Have Your Say - Top Risks for Schools in 2024
Subscribe

The Relationship Between the Principal, the Business Manager and the Board Chair (Part Three)

23/11/16
Resources

This is the third and final article in a three-part series on the relationships between the Board Chair, the Principal and the Business Manager in a school. In this series, Craig D’cruz, National Education Consultant at CompliSpace, explores how the human relationships between these three people are often determined by their roles and responsibilities and the governance and leadership structure within the school. In Part Three of this series, Craig examines the relationship between the triumvirate; the Board Chair, the Principal and the Business Manager.

There are many different non-government school models and systemic non-government school models in Australia. The relationships that exist between the Board Chair, Principal and Business Manager vary according to the type of school, its governing accountability, the culture of the school and the culture of the overarching governing body if there is one.

Other environmental factors which can affect these relationships include the size of the school (some schools may not have a Business Manager), whether or not the school has independent governance or is part of a system with an ‘Advisory Board’ and whether the school has an independent constitution.

In most schools, as both Principal and Business Manager are employees, it is the Board that needs to set clear guidelines so that these two roles and the interrelationship between these roles is clearly defined. It can be argued that it is the Chair whose duties include the facilitation of the understanding of these roles by the Principal and Business Manager. However, it is not like the previous two relationship models as, regardless of how each person is appointed or who they are accountable to, they are still employees of the school and must report to and defer to the Board - even if the Board is an Advisory Board.

The ‘triumvirate’ relationship model indicates, by definition, that there is an equal separation of authority and possibly responsibility as well. However, in practice, this is not necessarily the case. Generally, the Business Manager would report to the Principal who, in turn, reports to the Board through the Chair.

The Chair, as the channel of communication between the Board and the Principal (and hence the school executive), should ensure that there are clear communication lines established between the Principal, Business Manager and the Board with a minimum of duplication and ensure that the Board is kept informed of all relevant issues that pertain to the governance of the school. It is also the responsibility of the Chair to ensure that there is an established governance culture that builds trust.

The relationship between these stakeholders may break down if:

  • The Chair does not understand his/her own role in setting parameters for the conducting of business of the school;
  • The Chair is weak and allows one to ‘play off’ the other;
  • The Chair or the Board does not follow the set protocols and approved communication channels between the Board and these two employees;
  • The Principal attempts to lead the Board rather than the school;
  • The Business Manager attempts to make financial decisions that will undermine or impact on the child safe or educational decisions of the Principal;
  • There is a failure to identify the powers of each entity - do the powers arise from legislation, the constitution or other authorising documents;
  • The Principal and Business Manager have not already worked out an acceptable personal modus operandi or, if it is in place, it is not known, recognised and accepted by the Chair;
  • The lines of accountability between the Chair, Principal and Business Manager are not clearly defined, understood and followed;
  • The distinction between what is considered to be day-to-day management and business management needs to be defined by the Board, in association with the Principal and Business Manager and then clearly articulated to all staff;
  • The roles of each person both in the school and within the Board are not defined and understood; and
  • There are external groups, who have responsibility for the school, who may provide support for and preferred contact with only one of the two.

Determining the lines of responsibility and authority by the Board is arguably the most essential component of the relationship between these three people – and it should be the Chair who, through regular contact with the Principal (and possibly the Business Manager), ensures that professional boundaries remain clear between the two. This should be determined as a risk and it should be managed like any other risk, with clear policy and procedures to ensure that the risk is minimised.

Other suggestions by which the Chair (and the Board) may ensure that the relationships between the Chair, Principal and Business Manager remain viable and functional include (adapted from Willis):

  • Setting clear performance measures (KPIs) for the Principal and the Business Manager (if Board appointed), aligned with the school’s strategic and operational plans and budgets;
  • Articulating the Board’s cultural expectations of the Principal and the Business Manager, and ensuring that culture is part of the assessment process - this ensures that there is a balance between performance and cultural alignment for both leaders, with neither element dominating the other to the detriment of the school;
  • Formal reviews of performance, undertaken by a small group of the Board, who consult with stakeholders and review both cultural alignment and performance against KPIs;
  • Regular weekly or fortnightly meetings with the Chair and/or the Board Treasurer, to talk over genuine school issues; and
  • Ensuring that the Principal’s Board report and the financial report of the Business Manager are key agenda items so that there is Board consideration and discussion of the major issues contained in each report and that one is not favoured or relegated by the other.

In summary, each relationship is a human relationship. Defining each role helps to define the relationship boundaries for the people concerned. Defining the school culture, knowing the KPI’s and knowing the lines of authority, responsibility and accountability further defines the boundaries of each role. In addition, making time to communicate regularly, effectively and with genuine purpose is essential.

If it appears that the relationship between two or more people is deteriorating, then the risk is clearly high and more time must be allocated to ensure that there is no breakdown. It will vary from school to school but the common practice is that sufficient time must be spent in both establishing and maintaining the relationships between the roles. Failure to:

  • put time and effort into these relationships;
  • failure to define the roles and boundaries and manage them; and
  • a failure to communicate could result in a breakdown in any of these relationships which could be a complete disaster for the school.

At a recent school forum, a breakdown in the relationship between any two of these three crucial people was described as being akin to a very messy and expensive divorce. Apart from the toll it takes on the individuals, the children will suffer the most. The only winners are the legal advisers.

What are the risks associated with a breakdown in the relationships between any of these three crucial people in your school? 

 
Share this
About the Author

Craig D’cruz

With 39 years of educational experience, Craig D’cruz is the Principal Consultant and Sector Lead, Education at Ideagen CompliSpace. Craig provides direction on education matters including new products, program/module content and training. Previously Craig held the roles of Industrial Officer at the Association of Independent Schools of WA, he was the Principal of a K-12 non-government school, Deputy Principal of a systemic non-government school and he has had boarding, teaching and leadership experience in both the independent and Catholic school sectors. Craig has also spent ten years on the board of a large non-government school and is a regular presenter on behalf of Ideagen CompliSpace and other educational bodies on issues relating to school governance, school culture and leadership.

Resources you may like

Article
Sextortion: A Growing Concern for Schools

Trigger warning: This article references sexual assault, child abuse, and suicide.

Read More
Article
Changes to the Australian Consumer Law – What Schools Need to Know

Many schools rely on standard form contracts to avoid the time and cost of drafting and negotiating...

Read More
Article
The SG Wrap: February 29, 2024

The information in the SG Wrap is aggregated from other news sources to provide you with news that...

Read More

Want School Governance delivered to your inbox weekly?

Sign up today!
Subscribe