How do you become a member of the board of trustees at a school?

[Anonymous]

This may be a really dumb question, but I am interested in finding out the basic process.

[Anonymous]

There is a call for nominations during the year, and you submit your name for it. Then they vote. It helps if you have skills that might be helpful, or other relative experience.

[Anonymous]

It's different at every school. At my DC's school -- the people on the board each had to give a certain amount of money. Additionally, they had to serve in some leadership roles before being appointed to the board. Some ran the auctions; served at PTA President (or whatever your school calls its parent-teacher association) or chaired some significant school wide effort. All of the privates are also looking for balance. They're looking for men willing to serve and also minorities who have a good job title. Diversity is valued.
If you're a CPA/lawyer/developer -- those fields are valued for the type of work the board has to undertake in many schools.

[Anonymous]

Part of the process is figuring out the mix of people the school wants on the board. That can be a mix of skills sets (finance, law, RE, education, etc.) and affliation (community, business, alumni, current parents, etc.). Some schools have boards heavily dominated by current parents, others have very few. Boards typically have a few seats open up each year and there is a cultivation/recruiting process that goes on to identify and encourage joining. I will say that contribution history or ability to contribute is very important. Fundraising is an important role for Boards and many boards contribute the leadership gifts in the school. Some schools are pretty quiet about board recruitment, others open up the process, and a couple even have elections for board members.

[Anonymous]

PP is right that it can be different at every school. Many boards are what's called self-perpetuating, ie they select their own new members. They have various methods of developing lists of potential candidates, which they then evaluate them in terms of the needs of the board in order to develop recommendations for a vote of the full board. To the extent you're interested in getting your name on a list of potential candidates at a school that has this type of board, the most effective person to talk with about it is the chair of the trustees committee. Typically the head of school is also on the trustees committee and could also be a good person to talk with.

[Anonymous]

Many boards also have alum, or an alumni representative.

[Anonymous]

All the above may be true, but if you can afford to make significant financial contributions, I'm sure that would help also.

[Anonymous]

It is essentially understood that any board members will be contributing serious cash with maybe one or two member chosen for specific skills or representation.

While most schools put out a call for elections, in truth, the boards go out and hand-select the people they want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is essentially understood that any board members will be contributing serious cash with maybe one or two member chosen for specific skills or representation.

While most schools put out a call for elections, in truth, the boards go out and hand-select the people they want.

23:13 here - thanks for your honesty.

[Anonymous]

Some private schools will sometimes say that they are looking for a board where all the trustees have at least one of the following (more than one appreciated): Wealth, Wisdom, or Work. Wealth speaks for itself. "Wisdom" is often a professional background, whether in finance, law, accounting, or education (e.g. former heads of schools on boards of othr schools). "Work" is factor that may offer the best chance to join a board -- a combination of a history of significant volunteerism on behalf of the school, and a perception by the school community that you are a talented organizer who works well with the community.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All the above may be true, but if you can afford to make significant financial contributions, I'm sure that would help also.

Clearly true, but neither necessary nor sufficient. In other words, some folks get chosen for non-monetary attributes (see PP's wealth, wisdom, or work), while some folks are so obnoxious that no amount of donation will get them onto the Board.