Leadership Letter
From Election to Engagement: Foundational Communication for School Board Members
By Kimberly Small, J.D.As a member of your local board of education, you hold a vital role in shaping the educational success of every child in your district. As you settle into your seat, one of your most powerful tools is not just policy or budget oversight — it is communication. Effective governance begins with telling your district’s story and engaging your community in meaningful ways.
The Foundation: Governance Through Communication
The Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB) emphasizes excellence in local school board governance. Governance is more than attending meetings and voting on motions. It is about setting a vision with your governance team, building trust, and ensuring accountability. Communication is the bridge between your board’s decisions and your community’s understanding of this important work.
The best practices for these communications with your community are rooted in transparency, collaboration, and strategic outreach. Whether through newsletters, social media, or public forums, you and your board’s abilities to communicate clearly and consistently will shape public perception and community support.
Telling Your District’s Story
Every district in our geographically diverse state has a unique narrative related to its challenges, triumphs, and aspirations. As a board member, you are a steward of that story. Sharing it authentically helps build trust and fosters a sense of ownership among your community members.
One tool to help you do this is Advocacy, which is an IASB area of focus during this fiscal year. The Association is working hard to help members highlight their success stories, community partnerships, and student achievements by preparing them to share their local needs with legislators and members of Congress. These narratives not only inform but inspire, turning members into advocates for public education. You can repackage this information to inform your community about your local district’s needs and the “whys” that your board has for the governance decisions it makes.
Helpful Resources at the Joint Annual Conference
To further your efforts to maximize your community engagement around important district goals, consider attending these events at the Joint Annual Conference in November:
Equity Immersion: This unique professional development opportunity will allow school leaders to explore the narratives that define their districts and shape their communities. Keynote speakers at the Equity Immersion on November 20 will showcase the power of unheard voices and teach strategies to move hearts and minds. Workshop opportunities will uncover frameworks to tie available data to narratives that inspire action. Last, IASB will help cultivate and expand your equity resources by networking with educational leaders who share a similar vision and goals.
Opportunities for Peer-to-Peer Community Engagement:
- Consider learning from Whiteside SD 115. This board successfully passed a referendum by engaging the community early and often. The Preparing Your Board and Your Community for Construction panel at the IASB Conference will detail the dos and don’ts of preparing both the board and community for construction projects.
- In the panel Overcoming the Odds: Smart Strategy in a Bond Vote, participants will learn how community outreach made the difference as Bradley-Bourbonnais CHSD 307 crafted a clear message, addressed concerns, and executed a coordinated campaign to engage voters and win support for a bond proposal.
- Join Arlington Heights SD 25 for Governance Greatness: Building Trust, Shaping Culture to learn how a high-performing board builds trust and actively shapes culture and discover actionable steps to enhance district governance and student success.
- In A Board’s Purpose: Connect with Students for Greater Impact, CHSD 155 (Crystal Lake) will lead an exploration of strategies to strengthen the connection between school boards and students and engage through mentoring and more, fostering deeper investment, fulfillment, and purpose while enhancing decision making.
- Mount Prospect SD 57 leaders will share experiences of its collaborative process of gathering community and student voices to reach the goal of “inspiring every student, every day to reach their full potential” in the session How Student Voice and Community Engagement Lead to Success.
- Join Wilmette SD 39 for Intergovernmental Collaboration and Relationship Building, which will explain how school districts and local governments share constituents and goals, making it critical to nurture strong partnerships to meet community needs/priorities.
Building Inclusive Community Engagement
Effective community engagement means reaching beyond the board table to your peers across the state. IASB’s Areas of Focus this year call for broadening member online communities and targeted outreach to unengaged districts and new superintendents to ensure connections to IASB resources and staff. Consider how you can engage in these efforts to find more resources:
- Attend Division Meetings and engage in an In-District Workshop.
- Participate in discussions hosted by IASB Online Community.
- Connect with your district administrative staff about trends they see in their community or peers.
Policy as a Communication Tool
Your board’s policies are not just internal documents — they are public commitments. Review your district’s communications policies, including 2:140, Communications To and From the Board, 8:10, Connection with the Community, and 8:110, Public Suggestions and Concerns. The IASB sample PRESS policies are drafted by IASB attorneys with statewide peer review. They include a foundation of best practices and reflect a commitment to two-way communication, active listening, and respectful discourse. Your board can take those samples and work with a Policy Services Director to make them reflect your local district’s needs.
Advocacy and Mobilization
Your role includes advocating for your district at the local, state, and federal levels. IASB’s Areas of Focus call for IASB to engage in legislative support initiatives for members, along with encouraging member participation in IASB’s Delegate Assembly to better communicate members’ needs on policy and funding decisions. Use these opportunities to amplify your district’s voice and ensure that community concerns are heard by your elected officials.
Your Voices Matter
Whether you’re new to the board or an experienced member, what you say truly matters. Use it to tell your district’s story, engage your community, and uphold the IASB Foundational Principles of Effective Governance. While your journey as a board member can be challenging, with clear communication and purposeful engagement, you will help shape a future of excellence in public education and student success.
Kimberly Small, J.D., is the Executive Director of the Illinois Association of School Boards.