The Governance Core

I really should have read this book before I read ‘The Essential School Board Book’ by Nancy Walser. This book by Davis Campbell and Michael Fullan does an excellent job of explaining not only the job of the school board, but the responsibility of being a school board member as well as the working relationship between the school board and the superintendent. So much so that my copy now has purple highlighting on quite a few pages, with notes in the margins for future references.

While Ms. Walser’s book does an excellent job of explaining what school boards do, this book explains how school boards work together with the superintendent to govern the district. Campbell and Fullan begin by explaining that the members of the school board have several responsibilities before they ever begin to govern: becoming a team, establishing an ‘order of operations’, agreeing upon a code of ethics, and declaring their fundamental duty as a board. Without these things in place, the business of governing the school district becomes much more difficult.

Campbell and Fullan then go on to explain how the school board and superintendent work together to govern the district. Essentially, the school board is responsible for the over-arching, long-term guidance of the school district, while the superintendent is responsible for the day-to-day (week-to-week and month-to-month) operations of the school district. This division of responsibility is key in order to maintain order and gain progress toward goals.

Throughout the book, Campbell and Fullan provide examples of successful school boards and superintendents, helpful advice for veteran and new board members, and insight into how to build a school board that governs well so that the school district can succeed. Some of the most helpful advice- for me at least- was the chapter on Trustee Governance Mindset, where the authors explain the shift in thinking board members have to make in order to be effective school board members. It was enlightening, to say the least!

All-in-all, this book was a very easy read, and I would encourage any of you to pick up your own copy in order to learn more about how the school board operates.

Works Cited

Campbell, Davis W., and Michael Fullan. The Governance Core: School Boards, Superintendents, and Schools Working Together. Corwin, 2019.

Walser, Nancy. The Essential School Board Book. Harvard Education Press, 2009.