Specification requirements and documentation

School Superintendent's Communication Within The District And Community

This is a guideline and template and is NOT to be used as a turn-in paper.

School Superintendent's Communication

With the School Board Members

According to studies done over the past two decades, over 60% of school superintendents spend about three to four hours a week, total, communicating with board members. And most of that is with the chairman which leaves very little time with other members of the board. The studies have also shown that those superintendents who are successful communicate at least twice that much (Glass, Bjork, & Brunner, 2000, p. 81).

Every study produced emphasizes communication as the critical component in a good relationship with the school board. It's always the board member's top level complaint about the superintendent. Either they feel that they don't know what's going on or they are informed too late on some issues to really study them because the superintendent didn't provide documents or verbal briefings soon enough.

The cure is to treat the board members as if they are important team members of your own staff. Share with them your thoughts about the future; let them know how you think about issues; request their thoughts on any major problems or issues. And make certain they get no surprises by seeing something on television that you should have told them about. Surprises, as all the literature will tell you, is a no-no (McAdams, 2009).

Christy G. Graham's study at the University of Missouri-Columbia (2007) defined communication attributes as: "...the superintendent's trustworthiness, expertness and social attractiveness." Graham's findings indicated the attributes of social influence and social style are perceived as "essential to a superintendent's ability to develop and maintain a cooperative working relationship with board members and the community" (Board perceptions, 2007, para.

2,3). The communication attributes of trustworthiness, social attractiveness, emotiveness and expertness were determined by the researcher to have more influence on board decision-making than the attribute of assertiveness (Board perceptions, 2007). In other words, communication, for a school superintendent to be effective with his school board (and re-hired), is essential in all things.

With the Community

This can be a rather complicated issue for the school superintendent. He or she must have a presence before teachers, administrators, students' parents, students, and school board, as well as the public in general. He also must communicate everyday issues, problems, and emergency situations, which are occurring more often in the past decade. The District's website must be maintained properly and enthusiastically as it is a primary communication tool for many, including those parents considering the district as their residence. It is not an easy task.

In addition to that he must coordinate his own and his staff's presence at public events, forums, community group functions to "get the word out" and to maintain the public's trust that he is open and available.

Some of the most successful superintendents have taken to inviting all of the public to participate in district and school issues, not just those with children who attend the schools.

Keeping all of the taxpayers who end up supporting the school district informed reaps the benefits of open communication: increased trust from the public, new ideas to improve the schools, a different perspective on changes to the educational system from a new group of interested people, and increased understanding by the public of the district's issues so that they aren't just marking 'no' on the ballot when school initiatives, bonds, etc. come up.

It is important for the superintendent to communicate his availability to "all comers" by having an open door policy of some sort that shows the public he is serious about getting their input.

As the role of the superintendent evolves with our new economy, it becomes more and more his responsibility to represent his district to the business community, both locally and state-wide.

He must take the district's message out to those groups representing business, government, and social organizations as well (Thomas, 2002).

He should not only participate but play a role in the economic plans for the local area so that his educational issues and institutions are an integral part of the planning. His communication to all of these various groups is critical, not only in what he says, but in how he presents himself and his arguments. It raises the need for both written and verbal communication skills to reach an optimum level that can persuade and cajole.

It is believed by many experts that this economic role will become more important in future years and that in order to achieve the status of superintendent, a candidate will have to display some experience or education in that field to ensure board members that he or she is capable of representing the district well (Thomas, 2002).

With Administrators, Staff and Teachers

School superintendents face a new level of issues when dealing with these three groups of employees, and it is very important how the man or woman in that position communicates layoffs, curriculum changes, school closures, firings, or an order to re-apply for their jobs, as has been done now in a significant number of districts around the country.

One of the superintendent's first priorities is to get out of the office and meet with his or her school principals on an individual basis based on a regular schedule of seeing them. Just like board members, he wants their support, and he needs to give them his. It is also the ideal way to know first-hand what is going on in his district and to keep a regular finger on the pulse of issues and problems. As well, he needs to keep them up to speed on current issues before they read it in the newspaper. he/she needs to ask for their input and opinions to make them feel a part of the decision-making process that will ultimately affect them (Hopper, 2005).