QUESTIONS AND RESPONSES
Question: What do we do when the superintendent makes promises in the community but doesn’t keep them? -- Board Member in California
TESBM: This matters because when community members lose confidence in the superintendent, it can undermine the district’s ability to execute the board’s Goals for student outcomes. The board’s role is not to manage the superintendent’s relationships, but to ensure conditions exist for successful execution of the Goals. Here are thoughts on why you might be here, what not to do, and what to do next.
How We Got Here: If community members report that the superintendent made and then failed to keep a promise, the first step is disciplined fact-finding. Was there a misunderstanding about what was promised, by whom, or on what timeline? Was the statement perceived as a commitment when it was intended as an aspiration? This is not about minimizing concerns or gaslighting community members; it’s about assuming good intentions until facts are clear. This is the same standard of professionalism the board should expect for teachers and principals — and model for the entire system. Trying to see if there is an alternative explanation is an important first step. This could be followed up with your own promise: to visit with the superintendent in an attempt to clarify the misunderstanding and take steps to resolve it.
What Not To Do: Since a priority should be to repair whatever harm was created — this preserves the maximum ability of the superintendent to accomplish the Goals — it’s important not to make the problem worse. Things not to do (and yes, we’ve seen board members do all of these):
Publicly humiliate/contradict the superintendent in the community
Agree with any accusations before you know all the facts
Re-litigate the promise/cross-examine the superintendent at the next public board meeting
Add a standing agenda item called “community concerns”
Promise the community member that you will fix the situation
Any other behavior that you wouldn’t want for your teachers in a similar situation. Remember, the superintendent is an employee of the school system and however you treat them signals how all staff — and even students — should be treated.
Next Steps: Regardless of how you got here, there are several next steps that should be considered:
Visit with the superintendent to figure out if there is another explanation.
If the superintendent simply forgot the promise, ask what strategy they’ll use to avoid forgetting next time. Common approaches involve notetaking; having a staffer with them who is doing notetaking; or recording public meetings so that details can be reviewed for next steps; or using a service that summarizes meetings and emails next steps to the participants.
Encourage the superintendent to take an “own it; fix it” approach rather than a defensive approach. Such an approach can often turn a prickly situation into a relationship building opportunity.
If unkept commitments become a pattern rather than an isolated incident, the board should address this through established governance mechanisms — such as clarifying expectations in the superintendent Delegation policy or reinforcing Guardrails related to communication, integrity, or community engagement — rather than through ad hoc interventions.
Question: How often should our board change our legal counsel? How often should we change our auditing firm? -- Board Member in Tennessee
TESBM: We recommend boards revisit all of their professional services (including school board coaches) at least once every five years. Definitely do so for your auditing firm to make sure that you avoid managerial capture. It simply helps to have fresh eyes from time to time.
It’s worth noting that unless there’s a compelling reason, it’s most likely counterproductive to change professional services more often than that.
Question: What strategies strengthen partnerships with local businesses? -- Board Member in Texas
TESBM: This can be a little complicated because while it can be valuable for board members to encourage community members to support the school system, it’s not appropriate for board members to dictate either to the community member or to the school system the nature of that support. In those moments, the role of the board member is to serve as a connector — assist the community member at identifying the appropriate way for them to engage with the school system about providing support — and then step away. Stepping away protects both the integrity of governance and the credibility of the partnership by keeping roles clear. It’s definitely not their role to project manage the potential partnership or even ensure that one is ever created. With those guidelines in place, here are a few additional steps board members can take to support stronger partnerships:
Communicate the school system’s priorities — the Goals and Guardrails — and encourage community partners to look for ways that they can contribute to them.
Include community partners in the school board’s community listening practices — particularly when the board is setting its 5 year Goals and Guardrails.
Include community partners in updates about school system progress relative to the Goals and Guardrails.
Express gratitude for their willingness to support the community’s students.
Teachers need coaches to be their best. Principals need coaches to be their best. Superintendents need coaches to be their best. School boards need coaches to be their best. Professional sports teams need coaches. If your school board wants support to be great on behalf of the students you serve, click below for a free consultation.
POLL
In a previous poll, we asked about frequency of this newsletter. Based on your responses, we are currently working on transitioning this to being a weekly newsletter. But that requires a little more feedback from you. Which are your favorite sections? What should we delete? What should we add? What do you want to see more/less of? What could be in this newsletter that would add significantly more value to you?
Please share any feedback / recommendations / insights as we begin the next phase of this newsletter’s journey. And thanks for reading!
INTERESTING READS & LISTENS
Thoughtful conversations on moral leadership and public responsibility
A community member starting creating their own dashboards analyzing school board meetings.
A recent podcast about effective school board governance.
BOARD MEETING ANALYSIS
A subscriber asked us to watch the December meeting of a school board in Massachusetts. Here are the highlights from the School Committee Meeting:
Total Minutes: 238mins
Minutes Focused on Student Outcomes: 0mins
Key Topics: Closures, Mergers, and Grade Reconfigurations, Grant Approvals
What Coach Celebrates:
The board provided extensive opportunity for community voice through multiple public comment periods.
Action items were handled efficiently once reached.
What Coach Recommends:
Reallocate meeting design so that at least 50% of total time is reserved for monitoring progress toward board-adopted student outcome Goals.
Distinguish clearly between adult inputs (facilities, plans, programs) and student outcomes, and ensure major agenda items are explicitly connected to Goals or Guardrails.
Redirect incidental and technical questioning during meetings; create systems for those questions to be addressed prior to arrival in the boardroom.
UPCOMING OPPORTUNITIES
Effective Student Voice in Governance
Join us for a conversation about ways to responsibly and effectively include student voice in the board’s work.
11am central on Friday, February 13, 2026
Did you miss last month's 30-minute free webinar? Email Greg for a make-up session on any of our growing list of topics, including governance policy, delegation policy, effective budgeting, superintendent evaluation, professional services management, strategic planning, consent agendas, and more.
BONUS MATERIALS
For paid subscribers, here are links to additional resources (to gain access to the links below, please consider subscribing):
Additional details about the analyzed meeting:
Board Meeting Video
Meeting Agenda
Strategic Plan
Time Use Analysis
Guidance documents related to this issue:
Effective Strategic Planning
Effective 360 Evaluation
Effective Professional Services Management
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