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Richland One board retreat flags trust and information gaps as priorities
Summary
At a Jan. 26 governance retreat, the Richland One Board of Commissioners rated team functioning and identified two priorities: rebuilding interpersonal trust and ensuring board members consistently receive the information they need to make high‑quality decisions.
The Richland One Board of Commissioners met in a special governance retreat on Jan. 26, 2026, and concluded that rebuilding trust among members and improving the flow of information for decision‑making are the top governance priorities.
Facilitator Pete Gorman opened the session by framing governance effectiveness around three metaphors—"the rules of the game, the score, and how much time is on the clock"—and led the board through a formative self‑assessment that asked members to rate five areas of board work. Chair Robert Lmanac called for candid feedback and noted that while discussions have been "productive and appropriate," he expected shared district priorities to strengthen over the coming months.
Board members’ ratings clustered around two concerns. Multiple commissioners said a key weakness was question two on the assessment—whether the board makes "high‑quality, well‑informed decisions"—and several described lingering "baggage" from previous governance practices that affects how they interpret information at the table. Commissioner Aaron Bishop praised the chair’s leadership but said past dynamics sometimes make evaluations feel subjective rather than objective: "I think one of my commissioners did say that there are times when it seems subjective rather than objective because of the conversation at the table." Commissioner Erica Hersy urged members to "let go of some of our past trauma" to move forward.
Superintendent Dr. Todd Walker told the board that the district has a strategic plan and has shared 90‑day findings with the board; he said the next step is to "dive into the strategic directions, the objectives, the outputs and inputs" so the board will have clearer parameters for decisions. "I think that will be another catalyst to help the board to be able to have the parameters to lean in in that way," Walker said.
Facilitator Gorman summarized the retreat’s takeaway: "trust is one of those commodities that's easily lost, but it's hard to earn back" and must be built slowly through consistent small actions. Board members agreed to continue work on both trust and information flow and asked Dr. Walker to return with concrete tracking—especially a midyear report on constituent concerns routed through the ombudsman—that can be monitored alongside the district’s strategic work.
The board adopted the meeting agenda at the start of the session by unanimous voice vote and adjourned after the facilitated discussions with follow‑up assignments for staff.
