This past weekend the ANCS Governing Board held its annual training and planning retreat. The 13 people who sit on the ANCS board devote a great deal of time and offer their professional skills and insights in service to our school, yet many people in the school community might not actually know what it is the board does and how it works. So my blog post this week is focused on just that.
There’s a whole section of the ANCS website dedicated to our governing board. Once there, you’ll see a description taken straight from the board’s by-laws of the main functions of the board:
The Governing Board is charged with the management of the affairs of the Corporation, ANCS, Inc., and shall pursue such policies and principles as shall be in accordance with law, the provisions of the Articles of Incorporation, ANCS By-Laws, and any written charter entered into by the Board. The Board is responsible for carrying out the following duties and obligations:
- The Board shall uphold the school’s mission and vision and ensure effective organizational planning on the part of the school through an annual strategic planning and review process that will review and update the school’s short-term, mid-term, and long-range goals, and evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation of the school’s mission and plans;
- The Board shall either directly or through a personnel committee provide for the annual appraisal of the Executive Director’s performance;
- The Board shall ensure the financial stability of the Corporation through regular monthly review of financial statements and reports, an annual independent audit, and direct oversight of major financial commitments and decisions;
- The Board shall take an active role, either directly or through a Board committee, in resolving grievances and conflicts which may arise within the school community involving, students, parents, staff, administration, and Board members.
In short, the board is charged with setting the school’s direction (through our charter and strategic plan), developing policies and a budget aligned to that direction, and then making sure I work with our faculty and staff to move the school in that direction. The board isn’t the body that runs family involvement events (that would be our wonderful PTCA), nor is it the place you would begin if you had an issue with something about your student’s experience at ANCS (that would be with your student’s teacher and principal). That said, all board meetings are open to the public (and all board meeting documents and minutes are available online) and board members’ contact information is featured on our website because you can certainly reach out to any one of them if you’d like to ask a question or learn more about the work of the board.
At ANCS, the board is made up primarily (though not entirely) of parents at the school. Parent involvement has been an integral part of ANCS since the very beginning when a group of parents founded our school. Therefore, having parents at the school who are fully committed to our mission and vision be a part of the board makes the work of the board more meaningful. However, when serving on the board, current parents must always approach discussion and decisions through the eyes of a board member and not as the parent of a student who attends ANCS. Sometimes, this can be challenging because you might be confronted with a decision that, while in the long-term best interest of the school (like trimming the budget to balance), might have an impact on your student. Or you might have a fellow parent in your student’s class come to you with a complaint thinking that because you are a board member you will “take care of it”. That’s why our board training–like the retreat this past weekend–is crucial to maintaining a high-functioning governing board. We partner with an organization called Board on Track to engage in training on the role of governance versus the role of school leadership, proper financial oversight, and how to set strategic board goals. We’ve also added some community members who are not parents of ANCS students to the board which helps to bring different perspectives to the board’s thinking.
With their pictures on the website, you might see an ANCS board member at school some time. If so, thank them for their service to the school!