A large, highly reputable K-12 School with a strong self-perpetuating Board and a long-term Chair and Head became engulfed in a crisis. Lessons learned can help all of us in the school world.

The Chair was in his 10th year and had a strong hold on the Board made up mainly of alumni and former parents, and only two current parents. Also in his tenth year, the Head was an internal appointee whose total tenure with the School was 25 years and he was now in his 10th. He and the Chair were both strong independent personalities who tolerated one another.

The Chair heard rumors that the Head was negotiating salaries that were far above the guidelines in the salary structure with certain teachers. The Chair asked the Board to hire an outside CFO who would report directly to the Board, not to the Head, and would conduct an extensive audit of salaries. The Board agreed and the Head bristled.

The CFO reported also that the annual retirement payment to every teacher was 25% of base salaries and financially unsustainable. The Board was now very concerned about the Head’s leadership. 

The Head in turn was very worried about the composition of the Board and Chair’s control over it. He was also aware that the Chair had hired a good friend as the contractor for the School’s major construction project, thus prompting the Head to question the Chair’s ethics. 

The Board Vice Chair hired a Consultant to review the salary decisions, retirement policies and the overall performance of the School leadership. Rumors were spreading about potential Board conflicts of interest and proposed changes to the faculty pension plan.  Angry parents called for a town meeting.  Of the 200 parents who attended, 100 were teachers with children at the School. The Board was completely unprepared and none of their supporters attended.  The Head was absent. 

Against advice from counsel, the Board demanded the Head’s resignation. The Head had strong backing from his leadership team 

whom he had appointed and the faculty, many of whom were senior and tenured.

The community response was an outpouring of support for the Head from hundreds of parents and faculty who signed a petition asking the Board to keep him on.  The Head said he would remain IF the Board Chair stepped down and the Board reconstituted itself. That further infuriated the Board, and they fired the Head outright.

Next the faculty and HS students went on strike that the press covered, including photos widely seen around the world of protestors wearing black armbands. The School’s reputation suffered a major blow. Over the course of a few months, most of the Board Members resigned, and the Head and Deputy (also fired) left as well.

The School drifted and lost some enrollment before the Board hired a two-year prominent Interim and then finally chose a long-term Head.  It took that Head five years to rebuild most of what had been lost in the melee. 

Lessons Learned: 

1. Ensure the chair and head are a good match and get along with each other.
2. Ensure transparency and NO surprises between chair and head.
3. Ensure the  board has fiscal oversight at the strategic level including knowledge about the salary and benefit systems.
4. Ensure ongoing annual board training.
5. Ensure healthy and fair evaluation protocols for the Head, Chair and the entire Board on an annual basis.
6. Ensure that the Board knows who is on the leadership team, how and why they are chosen but do not set up dual reporting systems. The selection of the CFO should include the input of at least the finance chair and board chair.
7. Put  some current parents on the board of a day school.
8. Avoid town meetings whenever any angry stakeholder group organizes them. There are better ways to listen than encouraging a mob scene. 
9. Be aware of the rules, etiquette and timing of the head’s contract including appropriate language for terminating the head with and without cause. The board and head should understand both clauses, which should be fair to both. 
10. Ensure there is some communication between the board and the parent body possibly through a regular report to the board by the PTA or PA chair. We are not advocating for membership on the board of alumni or parent association leaders unless such positions are multiyear ones with the usual screenings.

Finally, remember that a crisis can arise at any time for any school, including famous, wealthy ones with a long history. It all starts when trust between the head and the chair and the head and the board is slipping and finally broken.

At any point along the way of this School’s story, actions could have been taken to avoid the ultimate crisis which unfolded. Both the Head, the Chair and the full Board ignored all the “off ramps” suggested.