Interview with school board president

Interview with Connie Troynek, School District of La Crosse-Board of Education President

1.  How does the board know that the district’s vision and mission reflect the student achievement expectations and needs of the community?

Dream, Believe, Achieve is what we envision...what parents dream...this is our goal to help all students have success in many different fashions...not all are members of sports teams, academic decathalon, etc.  Our mission is short Dream, Believe, Achieve.  Our vision is too wordy.  We have many community partners...this is one way in which we gauge how we are doing with comm. expectations.  Different linkages on a regular basis, northside neighbors, senior centers, etc.  This is an integral part of our plan...gp7e is our calendar of events.  Rebuilding for relearning community summit...breaking down barriers...how do educate those kids who are in survival mode.  

2.  How does the school board evaluate itself in terms of student achievement?

Monitoring reports.  We monitor not only reports that come in from staff, but we monitor ourselves including whether or not we are meeting our goals (exec. comm.)?  Is our policy written so that it is accomplishing what we intend it to.  Do we have the information that we need to get.  School profiles, student achievement...in the fall we will look at standards-based academic programming.

2A.  (I went on a tangent here) Tell me about how you go about bringing on new board members, indoctrinating them in policy governance.

We sit down with all candidates even before they run to explain what policy governance is...we don’t micromanage...we hire good people to do that job...I’m a school nurse, not a teacher.  Randy Nelson is the only person that is accountable to the board.  We do sit on committees, but when it comes to us for a vote, we approve.  I don’t think we could ever go back to functioning any other way.  We need to remind ourselves from time to time...

3.  Do the school board, administrators, and staff model mutual respect, professional behavior, and a commitment to continuous learning?

Absolutely.  Working in another district, with ACT 10 for example.  There were a lot of districts who said, “this is what we can do, so we’re going to do it.”  We didn’t...we brought people in and listened to them.  The board has tremendous respect for everyone that is working in the district.  I sometimes hope that our community would do the same.  We are able to banter back and forth and be friends...other boards are not that way.  We are proud of our institutional history on the board and longevity of the members...we have Ken.

4.  What is the level of understanding/commitment within the board and district administration related to continuous improvement?

We are all about continuous improvement.  We want everyone to take classes and we have workshops ourselves.  There are so many initiatives out there.  We need to keep informed of these things.  We feel it’s necessary for administrators and staff to keep abreast of learning.  We are all educators…we need to have our people trained.  We encourage this...we are educators and are in the business of continuous improvement.  Without it, we are not providing the quality education we should be.

5.  How does the board ensure that policy and budget decisions are research-based and data-driven?

The data retreat...we get data on a continual basis.  Last night we got data on homebound programming.  We don’t make decisions unless we know what the outcomes will be and the reason for it.  We need data to back it up.  We need follow up.  

Based on the responses to these questions, I am very pleased with our board president.   By the way, she has served for many, many terms and this type of longevity on the board is common.  Though I am scrutinizing responses as part of my professional growth, I realize how fortunate I am to have such a supportive board that understands policy governance and why it is important for the culture of our district.  There was only one area in which I will seek clarification and that is with regard to continuous improvement.  With all of the things our district does so well, I think that embracing the concept of continuous improvement through a PDSA or similar model would yield even greater student successes.  This is a concept that needs to be embraced on a district-wide level, complete with training for board, administration, and teachers as people are all over the map in their understanding of it.  I believe that this confusion between continuous improvement and professional development is widespread in our district.  

As superintendent, I would encourage our board president to assist in redefining our district vision.  It IS too long, it IS too hard to remember and isn’t referred to nearly often enough as a result.  This needs to be a thoughtful statement that is referred to in word and deed frequently and is an important part of our correspondence internally and externally.

“Students will:

Discover their talents and abilities and will be prepared to pursue their dreams and aspirations while contributing effectively to their local, national, and global communities.

Demonstrate continuous improvement toward a high level of individual success in all required and elective academic/curricular areas using multiple measures of performance.

Strive for mutual understanding as contributing citizens in a diverse world and global community.

Acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to make effective and responsible life choices.”

Secondly, I would engage the board in professional development about continuous improvement.  By building capacity within the board first, I believe I could nurture a cultural shift in our district toward utilizing continuous improvement in our operations.  

Finally, I would engage the board in more studies wherein we would look to similar-sized districts who are achieving at higher levels to learn what practices are working for them.  For example, Janesville.  Similar size, similar demographics, much higher rates of student success.  What can we learn from Janesville (and other districts) that would help us improve?

Excellence in the board room...Excellence in student achievement

Without question, there is a definite correlation between the framework of school board governance and student achievement and the district’s vision/purpose.  To clarify, let’s combine the last two components because quality districts will certainly elevate student success to be part of their vision and mission.  Certainly, there are some examples of districts who experience tremendous student success and also have boards at varying depths of involvement--some being FAR beyond policy making.  However, when one considers some common critical elements of high-functioning school boards (and districts), patterns begin to emerge.

Focus on policy...the overarching system.  This focus allows boards to do their work and  educators to do their work.  There is so much that needs to happen within an educational system and a variety of experts come together in every district so that their specific skills can serve the needs of students most efficiently.  When boards begin to dive deeply in to district operations (hiring, curriculum, etc.), the focus of the board begins to blur.  Similarly, not all board members are equipped with the knowledge necessary to be as deeply involved in district operations.  Additionally, it can hinder both the work of the board and of educators.  By keeping at a policy level, their focus is more concentrated and the policies they set can serve as guiding forces for administrators and teachers to put in action. 

When we talk about efficiency, we expect each component of the system to be working to its potential.  When boards begin delving into district operations, the efficiency of those responsible for various aspects of operations (buildings and grounds, food service, curriculum, etc.) can be dampened.  These leaders are sometimes unable to operate as quickly as necessary when board members involve themselves in micro-management.  In every high-functioning system, there is an element of trust that must be present.  By infusing board work into the operation level, that trust is questioned (whether intended or not).  In order for people to operate at maximum efficiency, micro-management needs to be kept at a minimum. 

Finally, school boards are part of democracy!  It is the way communities connect with public (publicly-funded) education.  When parents and neighbors speak highly of their schools, it is more likely that overall support for education will manifest itself by having families encouraging their children in school and becoming a part of the school community.  In such instances, the likelihood for increased student achievement is greatly increased.