When the Clark County, Nev., school board pledged four years ago to avoid micromanaging the district and focus on the big picture of improving student achievement, the move was a radical shift.
For board members accustomed to dealing with what one described as 鈥渃onvoluted鈥� policies that filled several 6-inch-thick books, the streamlined approach to governance was a welcome change.
But in formally adopting Policy Governance鈥攁 popular set of principles for effective boards conceived by the Atlanta-based governance guru John Carver鈥攖he board spawned a countermovement to restore a more activist approach.
A growing number of school boards鈥攃oncerned that infighting, lack of focus, and a propensity for micromanagement are limiting their effectiveness鈥攁re turning to Policy Governance for similar answers. In a sign of the interest among boards and district administrators, the American Association of School Administrators hosted a Policy Governance seminar last fall.
In Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, a slate of candidates ran last fall on a platform of dumping the governance model, arguing it had created a rubber-stamp school board that handed over too much power to the superintendent.
While the challengers lost, the debate highlights the challenges school boards face when they rethink how they govern. As the demands on boards grow, observers say Policy Governance has become an appealing model for members grappling with a host of complex regulations and public pressures.
Simply put, school boards using Policy Governance monitor how well the district鈥檚 superintendent or chief executive officer meets the broadly written 鈥渆nds鈥� the board has defined as district goals. But the board does not prescribe the particulars of how the superintendent should reach them. Boards instead step back and evaluate what kind of job the top administrator is doing.
鈥淧olicy Governance is a huge paradigm shift for school board members who think they have to examine every line item and pick all the textbooks,鈥� said Linda J. Dawson, the president and co-founder of the Aspen Group International, a consulting firm based in Castle Rock, Colo., that conducts Policy Governance workshops for school boards.
鈥淏oard members come in to fix things, but it crosses the line when they start giving directions to individuals in the system,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey get away from governance and into management.鈥�
Carlos Garcia, the superintendent of the 231,000-student Clark County district, praised the working relationship he has with the school board under Policy Governance.
鈥淭his board is the closest I have seen to working as a team,鈥� Mr. Garcia said, comparing the Clark County board to others with which he has worked. 鈥淧olicy Governance has really helped them. It鈥檚 a system based on trust. I have to trust the board, and they have to trust me.鈥�
Clashing Egos
School boards work in a politicized environment, where egos and ambitions can often derail a district鈥檚 focus, said Thomas Glass, a professor of educational leadership at the University of Memphis. And because the boards of the nation鈥檚 approximately 15,000 school districts are made up of members who are elected, appointed, and a mix of the two, no single governance model works for all, he said.
鈥淎n effective school board finds consensus,鈥� Mr. Glass said. 鈥淏ut when you have budding politicians who are board members, they are going to act like politicians and posture. When board members are in conflict with each other, pretty soon the superintendent gets dragged in, and it鈥檚 all downhill from there.鈥�
In Pueblo, Colo., the school board of the 18,000-student District 60 is considering adopting Policy Governance after struggling to confront the behavior of two board members.
One board member seen as overstepping her role was recalled by voters last fall. The other, accused of giving a speech in which she said Superintendent Joyce Bayles was encouraging Latino students to drop out to maintain a stream of workers for menial jobs, survived a recall effort. Christine Pacheco-Koveleski has said she was misinterpreted, but her tenure has been so divisive that students, teachers, and the principal of one local high school called for her resignation. Ms. Pacheco-Koveleski refused to step down.
Kitty Kennedy, the president of the Pueblo board, said the public drama that unfolded drained energy from district priorities.
鈥淧oor board governance wastes precious time and steals your focus,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e never had the opportunity to do strategic planning. As a result, things just came out of the woodwork. We were dealing with board issues meeting by meeting.鈥�
No Simple Fix
Mr. Carver, whose Policy Governance model is intended for any governing board, warns that school boards need to be careful not to view it as a simple way out of deep-rooted problems. Mr. Carver鈥檚 book, Boards That Make a Difference, published in 1990 and reissued in 1997, explains how the model works in nonprofit and public organizations.
The Policy Governance framework devised by Atlanta-based consultant John Carver focuses on separating issues of an organization鈥檚 purpose鈥攐r 鈥渆nds鈥濃�攆rom other organizational issues, 鈥渕eans.鈥� Key features include:
鈥� The board sets broad goals for the chief executive that can be clearly monitored.
鈥� The board establishes executive limitations to highlight what the executive (superintendent) is not permitted to do in the daily operations of a system.
鈥� Board members express dissent during the discussion preceding a vote. Once taken, the board鈥檚 decisions may be changed, but are never to be undermined.
鈥� Board members 鈥渟peak with one voice,鈥� and they avoid taking action as individuals on issues unrelated to policy.
鈥� The board defines and delegates authority instead of prescribing the particulars of how goals should be reached.
鈥� Having clarified its expectations, the board assesses performance in that light, asking, 鈥淗ave our expectations been met?鈥�
More information is online at .
鈥淭his is not a fix-it model,鈥� Mr. Carver, who for 15 years worked as the chief executive officer of several public-service organizations and a national trade association, said in a recent interview. 鈥淚f boards approach it that way, they are likely to be careless and not look at this systemically.鈥�
One of the main problems, he said, is that boards often pick and choose elements from Policy Governance in a moment of crisis, though the model calls for unified implementation.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not always applied consistently, he said, 鈥渂ut when you鈥檙e putting a system together, that鈥檚 not the place to compromise.鈥�
Don McAdams, a former school board president in the Houston Independent School District, now helps board members navigate matters such as choosing superintendents, developing policy, and managing crises.
鈥淎 lot of boards don鈥檛 know what to do,鈥� said Mr. McAdams, who heads the Los Angeles-based Broad Institute for School Boards, 鈥渂ecause no one has told them what to do.鈥�
He argues that while Policy Governance has become a popular model for dysfunctional boards, it鈥檚 a limited approach that doesn鈥檛 challenge board members to radically reform school districts.
鈥淲hen people talk about reforming urban boards, what they really mean is emasculating them and reducing their scope of responsibility,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e really redesigning a district, these changes are of such magnitude that superintendents can鈥檛 make them alone. There are big changes that require the board to bring the community along.鈥�
Mr. Carver, for his part, believes that Policy Governance represents a dramatic change from how most boards conduct business. Further, he said, it doesn鈥檛 preclude boards that adopt the model from overseeing more ambitious overhauls of their districts鈥攁nd in fact can help them do so.
Clear Agenda
In Marietta, Ga., the 102,000-student Cobb County district attempted a piecemeal approach to Policy Governance several years ago. With rapid turnover on the board and a lack of consistent focus on the model, it never took root. Last spring, however, the board got serious about making it stick.
Mr. Carver worked with the board and superintendent in several all-day sessions. Five months ago, the board voted 5-2 to adopt the model. Some critics wondered if the $91,000 in consulting fees paid to Mr. Carver was worth the expense. A local newspaper editorialized strongly against Policy Governance, arguing that the model gives too much authority to the superintendent.
But Kathie Johnstone, the chairwoman of the Cobb County school board, believes Policy Governance has empowered the board to set a clear agenda for administrators, who are closely evaluated by the board through frequent monitoring reports.
It鈥檚 easy, she said, for boards to become bogged down in the minutiae of school construction projects or other issues that distract from the ultimate goal of student achievement. Policy Governance keeps them focused, she argued.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard work, but it allows you to step back and be proactive with issues and create policies that are directed toward goals and the big picture, instead of micromanagement,鈥� Ms. Johnstone said.
Marlene Cantor, a member of the school board in the 740,000-student Los Angeles Unified School District, knows all about the pressure to respond to a daily stream of constituent requests.
In Los Angeles, board members represent regions that can have more than 100 schools, and the members often have two or three staff aides who help them stay on top of issues, including overseeing an $11 billion budget.
鈥淧eople really don鈥檛 understand the role a board member plays, and their expectation is when there is a problem, there is a board member who should fix it,鈥� Ms. Cantor said. 鈥淓ven board members and superintendents get confused about what their job should be. We have to constantly discuss and define roles.鈥�
