Craig Verley

Do you speak on behalf of your board of trustees? Do you speak on behalf of individual members of your board of trustees? I am hoping you answered “no” to the second question. I still struggle with answering “yes” to the first one.

Hopefully, you work in a district that has defined who speaks for the board, as a whole. Preferably this would be one of the officers, starting with the board president and then working down the officer hierarchy from there, depending upon their availability. The board of trustees are elected officials who answer to their voters. They should take the responsibility of explaining their actions, themselves. Board members should be expected to explain their individual actions, especially in situations where there might have been split votes and opinions expressed during the meeting.

Now, this does not mean throwing them to the wolves as it were. If you can, try to provide training for the board members about how best to address questions from the media and provide tips on communicating issues to the public. This could be built into trainings that many districts arrange for as new members join the board after elections. Annual refreshers would also be a good idea. Helping craft messages on issues in advance for the board to consider using is another way that you can help guide their messaging, in line with district values. Helping craft messages to release on behalf of the board of trustees, or for the board officer to use while speaking on behalf of the board as a whole might be a good workaround as well.

I have personally experienced and seen instances, in more than one district, where members of a board of trustees expected the district communications person to act as their spokesperson and to run interference with members of the media. That should not be your role. In my humble opinion, unless it is spelled out as one of your job duties, you speak on behalf of the district; not the board of trustees or its elected members. There is an important difference between the two that can help keep you out of some of the board politics. We all know that local politics can be a blood sport in some communities, and you are best to stay neutral.

Another way around the issue might also be to be able to speak with members of the media explaining the facts that resulted in the action taken by the board as a whole on items of unanimous approval. However, the minute you try to dive into explaining beyond the facts considered, you can find yourself going down a road you really don’t want to travel.

With the November elections quickly approaching, some districts are also holding elections for their board of trustees. If your district does not have your role clearly defined regarding communicating about board actions, it might be time to have a conversation with your superintendent, or supervisor. Then, after the elections, you can move forward with the appropriate plans for training the board members and supporting them as they enter the world of media communications, etc.

The best-case scenario will have you acting only as the district spokesperson, and not also the board spokesperson. Speaking on behalf of individual board members should also not be one of your duties. They are elected officials who answer to their voters. You do not and should not.