No one knows everything about anything. This is particular true about members involved with realizing the mission of Catholic schools, especially at a time when new challenges continue to face our schools. Current topics that call for members’ understanding and knowledge to face these challenges are new revenue streams for Catholic schools, emerging school reconfigurations, all aspects of succession planning, the National Core Standards and the National Standards for Catholic Schools, to name a few. If leadership is to provide the direction and leadership for the enterprise then they must always be open to learning so it will make informed decisions that further the mission.
Who and how are the educational needs of the Catholic education leaders or governing bodies determined? One administrator of an outstanding board asks the members what they would like to know about and builds the continual leaning around those suggestions. Another outstanding board relies on the Governance Committee or Nominating/Board Development Committee to take charge of the board’s continual education. In both approaches, a piece of the agenda is devoted to learning something about the school or Catholic schools in general or best practices from around the country.
Continuous education is a hallmark of an effective board. With that in mind, we have compiled a short list of resources that leaders in Catholic education should read over the summer:
Using Financial Statements for Oversight and Planning
Compendium of NCEA Notes Legal Issues 25th Year Edition
Breathing New Life into Catholic Schools: An Exploration of Governance Models
This post was adapted from its original posting on the NCEA Boards and Councils newsfeed.
