Having a stable board and governing body is a linchpin for international school success and continuity. While the Head of School is the leader of the school, handling the daily operations of the school, the board is the collective “leader” tasked with the long-term strategy and fiduciary responsible of the school. Boards must also be agile leaders! Without stability, institutional knowledge is thrown by the wayside which impacts board effectiveness, leadership continuity, and the ability to provide a consistent strategy for a school to achieve. Historically, American-assisted international schools were set up with bylaws and board structures that mirrored public school boards of those in the United States of America. Keeping that history in mind, it is worth noting those structures as described in school bylaws and foundational documents may not support board stability. Outlined below are ideas for how to create more stability among your international school board.
Balancing Elected Board Members with Board Appointed Members
There is an emerging trend among international schools to move to establishing more board appointed positions. All school boards need fresh energy as well as new thoughts and perspectives. New boards members can help question group think on the board in productive ways and “unstick” cyclical issues. On the flip side, if much of the school board turns over every year, it can be difficult to gain traction to solve long-term issues, particular with the host country, and create strategic plans to solve these issues. Or, if the board does come up with a strategic plan, it needs stability to see that plan through, knowing there may be expected bumps along the way. While every school is different, it may be ideal to aim for no more than one-third of the board turning over each year. For example, if you have a board comprised of nine members, aim for no more than three members turning over in a given year. This can be accomplished by staggering appointments to the board and having varying terms ranging from two to four years in length.
How to Recruit for the Board
There are several important ways to recruit members for your school board, which should ideally be done in tandem.
The board should put open calls of interest out to the parent community. This can be done by a school-wide email blast to all parents and community members, and by making announcements at your PTO/PTA meetings or community events. The idea is to share information far and wide with your community to spark interest in learning more about the school board’s role and possibly generate interest in serving on the board.
Board members, the head of school, and others that serve on your school’s leadership team may know of parents who have previous school board experience, are positive advocates for your school and community, or are committed individuals that desire the best educational experience for their children as well as the entire community’s children. Inviting these individuals to a “Learning About the Board” pre-orientation for interested candidates or meeting with them one-on-one to explain the role of the board and invite them to consider a board position is an excellent way to encourage candidates to start the process. While the normal appointment and election processes still apply, sometimes excellent candidates need a nudge, particularly if they are not fond of running in a school wide election. It should be noted that board pre-orientation does wonders for a board to avoid members joining that are “single issue members” (i.e., members who only care about one particular concern within the school) which can derail the work of the board by focusing on a specific issue, rather than being strategic with the work of the board.
Using a Skills Matrix
The board, specifically the Governance Committee, needs to continually track board skills over time. Particularly if a school has many elected board members, they will have little control over what skills are voted onto the board, so it is helpful to track self-identified skills on a spreadsheet so boards can encourage individuals with needed skill sets to apply. Skill sets you may track include, but are not limited to, legal, financial, policy, communication, marketing, education, building and construction, and host country business expertise. By having targeted conversations on the gaps and needs of your school board, particularly as members rotate off, helps provide the board with skill-set stability. An added bonus is also trying to make sure you have parents from every school division on the board. While not a skill per se, a mix of board members with children in elementary, middle, and upper school is also important. It is never too early to start establishing a board skills matrix. Send around a sheet at your first board meeting or beginning of the yearly retreat!
As school leaders, we know that board members represent all children and not a constituency. Unfortunately, the role board members play is rarely fully understood by the parent community and an election process implies that parents are voting on a member that will serve the parents’ interests on issues of the day. As a result of election misperceptions, coupled with boards needing specific skills, we see international schools considering shifts in how their board is comprised, gradually replacing elected positions with appointed positions.
Don’t be Afraid to Make Changes
Change does not need to happen overnight. If board stability is a concern, think about the processes that need to happen in order to provide more stability. Sometimes these changes can invoke amendments to the articles of association or bylaws, which can require significant work and turnout by the parent community or association. If it is hard to get buy-in, consider changing one to three positions from parent-election to board-appointed, even if the board has seven positions that are currently parent-elected positions. If, in a few years, the change is well recognized for its positive contributions to the board and the leadership team, that may be direct evidence to again ask the community to consider changing a few more positions. If such a change is either not possible due to the way the school has been created or due to the local political situation, consider adjusting the length of each term or staggering the terms, so folks are not rolling off the board en masse every two years. Small nudges towards stability can go a long way.
As always, anytime the board makes a change or has an in-depth generative conversation, it is best practice to designate someone on the board to spend 30 minutes writing a white paper that captures the general overview of the conversation, what the concern had been, what ideas were proposed, and the plan to address the issue, including acknowledgement of potential impacts that may create a few bumps. Think of these as a gift to your future board members. When your current board members have all moved on, these “thought time capsules” can be true gifts to understand the intent behind the change, and if success was found, a pathway to continue to explore future change.
In conclusion, if your board structure is not working to serve your international school, an agile board should explore ways to provide more stability and continuity (and leadership) to the school community, including the Head of School. Simply because it has always been done a particular way, does not mean that this model is serving your school in 2025 and beyond. Schools have grown in their understanding of teaching and learning, and school boards should be no different.
Ann Marie Awori brings a wealth of experience to the table with more than seven years of dedicated service as an international school board member. Her tenure includes five years as the Chair of the Board of Directors, during which she also assumed the roles of Secretary and Governance Chair.
Erin Gerba brings an impressive two-decade-long track record of distinguished business leadership to her role at Board to Board, further bolstered by a decade of steadfast leadership to the international school community. Her professional journey is a testament to her commitment to excellence.
Board To Board Consultants website: www.boardtoboard.org
