MARLBORO COUNTY — Continuing their efforts to strengthen education in the Marlboro County School District, the Board recently sat down and completed a workshop focusing on roles and responsibilities, Board and Superintendent relations, and team-building activities strengthening collaboration and trust.
Executive Director Scott Price and Director of Leadership Development Gwen J. Hampton led the workshop, which took place at the Marlboro County Golf Complex. The focus for the workshop was on building trust, effective communication skills, defining roles and working together to promote respect, mutual understanding and public transparency.
Kicking off discussions, Hampton asked board members what they most hoped to glean from the workshop and board members resoundingly shared a desire to communicate respectively and be open to new ideas shared by other board members. Additionally, members shared a desire to identify areas where they are weak and work towards solutions together to strengthen those areas.
Board member Danny Driggers summed it up best for the group, saying “I think what my expectations are for this board is to lead us, to lead the district forward in curriculum, in grades. All the sports stuff is important, but if we don’t get the kids where they can read, write and add, then we are in terrible shape. My expectation is for this board to enhance and lead our education program.”
Leadership roles
Although each school board member campaigns and is elected independently, Hampton noted that, once in office, they serve as part of the collective board.
She said, “You campaign as individuals, but you serve as a member of a team. You have no authority as an individual, only as a board, and your success as a board member is tied to the success of the board.” Hampton added it is the board’s responsibility to ensure the community understands what the roles are for the board.
She went on to explain that once the board appoints a superintendent, that person is responsible for choosing staff members. The board oversees setting policy, while the superintendent recommends and implements the policy the board has voted on. Speaking on financial matters as defined by role, Hampton said, “The board adopts the budget and the superintendent proposes and administers the budget.”
Board member Angela Galloway said she saw the defined roles as a chance for her to learn more about the process and understand the financial aspects of the budget as it impacts the district.
Relationships between board members and the superintendent
“In order to be successful, you have to have a really strong relationship with your superintendent. You have an interim superintendent, but you should always be thinking about not just interim, but what’s next, what kind of relationship do you want with your superintendent, regardless of if it’s interim or full-time, you should still strive to have the same kind of relationship,” Hampton explained.
Fostering teamwork in action, Hampton had board members break into small groups and discuss characteristics they feel are most important in a strong board-superintendent team. Following their discussions, board members shared that to them, a strong team focuses on communication, transparency, trust, leadership, having a unified vision, being willing to adjust to the changing of the times, listen to ideas, respect each other roles and for the superintendent to be available for board members to reach out to when needed.
Delving further into a need for transparency, Driggers said, “I think that this board and superintendent need to be a little more transparent with the (residents) and the public, because we are not giving them enough information about what is going on. As a team- superintendent and the board — we need to make sure we share with our (residents) what is going on also.”
Board member David Flowers said he felt the board needs to have a clear understanding of what the plan is moving forward so they can be more forthright with the public.
Addressing the issue of communication, Hampton said, “You are all equal, regardless of title. Information that is provided to one board member should be provided to all board members as it relates to board business.” She added, “You are all responsible for making decisions.”
When discussing what a dysfunctional team looks like, board members cited lack of trust and communication.
The budget
Hampton clarified even though Michael Thorsland is overseeing the district’s budget currently, the board still needs to be involved and asking three key questions: Where are we now, where are we going and how do we get there? She noted school budgets can be complex and proposed organizing a Budget Workshop for board members.
Hampton said, “That’s one of the critical things [the budget] that’s happening here in this district right now. You need to know the ends and outs of the budget. You need to know if something is going to change as a result of how it is being administered now.” She continued, “It may look different than when you first got on the board. Things change, what does that look like? You need to know that because the community will be asking questions about the budget.”
Thorsland recommended beyond holding a budget workshop, the board should participate in a Federal Programs Workshop to further understand grants and their intended provisions.
Hampton reminded, “You have a responsibility as leaders in the community and of this district to keep on top of that as well. No, you won’t have the same role as you normally have, but you still want to ask questions about that [budget].” She added, “You have a tremendous opportunity now. Change the culture, get back to where you need to be — it’s a tremendous opportunity and sometimes a culture shift is just what you need.”
Moving forward
All board members agreed that many of the weaknesses identified throughout the workshop involved aspects the board needs to work on as individuals to benefit the team.
Board member Galloway said, “We got to work on ourselves. The challenge is to work on ourselves, have a vision for ourselves, and then have a direction.”
Galloway and fellow board member Nikki Pruitt suggested making finance reports more assessable to the public.
Pruitt said, “The public doesn’t know how decisions we are making impacts them and don’t understand what we are talking about half the time. We are not asking the questions we already know the answer to so that they can hear that answer.”
Her words led Galloway to suggest making the financial report for the district available on the website as well as providing updates at board meetings.
Driggers said he felt doing so would go a long way towards showing accountability to the public.
He said, “Transparency and accountability — that is something that we all feel that we need.”
Agreeing, Thorsland said he would like to see the board be more open with other documents as well, such as making agendas and their corresponding financial report assessable through the district website.