From the Field: FAQs about Board Self-Evaluations
By Perry Hill IV, Ph.D.
IASB Field Services Director Perry Hill IV provides insights and answers to questions about board self-evaluations.
Q: What is a Board Self-Evaluation?
A board self-evaluation is a means by which a board and/or a governance team (or the board-superintendent collective), pauses, reflects, and examines essential elements of itself, such as board structures and the quality of team functionality. A board self-evaluation serves as a vehicle in which a board and/or a governance team can critically examine its strengths and challenges while crafting adjustments that promote continuous board/team improvements.
A board self-evaluation can, also, aid a board in gathering perceptions of all board members, fostering dialogue, improving the board’s understanding of its role and decision-making processes, strengthening team relations, enhancing board structures and processes to increase productivity, and identifying next steps for board learning and growth.
Q: How Does a Board know if a Board Self-Evaluation is Needed?
A board should, collectively, determine if a need exists to participate in a board self-evaluation. This need may be based on a desire to gather any of the information discussed above. Although addressing an internal challenge can, and often is, part of it, a board does not need to be in crisis for a board self-evaluation to be needed. The evaluation also helps a team foster dialogue and increase productivity.
Q: What Does Illinois Law Say about Boards Conducting Board Self-Evaluations?
Illinois law provides an exception to the Open Meetings Act that permits a board to conduct a board self-evaluation in a closed session (or executive session) meeting for set purposes. Specifically, this Illinois law appears in 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(16) and it states that a board may enter closed session for:
Self-evaluation, practices and procedures or professional ethics, when meeting with a representative of a statewide association of which the public body is a member.
For IASB members, the verbiage “representative of a statewide association of which the public body is a member” authorizes IASB Field Services Directors to officially facilitate the session(s) within a closed (or executive session) meeting.
Q: Should a Board Post a Meeting Denoted as a Board Self-Evaluation if it is Called a Retreat?
A board must abide by the Open Meetings Act whenever a gathering of the board occurs with a majority of a board-quorum to discuss public business, any exchange of views and ideas among school board members that pertains to the affairs of the board. Regardless if a board assembles for a meeting that is called a Retreat, a Workshop, a Board Self-Evaluation, or any other meeting descriptor, the meeting must be posted in accordance with the Open Meetings Act in Illinois law.
Q: How Long is a Typical Board Self-Evaluation Session?
A typical timespan for a half-day board self-evaluation session is up to four hours, but a Field Services Director can work with a requesting board to develop a workshop within a requested, abbreviated, and reasonable timespan. Some boards opt to request a full-day board self-evaluation session spanning over four hours and/or multiple days.
Q: How Frequently Should a Board Commit to Conducting a Board Self-Evaluation?
The frequency when a board conducts a board self-evaluation is determined by each board. some boards engage in, at least, an annual board self-evaluation to ensure the board is regularly assessing its efficiency and/or addressing any challenge that may hinder optimal board performance. Some boards engage in a more frequent schedule of board self-evaluations to ensure that they maintain optimal functionality as a board and governance team.
Q: Are there different types of Board Self-Evaluations?
Yes, there are multiple types of board self-evaluations from which a board can select. some of the available types include:
- Starting Right
- Board Governance Review
- Myers-Briggs® Team
- Customized Board Self-Evaluation (crafted from dialogue with the requesting board)
Q: Might a Board Self-Evaluation be conducted to address a decorum issue involving the board?
Yes, a board self-evaluation may be conducted to address a decorum issue involving the board. Decorum issues typically link to differing interpretations of professional ethics or matters related to inconsistencies/absences of specific protocols. As such, this topic qualifies as an Open Meetings Act exception specified under statute 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(16). IASB Field Services Directors conduct such topical sessions in closed (or executive) session and foster dialogue with the full board to determine the “next steps” beneficial for the board team and the advancement of the district.
Q: What is the difference between board self-evaluations and other IASB workshops/sessions?
Board self-evaluations are meetings where the focus centers on the unique structures and processes of a specific board necessary for it to optimally function. These structures and processes can, also, extend to specific practices and procedures or professional ethics of a specific board. Some examples of structures and processes a board may opt to explore via dialogue, creation, and/or refinement include board protocols, board-superintendent communication expectations, board decorum standards, identifying personality types, and assessing board adherence to its roles using an online survey tool.
Other IASB workshops (which are not board self-evaluations) approach a wider array of school board governance topics using a more general focus, rather than focusing on unique areas of need by a specific board. A list of all in-district workshop options is available on the IASB website.
Q: Who should a board contact to schedule/plan a Board Self-Evaluations?
The board president and/or the superintendent should contact an IASB Field Services Director to inquire about, schedule, or plan a board self-evaluation for the full board/governance team. The team should have discussed the need for a board self-evaluation, prior to initiating contact with an IASB Field Services Director, and concurred (through such means as consensus) with being a workshop participant. The list of IASB Field Services Directors (sorted by division-affiliation) is accessible on the IASB website. Contact your IASB Field Services Director to discuss the purpose of the meeting, the process for the meeting, and the desired timeline(s) for completion. IASB staff will make every effort to meet the specific needs of your board. The process usually begins with establishing a date for the in-district session. The board (generally through the superintendent and board president) and IASB discuss and select the best format for the board self-evaluation meeting.
Perry Hill IV, Ph.D., is Field Services Director for the Illinois Association of School Boards, covering the Egyptian, Illini, Shawnee, and Wabash Valley divisions.