Fromthe

Boardroom

Vermont School Boards AssociationNovember 2009

Also in this issue...Roberts’ Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Vt Study of Poverty & Effective Schools. . . . . . . . . .10Yong Zhao Headlines VSBA Conference . . . . . . . . . . . 8

REGIONAL continued on page 12

For 10 years, I served on a local boardof education, followed by working directlywith boards as a trainer and facilitator.I have worked with literally hundreds ofboard members, so I have some licenseto say that, by and large, the vast majorityof board members are among the

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nestpeople. However, certain issues seemto crop up with some board membersregularly, even those with the best inten-tions. So, I’ve put together my list of the10 most common errors board membersshould avoid.

1. Lacking Patience

You probably were appointed or asked torun because someone saw your leader-ship potential. In all likelihood, board ser-vice also represents your

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rst opportunityto serve in public of

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ce. So, naturally, youwant to do it all now and know it all yester-day. Great! Don’t lose that enthusiasm!But, if you think that you will learn it all ordo it all immediately, you will probably notsucceed and will frustrate yourself and

Shouldn’t Make

Nicholas D. Caruso Jr.

Every September, VSBA staff hit theroad to visit each of our eight regions tomeet with board members on a regionalscale and conduct business. This year’smeetings were a success, due to higher-than-usual turnout and an overall positiveresponse to our

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scally-minded featurepresentation, “Current Realities 2010.”VSBA Executive Director John Nelson,Associate Director Winton Goodrich, andI each attended as many of the meetingsas we could, but due to schedule con

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ictswe all could not be at each one.The main order of business at the meet-ings is to elect regional of

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cers to theVSBA Board of Directors, as well as electregional representatives to the VSBA’sResolutions Committee. Each regionelects a president (P), and vice-president(VP). Each region also elects a Resolu-tions Committee member (R) and a Com-mittee alternate (RA). Here are the resultsof the regional elections. Each memberis listed along with a board that he or sheserves on.

Regional Meetings Report

By David Cyprian

10 Mistakes Board Members

TEN continued on page 4

Editor: David Cyprian email: david@vtvsba.orgLayout: Kerri Lamb email: klamb@vtvsba.org

Articles printed represent diverse points of view and may be controversial in nature. It isthe belief of the Association that the democraticprocess functions best through discussionswhich challenge and stimulate thinking onthe part of the reader. Therefore, materialspublished present the ideas/beliefs of thosewho write them and are not necessarily theviews or policies of the VSBA unless so stated.This newsletter is distributed at no charge toall members of the Association. Contact theAssociation by calling 802-223-3580.

feel good (or bad), but usually won’thelp you make progress toward ameasurable goal.

“Trust but verify”

–

Ronald Rea- gan

It is not insulting or offensive to askfor proof, which is our oversight roleand responsibility.

“Time is on my side”

–

The Rolling Stones (and many others)

Time is one commodity that boardsgenerally do control. If somethingneeds to happen (and is worth doing)it can be done, or at least begun, andputting something off until later in-creases the probability that it will notbe done, or perhaps ever started.

“Don’t let education get in the way of your learning”

Mark Twain

Never let the process out weigh theend goal.I want to say what an honor it is to havebecome the President of the VSBA Boardof Directors. Working in association withthe amazing and talented staff membersof VSBA (and VSA and VPA) as well asthe VSBA board and board membersacross Vermont and the nation offers me acontinuous stream of learning and profes-sional development opportunities which Ihope makes me a better board memberand, more importantly, a better person.For the board members who shared ourrecent Annual Meeting experience you(and I) were spared a traditional accep-tance speech. However, I spent a greatdeal of time wondering what insights Icould share if called upon to speak. Thesethoughts came to me to as a disjointed setof ideas that I bring to my board work asprinciples which give me strength and trustmake me a good board member. I oftenthink of these in terms of famous quotesor truisms from my life and will share themeven if they seem a bit corny or pat.

“With great power comes great responsibility”

– Uncle Ben of Spiderman.

Board members need to rememberthat as elected officials we oftenhave a great deal of power and wemust try to exercise that power in aresponsible manner.

“Figures don’t lie, but liars figure”

– Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain

Insist on using real data in decisionmaking. If it’s not available, post-pone the decision. If a decision feelsemotional it probably is, and may

RULES continued on page 3

feel goohelp yomeasurant to say what an honor it is to havecome the President of the VSBA BoardDirectors. Working in association with

And

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nally -

“Question Authority”

–

unattrib- uted bumper sticker/graf

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The origin of the phrase is murky,although some attribute the

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rst useto Benjamin Franklin postulatingon good citizenship. I urge you tokeep this close at hand; there areno experts in education authority(if there were we would all be outof a job along with literally hundredof thousands of other educationauthorities). Remember to alwaysquestion authority, but keep in mindyou are the self same authority youalso need to question.This motley assortment of concepts maygive you some new ways of thinking aboutthe tasks you perform as board members,and I encourage you to share these andyour personal ideas and principles withothers as you work together for Vermont’sexcellent schools. Happy fall.

Kalee Roberts is serving her

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rst year as VSBA President.

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A strong relationship between school prin-cipal and school counselor is integral toimproving student achievement, especiallystudents from low-income,

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rst-generationand other traditionally underrepresentedpopulations, according to a new two-partreport that examines effective principal-counselor relationships. The report wasreleased in June by the College Board’sNational Of

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ce for School Counselor Ad-vocacy, the American School CounselorAssociation and the National Associationof Secondary School Principals.One major theme common to all seventeams is that team members know, under-stand and respect their counterparts’ roleswithin the school. The report illustratesthe broad areas critical for the develop-ment of an effective principal-counselorrelationship: mutual trust and respect,communication, shared vision and deci-sion-making.The survey results show that while prin-cipals and counselors are in close agree-ment about the major issues relating totheir professional relationships, the twogroups perceive these issues differently,and principals are considerably more likely

Principal-Counselor RelationshipKey to Student Achievement

than counselors to believe that the compo-nents necessary for an effective relation-ship are present in their schools. A follow-up study of award-winning principals andcounselors shows that these educatorsrecognized for their success have foundways to bridge the gap between principalsand counselors and create effective work-ing relationships. The teams in the studycome from both rural and urban schools,and from all areas of the country. Eachfaces different challenges, yet all havefound a way to work together, and eachschool can point to remarkable studentsuccess as a result.Other important

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ndings include:Both groups see improving respect as•a major goal. However, principals seekrespect for their goals and vision, whilecounselors are more likely to seek per-sonal respect.Both groups consider lack of time as•the biggest barrier to effective collabo-ration.Principals and counselors report that•the most important role for principals ineducation reform is “leader,” while themost important role for counselors is“advocate.”