What is a school board member’s role and responsibility? How does a board member build relationships with the superintendent?

The Board’s primary objective is “to serve as the educational advocates of our community’s youth” (https://www.mrhschools.net/this-is-mrh/board-of-education). The Board identifies several tasks in pursuit of that goal, including hiring a superintendent and delegating administrative responsibilities, assuring district performance, adopting evaluation policies, and approving the district’s budget, among others. Furthermore, as a governing body, the Board has a fiduciary responsibility to the public and the stewardship of public funds is its statutory obligation. 

In my interpretation of these responsibilities, the school board member’s primary role is to ensure conditions for students, teachers, and staff to flourish. Achieving this outcome also requires diligent administration of tax-payer funds, assets, and properties. Board members contribute to the educational ecosystem of the district by listening to experiences and expertise from within the district community, considering the strengths and limitations of existing knowledge, and deliberating with intention to advance every student toward a life of confident curiosity in whatever they pursue after graduation. 

As a body, the board is an interlocutor with the superintendent, whom they hire as the district’s chief administrative officer. Ideally the superintendent brings a vision for achieving the district’s goals and develops methods of reporting, evaluation, and procedural operations that support teachers and students. Students learn best when teachers are free of administrative burdens or worries. It is not the Board’s role to interfere with normal operations within schools. Board members build trust with each other, with the superintendent, with teachers, and other educational and support staff by practicing critical empathy and understanding that we all work toward the same goals, even if our methods of achieving them may vary.