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Council of Great City Schools leads governance workshop for LRSD board emphasizing 'stay in your lane'
Summary
Dr. Barbara Jenkins of the Council of Great City Schools led a governance and teamwork workshop for the Little Rock School District board, covering effective-board research, statutes, policy governance, a 'True Colors' personality exercise and a 'stay in your lane' governance quiz; board scheduled follow-up training in May.
The Little Rock School District hosted a condensed governance and teamwork workshop led by Dr. Barbara Jenkins of the Council of Great City Schools that focused on clarifying the board's policy role and the superintendent's managerial responsibilities.
Dr. Jenkins opened by reviewing research linking board practices to student achievement and urged members to "focus their work on policy," hire and evaluate the superintendent carefully and engage the community. She noted boards who concentrate on high-quality instruction and collaborative culture are likelier to improve student outcomes.
The workshop used an interactive True Colors personality inventory to surface how members' differing working styles can support teamwork. Board members volunteered short personal statements about why they ran for the board and reflected on shared themes: student-focused motivation, community engagement and improving outcomes.
A central exercise, "stay in your lane," presented eight scenarios of board or superintendent actions; participants judged whether each actor should proceed or refrain. Examples included whether a superintendent may unilaterally implement a district-wide dress code (ruled out absent an emergency) and whether board members may direct personnel assignments (not appropriate).
Dr. Jenkins and staff reviewed relevant statute excerpts and district policies that enumerate board duties, highlighting the legal principle that individual board members have authority only when acting as a legally convened board. She and board members discussed the utility of adopting consistent norms for hearings and personnel processes.
Board members agreed to schedule a follow-up, longer session (part two) to continue team-building and governance work; May 14 was discussed as a likely date for that continuation. Dr. Jenkins recommended the district consider longer-term coaching from the Council of Great City Schools to sustain the work.
The training included practical team activities (policy summarization, school-visit expectations, and a stay-in-your-lane test) and concluded with board members offering "pluses and deltas" to shape the next session.
No formal board policy was changed during the workshop; members asked staff to return to a future meeting with proposed timelines and any draft policy edits that would operationalize governance recommendations.
