Reply to Question about board influence

Forum Index » Private & Independent Schools

Reply to "Question about board influence"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This is complete hogwash, having been on the board of one of the highly selective PK-12 schools sought after. Sure, a letter from a board member that knows an older kid in particularly really well might be a slight positive all else being equal, but not a "gee I know this 4 year old having seen her once at the pool and she seems well-behaved", that is just absurd.  A 7th grader, really really doubt it. Any board member that starts trying to make demands like that would not be long for the board. As someone said, with say 6 -12 openings or so at most of these schools for MS, or 20-40 for high school, or 10 or less for P or K not counting siblings, how could the above "urban legend" possibly be true? 
[/quote]

+1.  Can't speak for every school, but I've served on two boards and in neither case could I gain an "admit" for a kid just by virtue of my board seat.  And more to the point, it would be considered completely out of bounds for me to try.  Every board member at EVERY school (yes, every, as it's one of the foundational principles of the regional/national school board organization for independent schools) is taught from the first day that curriculum, staffing, discipline, operational/day-to-day, and admission decisions are the province of the Head and staff, and that the Board's role is reserved for long-term strategic, risk management, and other "big picture" issues.

Is it out of the realm of possibility that a board member abuses his/her role to try to pressure the Head or staff to admit an applicant?  No. but very unlikely.  Is it out the realm of possibility that a Head would be susceptible to such pressure?  Even less likely, given that Heads rather jealously guard against encroachments by the Board on their authority (justifiably so).

Is it possible and within the bounds of good Board behavior to mention to the Head that you know and respect a particular applicant and family, and would not hesitate to recommend admission?  Of course not.  I'm sure that happens all the time, and would probably carry great weight with Admissions if the board member is respected.  But that's true of any recommendation.[/quote]

As a (recent) former board chair of a DC independent school, I agree with these two comments 100%.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics