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Trainers tell Iredell-Statesville board: ‘Recognize competing public values; change is slow’
Summary
Two North Carolina School Board Association trainers led a workshop on the role of school boards in a democracy, emphasizing differing values, the slow pace of change and the practical challenges of funding and staffing.
Dr. Jim Watson and Dr. Walter Hart led “Boards Operating in a Democracy” training for the Iredell‑Statesville Schools Board of Education, focusing on board roles, competing public values and the realities of school finance and staffing.
Watson, a UNC Charlotte faculty member and former superintendent, said board members must accept that different board members and constituents will prioritize different public values — liberty, prosperity, equality and community — and that those values can collide when allocating scarce resources. “We may have an idea around safety and security that we feel really strongly about … but then we know that we probably can't do it for free,” Watson said. “Boards are left to try and grapple with where we are going to land in regards to these values.”
Hart, also a UNC Charlotte faculty member and former superintendent, led participants through the National School Boards Association’s “hardest lessons” for board members and interactive exercises. He highlighted practical trade‑offs the district faces: investing in school resource officers (SROs) versus academic interventions. “If we had $2.5 million to put in high‑dose tutoring, we could improve scores. But you have $2.5 million, so you put it in safety,” Hart said, describing decisions the board must weigh.
The session included a U.S. Coast Guard “lost at sea” prioritization exercise to open conversation about decision making and a sticky‑dot activity to surface which of the 12 hardest lessons participants found most difficult. Trainers and board members discussed persistent issues raised by participants, including the county’s position relative to other North Carolina districts on state funding (trainers said the district ranks near the bottom of state funding tables; an exact rank was not specified in the training), the national teacher shortage and the local impact of calendar and weather decisions.
The training was presented as continuing education for board members and did not include formal board action. Participants were asked to complete a self‑reflection questionnaire to help the trainers summarize how the board operates and to inform future work.
