Serving on a school board is demanding, but has many rewards

09/13/05 -- For Bob Sandin, serving on his local school board this spring was a horrible experience -- rivaled in life, he says, only by a divorce and the death of his parents.

What caused this misery? A teacher’s strike -- one that proved to be a very personal dispute in the rural, close-knit communities that comprise his Crosby-Ironton (Minn.) school district.

Striking teachers were the neighbors and relatives of parents whose children were affected, and it didn’t help matters that the strike dragged on for two months. Friendships ended and families were divided over the question of supporting the teachers or condemning the union and school board for the strike’s impact on children.

Yet, despite the stress and heartache he endured, Sandin says he doesn’t regret his decision to serve on the school board. He believes in the importance of community service, and he is keenly aware of the importance of good schools.

“I really believe in public education,” Sandin says. “I believe it is the cornerstone of our entire country. It’s important.”

That attitude will strike a chord with many readers of School Board News. With few exceptions, only those truly committed to public education -- and motivated by a strong desire to serve their community -- willingly accept a job that offers such little thanks, demands an ungodly amount of time, and tests one’s patience and mental fortitude.

Long hours

No one knows that better than Dan Walden, an 18-year school board veteran and a program director at the California School Boards Association. On more than one occasion, Walden recalls walking out the door of his home as his wife walked in -- two spouses briefly crossing paths as he rushed out to yet another board activity.

“I never made all the changes I wanted to the house or backyard,” he says. “I never did get that model railroad built. I never added a second story to the house. I did not aggressively pursue career advancement in my [earlier] field of employment.”

He’s not complaining, mind you. He could always have walked away. “But when the school board and superintendent and parents and teachers are all going in the same direction, and particularly when everyone is focused on improving the education for kids, you can accomplish a great deal, and everybody feels good about it,” he says. “That’s what makes board service both exciting and rewarding.”

As some board members discover, circumstance -- or luck, if you wish to call it that -- can play a major role in determining how their board service plays out. All it takes is one board member with a selfish political agenda, a special interest group that turns to disruptive tactics, or a financial crisis or labor dispute to distract the school board from its mission of serving children and poison the waters of good governance.

But challenges are meant to be overcome, and many board members say they take seriously the need to build a team on the board, to attend conferences and improve their skills, and to foresee and forestall issues and groups that might pose an obstacle to improved schools.

Striking a balance

On a personal level, successful board members say they also work hard to maintain some kind of balance between their responsibilities and their private lives.

Walden, for example, says he’s made a point of setting aside time for family, attending school and scouting events, and even taking his family with him on trips to school board conferences.

It also helps to put board service into perspective -- and not try to do all things, says Bob Barclift, president of the Tumwater, Wash., school board.

“I spent a lot of time as school board chair this year, but school board involvement is pretty much what you want to make of it,” he says.

Chuck Namit, assistant executive director of board and organizational development with the Washington State School Directors’ Association, says striking a balance between family, work, and board service also will determine the longevity of a board member.

“You must have a healthy balance in life,” he says. “Until you attain that ability, you risk creating pressures on the family [or work] that will cause you to leave.”

Life has a way of throwing the occasional curve ball, and some school board members have found such balance beyond their reach.

“For our family, it just didn’t work,” she says. “It depends on time, a spouse who can make sure the homework is done, and a support system. This past year, I physically couldn’t do it any more.”

Susan Rothermich resigned from the Sutton, Mass., school committee this spring only months away from completing her first four-year term, citing a need to spend more time with her family -- but also confessing to disappointment and exhaustion with her experience.

The community has just rejected a $1.2 million tax levy and and the board was also spending a lot of time finding a new superintendent and negotiating a teachers’ contract.

Rothermich expresses mixed feelings about her tenure. “You do feel you’re making a contribution, but you really are up against forces that you have no control over.”

Fortunately, many board members report a more favorable experience -- with good camaraderie, respect for differences of opinion, a clear focus on what’s best for students, and a little better fortune with their budgets. They are seeing results that inspire them to stick with the job.

“What really drives it is the chemistry on the school board,” Namit suggests. Some school boards also are benefiting from a realization of the differences between the governance and management roles they hold -- a realization that saves board members from becoming mired in micromanagement, unnecessary conflict, and lengthy board meetings.

Making a difference

When everything comes together, board members describe a very satisfying -- if hard -- experience.

“I think one of the most rewarding things about being on the school board is watching a child walk across the stage and receive his or her diploma,” Barclift says, “and you know that child has struggled, and as a board member, you brought forth new programs or initiatives to allow that child to succeed.”

“Board service is really the quintessential democracy,”.Namit says. “It’s citizen service, many times without pay. The rewards, however, are we see kids succeeding . . . a public institution that carries forward the traditions of the community.”

Sometimes the rewards are a long time in coming -- and the final results unclear. In Little Falls, Minn., Susan Prosapio has endured seven years of severe budget constraints on the school board. Only this year, on its fifth attempt, has the school board finally won voter approval of a tax levy that will bring the district financial stability.

Things have improved since she was elected to the board seven years ago. “In terms of stepping forward to serve the community and the students, yes, I’m glad I did it,” she says. “But there have been a lot of tears, a lot of frustration,” and she won’t seek re-election.

But, for every board member who decides the time has come to go, another is willing to step up to the plate. Despite a rocky first year on the school board, Sandin, for example, is finding board service is a lot more pleasant with the end of the strike, and he expresses his determination to help his school district put the focus back on kids.

“I believe we as a board have an important responsibility to start the healing,” he says. “The school board has to set the tone.”