Six Commandments for Effective Catholic School Boards

Dr. Thomas Doyle was Vicar of Catholic Education for the Archdiocese of Mobile for over twenty years and then became the Academic Director of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education. During the time he was Vicar, he was a highly sought after speaker on how to create and sustain effective Catholic school boards, asked to speak in dioceses all around the country.

Tom gave so many talks on best practices for Catholic school boards, in fact, that he was able to summarize his talk into six simple “commandments.” Simple as they are, my experience is that if Boards commit to these six commandments, they become highly effective instruments in advancing the mission of the school and powerful partners with the principal in leading and guiding the school.  Here they are, with a brief explanation.

Boards Decide—The primary work of the Board is to make decisions—not to talk. Issues have been raised in previous meetings, they’ve been assigned to committees, committees have reported back to the Board, and now the Board either accepts, rejects of amends the recommendation of the committee.  A “committee of the whole” is rarely a good instrument for discussing or implementing an idea, as some personalities dominate, and others feel intimidated or marginalized.  There’s no reason meetings should last beyond ninety minutes if Boards hold to this principle.

Committees Work—Standing committees do the “work” of the Board. The finance committee recommends the increase in salaries, tuition and budget for the following year, and if they do their homework, there’s a lot of detail work to be done, examining current year income and expenses, noting 3-5 year trends, scrutinizing successful and unsuccessful revenue streams. Building and grounds committees might do annual or semi-annual inspections of the school and note areas that need cosmetic improvements or more serious issues that jeopardize student safety. Marketing committees could help the school create recruiting plans for the upcoming year. Education committees might review testing data and make recommendations, with the principal, for new curricular programs.  Each of these committees bring their recommendations to the Board as a whole, who then votes either to accept or reject them.  The key to successful Boards is active committees which have been assigned meaningful work by the executive committee.

Agendas Govern—The Board meeting is directed by an agenda, and if it’s not on the agenda, it’s not discussed at that meeting. Is there a Board member who is hot-fired on the cause for something and wants to speak out about it? Then the executive committee decides whether his issue goes on the agenda for next month.  Sticking to this discipline helps Boards stay future oriented and keeps them from being dragged into whatever the emotional issue of the day is. It also keeps the principal from being blind-sided by random complaints or concerns of a Board member.

Executive Committees Think—The executive committee of the Board (typically, the president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer, with the principal) has two primary functions: To create an agenda for the meeting, deciding on which matters the Board will take up (and which ones they won’t), and also, to assign tasks to the committees, establishing the parameters of the committee’s work and a time-table for presenting interim and final reports to the Board.

So, for example, in our school, the city has ten acres of land adjacent to us and has recently offered to lease it to us at very favorable rates. How might the executive team consider such an offer? They could assign part of the work to the building and grounds committee, asking it to study competitor schools and discuss what we lack in comparison, asking them to prepare an interim report in two months time. It could ask the finance committee to review costs for mowing and landscaping if the school wanted to secure the lease before any capital project in two months time. It could ask the marketing and admissions committee to propose school improvements, using this land, that maximized the school’s position in the marketplace, again to report in two months. Imagine how exciting this Board meeting would be, as each of these committees reported? And at the next executive committee meeting, it could decide on the next set of tasks, thinking through the next steps. 

Principals Share—Every board meeting, principals should inform the Board of issues at the school—successes, issues of concern, new faculty, new programs, ideas of the faculty and staff—all those things that help the Board understand the life of the school through the principal’s eyes.

Everyone Writes—A funny thing about our memories: we all remember differently. That’s why one of the cardinal rules of good board practice is no oral reports. Committees write down their findings. Principals write down how they’re doing. The secretary records the minutes, which are then voted as “acceptable” in the next meeting. What if a committee doesn’t have a written report that month? Their work and all discussion is tabled for the next meeting.

Boards which hold to these "commandments" will encourage active engagement of all its members and will build a supportive, visionary team that nicely complements the day to day responsibilities of the school principal. Together, we can do magnificent, important work that changes kids' lives!