Communicating What Matters to the School Board Ahead of Reentry

A very different school environment is right around the corner. As schools and organizations prepare for reentry, communication around the changes we’ll see in classrooms and on campuses will be key.

To successfully implement changes needed to make schools safer, while also driving progress, communication between the school district and school board will need to be effective and crystal clear.  An organizational scorecard is a tool that can help. Used as a communication tool, the scorecard brings focus to what’s most relevant in those conversations. It pinpoints what matters when it comes to goals and progress, which is what board members want to hear.

Watch as Studer Education coach Dr. JoAnn Sternke explains how using the scorecard can help when communicating key changes and information to the school board.

For reentry, it will be helpful to use scorecards that show progress within shorter time spans as multiple new changes will be in action across schools this fall and will be closely monitored. Here is a sample organizational scorecard from Leading a Successful Reentry Toolkit that shows areas leaders can potentially measure for reentry this fall and sample metrics aligned to those key areas.

Use the Organizational Scorecard template from the Reentry Toolkit to outline areas of measure and metrics that are important for your organization. Once you have the key areas of work that will be important for reentry identified, use it as a communication tool in your meetings with the school board. Here are a few key actions to keep in mind.

Using the Scorecard to Communicate Key Work

1. Share it with board members often.
Share the scorecard and progress updates at every school board meeting and workshop. Using it every time will build clarity and eliminate the need for additional probing or misunderstanding of the organization’s priorities and results.

2. Use it to communicate externally.
Use the scorecard to communicate priorities and progress to a broader audience by posting the scorecard, with progress updates, on the organization’s website. This helps communicate the value of what the organization does and the impact on those served.

You may also want to consider including board members in any weekly or monthly progress communication. This can be achieved via newsletter or an update on the school district’s website. Here is an an example from our partners at District 49’s Sand Creek Zone.

3. Align wins to organizational goals.
As you share wins, be sure to highlight how they align to goals on the organization’s scorecard.