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Four Ways School Boards can Prepare NOW for life after COVID-19

3/30/2020

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In this unprecedented time of COVID-19, school leaders are being called upon to perform the heroic task of reinventing the way they provide education- while they are providing it. We are all readjusting to a new normal of distance and online learning. How this will change the way we run our schools in the future remains to be seen. However, in their role as visionaries and protectors of school missions, Boards need to be working NOW to plan for the future. Board members are likely in the middle of supporting Heads in making significant decisions regarding your school’s response to COVID-19 including the types and timing of communication with your constituents, school closures and planned opening, distance and online learning, etc. In addition, school leaders are evaluating the current and future financial impact of this pandemic. Nonetheless, Boards should quickly move away from responding to current issues and turn their attention to planning for the future. 

How Boards react and respond now will have a tremendous impact on both how their school weathers this current COVID-19 storm and also how they will emerge following the storm. Here are four recommendations for conversations Boards can be holding now:
  1. Consider how you are supporting your Head of School. Your Head is working triple time to support their faculty, students, and parents. If they aren’t feeling overwhelmed and approaching burn-out, they are the exception. Boards can ask themselves the following- now and into the future:
    1. How are we supporting the emotional health of our Head?
    2. How are we supporting the professional growth of our Head?
    3. Are there ways we can take something off of the plate of our Head?
    4. How are we showing our appreciation for our Head?
  2. Consider how your Board makes decisions. Typically, groups of people make decisions together without thinking about the process they use. If they do discuss decision-making, it is usually at a very high level such as whether they will use Roberts Rules of Order or consensus-based decision-making, etc. However, in order to be able to make careful, strategic, proactive, and unbiased decisions, Boards should closely examine their process to include:
    1. How do we decide who makes decisions? 
    2. What kind of data do we collect before making decisions? 
    3. How do we ensure we are including a diversity of perspectives when making decisions?
    4. How do we protect against cognitive biases such as group-think, confirmation bias, attribution bias, and stereotyping?
    5. How do we test our decision-making for validity?
    6. How do we assess our decision-making and decision-making process?
  3. Consider who is making decisions. Now is a good time to think about the types of Board members on your Board. Do you have the right skills, abilities, and perspectives to most effectively meet your needs? Do you currently have the capacity to help your school navigate crises, respond to the “new normal” of distance learning, etc.? If not, do you bring in other people to help think through issues and add perspective? Additional questions you might ask for the future:
    1. What are the skills, abilities, and perspectives we want and need on our Board?
    2. Does our Board reflect the diversity of perspectives represented in our community?
    3. What skills, abilities, and perspectives do we currently have on our Board (do we have a valid way of collecting this information)?
    4. Where can we find the types of people we want and need? How can we use them in creative ways?
    5. How can we effectively onboard and support new Board members?​
  4. Consider how you can be a more strategic Board. While the decisions that are currently being made are responding to a crisis that no one (or few) predicted, there are methods for engaging a Board in strategic thinking rather than reactive thinking.
    1. To begin with, strategic thinking is grounded in the mission of the school. It takes into account the current situation and potential impacts and charts a course forward that maintains and supports the mission.
    2. Next, strategic thinking always involves data gathering and consideration. Because there is no precedent for responding to the current situation, Boards are having to rely on outside experts to guide decision-making. This is good practice and can be maintained into the future.
    3. Finally, strategic Boards always spend significant time thinking about and planning for the future rather than primarily discussing the current situation. While the current crisis certainly requires a lot of attention, the schools that will be most successful following this COVID-19 pandemic will have Boards who are starting now to think about how this situation will impact their school once everyone is able to be back together. They will be gathering information, listening to a variety of voices and perspectives, assessing how they perform as a group, and developing strategies to meet future circumstances. 

We are all in uncharted territory. And our leaders are being asked to step up in remarkable ways. Boards, in particular, have a responsibility to react and respond professionally, proactively, and carefully.
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Self-Care for School Leaders in Times of Stress

3/17/2020

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Heads of Schools and Board Chairs have had to make dramatic changes in the way they operate over the past week. No one predicted that we would be shutting our school buildings for weeks (or months) in order to address the global pandemic we are facing with Covid-19. School leaders have had to make major decisions that have impacted entire communities in an incredibly short period of time. I am aware of many of my colleagues who have handled this task with grace, decisiveness, compassion, and clarity. I am not surprised.

I am also aware that making these types of decisions is taxing on leaders. There is intense scrutiny, and a tendency for constituents to be armchair quarterbacks. School leaders are also dealing with their own personal stresses- on top of having to manage their school communities. They are parents of children who are home and perhaps learning online for the first time; they have parents who are in the high-risk elderly group; they have to worry about stocking up on supplies, and may be personally scared. 

Heads and Board Chairs- in order to be the most effective leaders for your schools (and for your families) you must ensure that you are caring for yourselves. This will look a little differently for each of you, yet will have some similarities. 

1. Gather your supports so that you don't feel like you are in this alone. Rely on them heavily. 
2. Practice mindfulness- focus on one thing at a time and identify what you are clear about at each step.
3. Prioritize- when you can't do everything, do what is most important. 
4. Abandon perfectionism- you are doing the best that you can. We all are. 
5. Take care of yourself physically, emotionally, spiritually. Get outside, exercise, talk with friends, practice your faith.
6. Make time for gratitude. Even in this time of uncertainty, stress, and fear, there is so much to be thankful for. 

I am grateful right now that we live in a time and place where technology can support significant social distancing. My child is continuing to learn from her teachers. My husband can work from home. And I can reach out to all of you and offer my support. I am here for you. If you want to talk- about your job, your stress, or anything else, I am available. 

Please make time to pay attention to yourself. And keep up the great work- we are all counting on you.
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    Brooke Carroll

    Writes about small school leadership and governance

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