Pontiac School Board Must Do Better, Study Finds

"The quality of school board governance is the most important determinant of the success or failure of the school district."

So opens a summary of the Chartwell Education Group's findings relative to the way the Pontiac Board of Education has overseen district policy and goals.

"For any school district reform effort or turnaround initiative to have a chance to succeed, it must begin with building a high-quality school board."

A nearly five-month study by the international consulting firm founded by former U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige found that Pontiac's board will face a number of its own hurdles before it can go about reversing numerous and varied problems with day-to-day operations in the district.

Among these hurdles are perceptions that some board members do not see students as their primary constituents, that some bow to public pressure rather than allow district goals to guide their decisions, that some attempt to micromanage operations and that all have failed to build community support and partnerships that aid in the realization of district goals.

To help trustees address these challenges - as well as an inability to gel as a cohesive governing body - Chartwell consultants will begin a series of workshops designed to improve board relationships, set core beliefs and goals as benchmarks guiding all district policy decisions and impart knowledge and skills that will help trustees overcome district reform obstacles.

The first of these workshops is set to take place next weekend. It will welcome five established board members and newly elected trustees Robert Bass and Gill Garrett.

"I think it's important that the board moves in a different direction to benefit the city," said Vice President April Hernandez. "I believe wholeheartedly that this new board will move in that direction and that you will see great things happen."

Lead or follow?

Though school board members are sometimes elected by district voters for very individual and issue-oriented reasons, Chartwell consultants will tell Pontiac's trustees that public pressure should not be their policy guidepost.

"The board should lead public opinion," said Scott Jenkins, an assistant director with the firm. "It shouldn't follow public opinion."

While this notion may seem anti-democratic to some, Jenkins argues that it's actually not. He explained that if the board sets goals that represent what a majority of the district community demands - such as optimizing student achievement - decisions on specific policy issues can be tailored toward those ends.

In this sense, the board will be working in the public interest, even if some active or vocal constituents lobby against a particular policy decision.

"We elect people to step above that," Jenkins said. "That's what a representative democracy is all about."

Trustee Alma Bradley Pettress acknowledged that some board decisions have been made without the benefit of a guiding principle that rises above public pressure.

"We're in the business of educating children and the children need to be our No. 1 focus," she said. "If board governance is going to hinder us in doing that, then we need to get our act together."

Lead or administer?

The Chartwell Report also suggests that some Pontiac Board of Education members have looked to directly influence day-to-day operations rather than mind their role of setting policy and trusting administrators to carry it out.

But drawing a line between setting policy and executing it often becomes an issue of debate. Trustee Christopher Northcross said this may be attributable to the fact that board members and administrators must be able to see both sides of the same coin.

"Even to define to micromanaging is tough," he explained. "We have to understand how our policies and procedures impact day-to-day operations and what the day-to-day operations are calling for in terms of policy."

Jenkins agreed that the issue can be an area of murky water, but noted that Pontiac will be far from the first school district to attempt setting a set of boundaries. Chartwell plans to present board members with a number of case studies that can help guide this effort.

"Micro management is in the eye of the beholder, so we try to give them context beyond that," he explained.

Ultimately, Jenkins suggested, resolving the issue of board micro management will come down to ensuring that the district has an adequate policy in place to guide operations and empowering a team of top administrators ideally qualified to execute those policies.

Lead and unify

The Chartwell report suggested that in recent years, leadership of the Pontiac school district has functioned largely autonomously.

"The board members view the relationship between the board and Pontiac city officials as poor or even nonexistent. Several members admitted that the board and City Council do not have any interaction," it states.

But Jenkins suggested that unless city officials, community organization leaders and other district constituents are supportive of and meaningfully involved in pursuing district goals, the schools will continue to struggle.

"The true test of reform is a real, mobilizing energy from the community that will make it stick," he said.

Northcross agreed, suggesting it only makes sense to do a better job of building that base of support.

"We only have the children 6 1/2 hours a day and for 186 days a year. All that other time, they're somewhere else in the community," he said.

"If we're talking about student achievement, we've got to be talking to all the partners we have to contribute to that goal. We've all got to work together."

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