Can you guess the biggest challenge superintendents say they are facing in their school board relationships? While a majority of district leaders described their boards as “effective,” they ranked staff shortages as having the most complicated and contentious impacts on their school board relationships, according to District Administration‘s latest superintendent survey.
Funding, micromanagement, LGBTQ+ student policies, and rising behavioral problems were among the next most common challenges though they all placed much farther down the list. Still, 80% of the superintendents surveyed rated their boards as “highly effective” or “effective,” and almost as many gave an “A” grade to their school board relationships. Only four out of the more than 1,000 respondents gave that relationship a failing grade.
And contrary to national headlines about parent outbursts and board tensions, three out of four superintendents surveyed say their most recent school board meetings have not become more contentious. Many commented that the sessions have been getting less heated over the last several months, particularly since the midterm elections and the ebbing of the pandemic.
Still, some of the respondents remain wary of how highly-partisan political pressure from the community—from the conservative side of the aisle, more specifically—will impact their job security. Superintendents reported “angry parents armed with misinformation” and very negative public comments made at meetings. “Always a witch hunt against the superintendent. Looking for dirt or gossip,” one commenter said about the climate at school board meetings.
“The tone has been to blame the school first before asking questions, making for confrontational conversations,” another commenter wrote, while a third added, “The vocal minority on certain issues is very time-consuming.”
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Nearly 40% of the leaders surveyed cited parents as the most difficult group to work with, followed by other community members and teachers’ unions. One common complaint was about parents and community members bypassing administrators and taking their concerns directly to school board members who might be prone to micromanage. Other leaders reported clashing with parents over how their children had been disciplined as educators grapple with a surge in misbehavior.
“Non-constructive social media posts have been our biggest issue with parents this year,” one leader commented, while other leaders noted trying to forge relationships with parents who distrust the district due to past traumatic experiences with schools.
When asked to grade the school board’s understanding of its role, nearly 80% of the respondents gave an “A” or “B.” And just over 90% said their school boards would rate themselves as “highly effective” or “effective.” “The few board members that understand their role are tired of those who don’t and bring personal agenda items to the board,” one superintendent commented. “It creates mistrust and dysfunction with the board.”
While approximately 40% of the superintendents said their school board reviews its own performance annually, a similar number said their boards never conduct self-evaluations.
“Parents are reading fake things on social media and reacting to things that are not happening in the schools,” is how one leader summed up the biggest challenges now facing K-12 administrators. “Some school board members also fall into that cycle as well, creating issues that don’t actually exist.”
On the other hand, another leader described parents as “a blessing and important to our school. They need to be heard.”
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