Encourage Good Governance

Hold current trustees to a high standard. Trustees must:

They fulfill their three main goals: fiduciary duty to the institution, upholding the school's mission, and overseeing the Head of School.
Create goals for the Head of School that include a measurable commitment to viewpoint diversity.
Ensure that faculty, staff, and administrator reviews assess their proficiency and promotion of viewpoint diversity
Lead by example and not shy away from difficult conversations
Question process, for example, by questioning how the school came to decide what to teach and how to teach it. What evidence confirms that their approach works?
Define the school’s vision statement and values beyond the school’s mission statement
Work with your school to adopt its own version of the Chicago Statement:

“Because “the school” is committed to free and open inquiry in all matters, it guarantees all members of the “school” community the broadest possible latitude to speak, write, listen, challenge, and learn...[I]t is not the proper role of the “school” to attempt to shield individuals from ideas and opinions they find unwelcome, disagreeable, or even deeply offensive.”

— Excerpt from the Chicago Statement

Ask trustees to consider the following questions:

Does your school consider viewpoint diversity part of its definition of diversity and how is this reflected in the school’s mission/vision statements, values, and enrollment contract?
Is there transparency around ideological "curriculum?"
How does your school promote and assess viewpoint diversity, and how is it prioritized?
Is there “ideological” balance among faculty, staff, administrators, and trustees?
Do enrollment contracts clearly articulate how the school supports independent thinkers?
Are there policies/programs that support viewpoint diversity in the classroom?
What measures exist to ensure viewpoint diversity is respected and encouraged in the classroom?
How are “consultants” vetted and evaluated?
What systems and procedures ensure accountability?
Do guest speakers represent a variety of viewpoints and perspectives?
Does the Head of School receive any training with respect to viewpoint diversity?
Are teachers and administrators expected to attend professional development or trainings that support viewpoint diversity?
How does your hiring process attract and retain diverse thinkers?
What metrics are in place to ensure teachers encourage and support critical thinking and diverse perspectives?

Serve or find the right people who can

Boards need people who care enough to put in the time. This means serving on key committees, most importantly the nominating committee. Select Trustees based on their skills, experiences, and expertise outside of education to complement school heads, who often lack background in strategy and leadership. Ensure that heads surround themselves with people who complement and challenge them and act as a sounding board.

Stop donating

Stop donating to schools that don’t share your values.

Start a letter-writing campaign

Write a letter to the trustees explaining the problems and concerns you have and ask other parents to sign it in support. If the Head of School is the source of the problem, it is important to point that out. It’s also important that the signatories are not anonymous.

Replace the Head of School

The most consequential job for a trustee is the Head of School search; it is job #1. How best to approach this? The first critical step is to form a committee, the size and composition of which is critical; secondly, a search firm should be hired. It is most important to screen the firm and ensure that what you are looking for and what you do not want is clearly communicated. Remember, the firm you engage to run the search works for you. If you don’t like the candidates they find, keep looking or switch firms. “Back door” reference checking of the search firm consultants and also the candidates is critical.

Process matters. Good processes usually lead to good outcomes. The most important, and likely the hardest, question to answer is, “What kind of leader do you want?”

If you are not a social justice school that prioritizes DEI then the candidate search should not be focused on DEI and social justice. The board must be singularly focused on finding the best possible candidate for the job regardless of what box they check. What are the most important skills, qualities, and characteristics that your head of school should possess? Fundraising? Community building? Curriculum/program strengthening? Prioritize wisely.

It’s unreasonable to expect heads to do everything or know everything. Knowing that most are educators and not trained as leaders, you should be thoughtful about where the board chair can help support and “train” the head. Also, who will the head surround him/herself with? Having an “A team” that is aligned will set the school up for success.

Where do institutional neutrality and objective truth-seeking fit? Heads should want to operate in a structure that wants every student to be the best version of themselves. They can’t be all things to all people and they are human.

Head of School Search Considerations

How will we approach the Head of School search?
What will our process be? How will decisions be made, and who will make them? It’s important that the process is clear to all involved.
Who is, or should be, involved with the search committee? How big is the committee, who is on it, and how do people get on the committee?
Is institutional neutrality a goal you want to highlight to candidates?
Is the board chair prepared to lead the search committee since he/she will work with the incoming head?
Do you understand the value of a “closed” search vs. an “open” search?
How will we identify candidates?
How will we vet references?

Standardize questions and principles for each interview:

Listen more than you talk.
Assess what the candidates know about your school.
Ask candidates to discuss recent successes and failures and the reasons behind each.
Inquire about how they handle “difficult” parents.
Find out what they look for in teachers and staff.
Ask about common pitfalls they see in the Head of School role.