Boards of Trustees

[Anonymous]

Does your school have one?
How is it chosen?
What powers does it have?

I'm wondering if our Soviet-style elections are the norm.

[Anonymous]

What school are you referring to? Why don't you give us a bit more info of how it's done at your kids' school first, and then we can let you know if it is the norm, or not?

[Anonymous]

Because I'm not posting to bitch about the school; I'm trying to find out what the local norms are. And I'm not asking anyone to identify their school -- just to describe how their board is chosen and what it does.

E.g. does the current board nominate its own successors (directly or indirectly -- e.g. by choosing a nominating committee)? Are there the same number of candidates as there are spaces -- or is there real choice? Are there write-in candidacies and/or do people "run" for the board?
Is the board's function primarily financial oversight and assistance or does it set policy (educational, admissions, financial aid)?

[Anonymous]

PP - I have to say I have similar feelings about the board at our current school and the awareness that only the wealthy appear (i.e. ability to pay full freight AND the gap) to be given any real consideration troubles me a great deal. I have to say this awareness has changed some of my warm and fuzzy feelings about the school.

[Anonymous]

Our Board of Trustees is chosen by a Nominating Committee. It is comprised of parents, alumni and parents of alumni who have some professional expertise to lend to the management of the school. This might include financial management, education, operations, etc.

The Board sets the tone for the the institution including input on some aspects of policy (a hard balance when you have a faculty and administration who you don't want to second guess). While there are some monied people on the Board, it is hardly a litmus test.

[Anonymous]

The board's job should be long term planning, longevity of the institution, overseeing wise use of existing resources, and building the coffers. Perhaps even, doing this in harmony with the morals and values of the institution. Ideally the board is comprised of individuals with a mix of resources and expertise to share. Since nothing functions ideally, it will be interesting to see the responses to OP's post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our Board of Trustees is chosen by a Nominating Committee. It is comprised of parents, alumni and parents of alumni who have some professional expertise to lend to the management of the school. This might include financial management, education, operations, etc.

The Board sets the tone for the the institution including input on some aspects of policy (a hard balance when you have a faculty and administration who you don't want to second guess). While there are some monied people on the Board, it is hardly a litmus test.

composed of
wealthy people

"Monied interests" is okay; "monied people" is not. "Comprised of" is never correct - it's sort of an embarrassing error.

I do like the way you capitalize "Board" though!

[Anonymous]

Most Boards are appointed by a Governance Committee. One of my kids is at a school with a parent elected Board in which anyone may nominate themselves to stand for election. The Boards of the larger schools tend to have a relatively small number of current parents on them. Board members are expected to contribute heavily to the school so having money or access to money certainly helps.

[Anonymous]

Not PP, but 22:32 I have to say your post is super annoying to me. You offer no help and only grammatical criticism. People type quickly here and are not always rereading their posts for perfect English, nor is it necessary as everyone gets the meaning. What is your point? You're an editor who never needs editing? Just to inform you please see Random House's definition and usage of comprise. Granted it is not the OED by a long stretch, but I think that it works for a lot of people (I'm a Websters girl myself.) You'll note number 4 as Idiom and then the usage paragraph below. Enjoy. Please also try to contribute to the topic when you are also taking the time to correct your neighbors. So in that spirit, the board at our school is voted upon by teachers, admin, alums etc. Usually comprised of wealthy donors and also extremely involved alum.

com·prise
? ?/k?m?pra?z/ Show Spelled[kuhm-prahyz] Show IPA
–verb (used with object),-prised, -pris·ing.
1.
to include or contain: The Soviet Union comprised several socialist republics.

2.
to consist of; be composed of: The advisory board comprises six members.

3.
to form or constitute: Seminars and lectures comprised the day's activities.

Idiom
4.
be comprised of, to consist of; be composed of: The sales network is comprised of independent outlets and chain stores.
Use comprised in a Sentence

—Can be confusedcompose, comprise, constitute (see usage note at this entry).

—Usage note
Comprise has had an interesting history of sense development. In addition to its original senses, dating from the 15th century, “to include” and “to consist of” (The United States of America comprises 50 states), comprise has had since the late 18th century the meaning “to form or constitute” (Fifty states comprise the United States of America). Since the late 19th century it has also been used in passive constructions with a sense synonymous with that of one of its original meanings “to consist of, be composed of”: The United States of America is comprised of 50 states. These later uses are often criticized, but they occur with increasing frequency even in formal speech and writing.

Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our Board of Trustees is chosen by a Nominating Committee.

So no election at all? -- i.e. there's no involvement of the parent body as a whole?

How/by whom is the Nominating Committee chosen?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our Board of Trustees is chosen by a Nominating Committee.

So no election at all? -- i.e. there's no involvement of the parent body as a whole?

How/by whom is the Nominating Committee chosen?

No voting. I think you may be confusing the roles of a parent's association vs. a board. Most independent schools would have both plus an alumnae association. Both the parent's association and alumnae association would have their own officers which may or may not be voted on by the relevant constituents. Sometimes, the president of the parent association and/or the alumnae association would have an automatic seat on the Board of Directors/Trustees. Boards are typically made up of only some current parents with the rest being alumnae, previous parents, and other "friends of the school" chosen for a particular skill or interest.

[Anonymous]

No -- no confusion on my part. Just a different structure at our DC's school than at yours, apparently. (Which is why I'm asking). Ours has all three associations, but the entire parent body *does* vote for the Board of Trustees. (In fact, we get mailed a ballot/candidate statements for that election. By contrast, I think you have to show up in person to vote for the officers in the PTA equivalent.)

FWIW, the university where I got my undergraduate degree also has alumns vote for both the directors of the alumni association and the equivalent of the Board of Trustees. Ballots/candidate statements are sent out for both elections but, unlike my DC's school, the number of candidates exceeds the number of slots.

[Anonymous]

22:57 here, from a school with a parent elected Board. This structure is very unusual in independent schools. Sounds like your school is too (and they aren't the same school because we don't have a PA.) Sometimes the number of candidates is the same as the number of slots but if a parent wants to nominate themselves they can so there is no limitation on who can stand for election (other than it has to be someone who is a member of the school community).

[Anonymous]

A Board elected by the entire parent body is highly unusual, I agree with 13:21. GDS has the parents elect the Board, which is presumably the school that at least one of the PPs is referring to. As I understand it, this structure owes to the fact that GDS was a school that was essentially founded by parents, who established a Parent Corporation that nominally owns the school. Again, this structure is quite unusual.

At our DCs' school, the new members of the Board are elected by the current Board. Nominations themselves are not a closed process. They are actively solicited from the entire community, and I know that parent-nominated (i.e., non-Board) candidates regularly end up on the Board. I think this structure is pretty typical, though I do know that at some schools, not even the nomination process is announced or opened to the school community as a whole.

[Anonymous]

The evolution of the board probably reflects the evolution of the school. Schools that were or are historically connected with a religious institution, and have been around for 100+ years may have different board histories than say, a relatively newer school that was built on a philosophy or curriculum structure (Montessori, Waldorf, IB Program - I know those are nothing alike-just mean they aren't Episcopal, Methodist, etc.). Some schools were founded by parents or individuals interested in offering a certain kind of education to their children. They may have historically had many parent board members.
Perhaps the OP is looking at a school in which the board has gone from open elections, to self-perpetuating, in which current board members choose their successors and the election is a fait accompli.