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West Oso ISD trustees review meeting "top 10" best practices, plan governance handbook update
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Summary
Consultant Dr. Gibson reviewed a 10-point checklist of meeting best practices for the West Oso ISD board, trustees and senior staff, and trustees agreed to add a new chart to the district's good governance handbook to codify norms and expectations.
Dr. Gibson, a presenter leading the district's strategic roundtable, told trustees the session would use a short set of best practices drawn from Harvard Business School and years of school-board experience. "It's best to listen and not speak. But if I do speak, what will my words sound like in 10 minutes? What will they sound like in 10 weeks? And what will they sound like in 10 years?" he said.
The presentation summarized meeting rules trustees were asked to consider: time allotments and the 40/20/40 rule (40% preparation, 20% meeting time, 40% follow-up); two versions of 80/20 (keep 80% strategic, 20% tactical; and focus on the 20% of actions that create 80% of results); a suggested limit on working-meeting size (the "two-pizza" rule); the "four P's" of meeting etiquette (preparation, read-ahead, punctuality, purpose); and decorum standards. Dr. Gibson also urged clearer agenda labeling so trustees know which items are informational and which are actionable.
Trustees discussed practical steps to implement the norms. They agreed to extract the one-page summary (BLUF: bottom line up front) pages from the full packet so trustees can review a stand-alone summary before meetings, and to include a chart describing how the board and administration should support one another in the district's good governance handbook. Byron, the district technology staff member, collected anonymous sticky-note ratings from meeting participants and reported an average score of 5.5 (range 3'8) on a 1-to-10 scale for the board's current meeting harmony and productivity.
The board asked administration to draft the chart and to return a proposed amendment to the governance handbook for consideration at a future meeting; trustees also discussed holding periodic refreshers on meeting rules and a pared-down reference for Robert's Rules of Order. No formal vote was taken at the roundtable; the board instructed staff to prepare the governance-handbook update for later review.
