Role of School Board Members, Relations With Colleagues and Public Discussed as Workshop

BRADENTON – An afternoon-long workshop on how the Manatee School Board can improve relations with each other, with senior district leadership, and with the public was held Tuesday with board members, Superintendent Dr. Diana Greene, Deputy Superintendents Don Hall and Cynthia Saunders, and consultant Barry Banther.

"We've had some changes," said Board Chair Bob Gause, mentioning Greene's July hire as superintendent and a recently completed district climate survey, which he said could be used as a tool to "hopefully move forward." Gause also said that "there may be some issues with people understanding their lanes," and that "we as a board can do a better job at managing our lanes."

The board's role in the district was discussed throughout the workshop, and was a requested topic by one board member. Banther called the issue "striving to respect the boundary between governance and management while staying informed."

"As board members, it may be your role to discover and express problems," said Banther.

Charlie Kennedy said there continues to be a public perception that board members wield significant power. "They need to be educated on how we have no power as individuals," he said.

New board member John Colon said, "Policy is the board's purview. Management is the superintendent's purview." Karen Carpenter added, "Policy is the 'what' and the 'why'; management is the 'how.' "

Showing respect for colleagues in meetings and with community members was also talked about, along with encouraging communication between senior administration and citizens.

Deputy Superintendent of Operations Don Hall said that citizens' questions about issues such as the budget have recently been answered by senior leadership, noting how one citizen mentioned at a recent meeting that her questions about the budget were answered by administration, which she said saved her hours of going through it to try to understand it. "We've stopped questions from coming to the board," Hall said.

Gause noted that continuing to improve relations and efficiency on the board and in the district would cause less public criticism.

"People praise silently. If the district is functioning well, nobody is paying attention to the board."