Strong collaboration between school boards and superintendents can be make or break for district leadership—but those relationships are too often hindered by hurdles like external political pressures, conflicts, and poorly defined roles.
Those sentiments emerged through interviews with 100 board members from 33 states by Ballotpedia, a nonpartisan website that tracks issues related to politics and elections, for a new qualitative report that explores the concerns and experiences of the most local of elected officials.
“The board-superintendent relationship is arguably the most critical factor in effective school governance,” said the Sept. 4 report, based on a series of interviews that started in 2024. “While many boards report successful collaboration, others face significant misalignment or political interference.”
The interviews also explored school board members’ priorities, the role of conflict in decisionmaking, and how they handle academic oversight.
The findings come as districts face challenges with declining enrollment, strained budgets, and increased political scrutiny that require strong, consistent problem-solving at the top. Several national organizations have incorporated training on school board relationships into their professional development for superintendents, recognizing the crucial nature of those dynamics.
Partnership or conflict?
Interviewers asked board members to rate their relationships with their superintendents on a 1-to-5 scale, with 1 representing “strong partnership” and 5 representing “major conflict or misalignment.” The pool of participants, which was not nationally representative, gave an average rating of 3.07, suggesting that “overall, board-superintendent relationships are seen as slightly strained, with a wide range of experiences from full alignment to deep dysfunction.”
The 43 respondents who gave their relationships a 4 or 5 rating identified some commonalities: superintendents seeming dismissive of input, divisions among board members that make it difficult to get on the same page, a lack of trust, and a feeling that external actors, like a mayor, have a greater influence on decisions than board members.
The 41 board members who gave their relationships a 1 or 2 rating cited a “clear distinction between governance and management,” established ways of communicating, and “alignment-building activities” like board retreats.
The report recommends structured on-boarding for new members, training on board members’ roles and decisionmaking process, and regular communication to build healthier relationships between district leadership and elected board members.
Exploring experiences of ‘hyperlocal’ elected officials
Ballotpedia conducted the school board listening tour as part of a multiphase effort to cover local school boards, which represent nearly 1 in 5 elected positions nationwide.
“There’s been a school board election every week this year so far except for one,” said Leslie Graves, the organization’s founder and CEO.
The decisions school boards make can have great consequences for their communities, but election turnout is often low, and there’s surprisingly little information about candidates’ positions and backgrounds available to the public, she said.
Anyone with a smartphone can easily use apps like Yelp to find out if a restaurant two hours away will allow dogs on its patio, Graves said.
“If people can easily get information about those sorts of things, they should be able to get information about hyperlocal candidates,” she said. “They matter.”
The discussions came at an intense time for board members; about 1 in 5 participants cried in their interviews, Graves said.
Among other findings:
- School boards often split into coalitions based on political positions, level of experience with education, similar professions, and personalites.
- Conflict within boards tended to emerge in cases of recent turnover of seats, pressure from local political groups, and the presence of “problematic” members.
- What helps the parties work through conflict: superintendents and board chairs who are skilled at building consensus, clear norms for board members, and a shared focus on student outcomes.
The most successful board members have a “flexible pragmatism” that allows them to quickly weigh priorities and put out fires, Graves said.
“They are able to roll with the punches, despite having plenty of punches to roll with,” she said.
