting this coming Monday in an “agreeable meeting location” for the rogue board member.  I’m hopeful that with board ‘buy- in’ on location that we will be able to actually get some real ‘board work’ (the visionary process that boards should be doing) accomplished. It has felt very reactionary vs. visionary over the past 5 years without proper planning meetings.

2. Does your school board recognize which type of board governance model they utilize?

No. (Comment from Paul Coenen-I have found this to be common. Either a board has no idea what they're doing or does not know they are following a model)

3. If you answered yes to #2, which model is used and what factors lead into the decision to utilize that governance model?

n/a

4. How do you view the relationship between the school board and the superintendent?

The relationship between the board and the superintendent is vital to the growth of the school district and the success of our students.  

We currently hired a new district administrator and did quite a bit of planning and soul searching as a group regarding our expectations for the future of the school district.  There was quite a bit of planning to begin with written expectations created and reviewed from the beginning. It’s just the beginning of that relationship; however, so far I feel we’ve done an excellent job of selecting a person who is the right fit for our community; as well as, actively getting the full board to participate in the planning and expectations process.

5. How does the school board monitor the results on the decisions they have made?

Depending on the decision that has been made either through a follow up review at an agreed upon time in the future at a regular board meeting (our meetings are televised on a community access channel) or an email update by the district administrator.

6. Have you had either the superintendent, or an independent consult, review the board practices and give input regarding improvements?

The previous administrator put an end to the planning sessions after the “open meetings law” issue and didn’t want to move from that stance.  I think that if the board had better relationship with that particular individual that things would have been different. In seeking training for board improvement, I’ve had many conversations with the folks at the WASB and I have personally attended trainings.  I can definitely see the merits of such a review.   

I work diligently to pre-plan meetings to ensure the best use of time.  We are currently considering a change from strict committee work to committee of the whole in an effort to maximize the expertise of the entire board in preliminary discussions to expedite board decision making and ensure that all board members voices have the opportunity to be heard.

However, there are a couple of board members who serve for personal issues and have difficulty seeing their service beyond those topics and there always will be.  I don’t mind leading the horses to the water through a review by a superintendent or consultant; but, I’m realistic about them drinking.

I hope this is helpful to you.  If you have any follow up questions or need clarification, please do not hesitate to contact me.  Christine Panka

Thank you Christine, it has been of great value!

Paul

You’re very welcome!  

With that, I’m signing off.  Good Luck!  The work of schools has never been more challenging for our students, our staff and our locally elected board members!  I wish you the best!