By FRED TANK
January 07, 2009 12:00 am School board members are elected by the people of the district to operate a school system that meets their needs and wishes. The board carries out this responsibility by hiring a professional manager and then it sets policies to guide the manager's day-to-day activities. Except for our ongoing responsibility to make sure that the operation of the school system meets the expectations of the community, that's our whole job description. Individual board members listen and learn from the community, the faculty and the staff of the district. We have numerous avenues for feedback from these constituents. The board certainly does not operate in isolation. All of this takes place in open public meetings that are televised for all to see. The operation of Traverse City Area Public Schools should be totally transparent, and it is. Individual board members ask questions and express opinions openly and it is often apparent that we do not all think alike. There is plenty of healthy dissent. Only when the discussion is over and at least four members agree, actions are taken. Basically, the only subject that is discussed out of the public eye is personnel matters, including the superintendent's performance review. The purpose of such a private meeting is not to hide what is being discussed, but rather, to facilitate and encourage a more open and honest dialogue. The board is meeting with its employee for the purpose of building and maintaining a thorough mutual understanding, and from that, establishing trust and confidence in each other's goals and methods. This review is done for the benefit of the superintendent, so he can do his job and grow in effectiveness. It's not for the board's benefit, and it's not done to inform the public. So the question here is who is the intended beneficiary of the review? I say it's the superintendent, and ultimately the school district. He hears the individual criticisms and suggestions and he knows where he needs to grow. The frankly stated criticisms can help him if stated privately and undermine him if stated publicly. In fact, if the review were done in public, the criticisms would probably never be made at all. We want him to be successful. We believe that reviews such as this increase the likelihood that he will continue to grow in effectiveness. That is why we have decided to have performance reviews every quarter rather than just annually. That we spent five hours doing it should be encouraging to the public, not a red flag that something is wrong. We take our jobs seriously, and we thoroughly discussed and reviewed all aspects of Jim Feil's management of TCAPS -- from the preschool through 12th grade curriculum, to communications, to the facilities management, to our financial operations. TCAPS is clearly an excellent school system running on a shoestring budget. That is the basis of our optimism in this time of uncertainty. About the author: Fred Tank is chairman of the Traverse City Area Public Schools board of education. About the forum: The forum is a periodic column of opinion written by Record-Eagle readers in their areas of interest or expertise. Submissions of 500 words or less may be made by e-mailing letters@record-eagle.com. Please include biographical information and a photo.
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