Just like in any business or major enterprise, there is always a board of governors and they have their own administrative roles that they play for the sake of the continuity of the school at a stable pace. Usually, students might or might not interact with the board members.
However, a teacher could also be another board member that simply enjoys teaching and being around students. Therefore, the roles of the board of governors include;
1. Monitoring the school’s performance
A board of governors will always be on the sidelines to congratulate the head of the school for any academic outstanding achievements – but will equally judge the missteps manifested in poor academic performance.
It’s not like they’re cynical and lacking empathy, but they’re willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that their enterprise doesn’t crumble.
2. Strategizing
The board of governors is responsible for looking at all facts on the table and using them as a basis to lay solid strategies for the future of the school. These include;
- Improving academic performance of their students
- Promoting the school to attract more students
- Maintaining a good image of the school
It’s not like the strategies brought forward by teachers and other school administrators are not important – but they are all considered until the best decision is made.
3. Providing resources
The board of governors is charged with making all the necessary resources available for the school to continue conducting all learning activities smoothly. Examples include;
- Money
- Necessary equipment for education purposes
- Human resources
With all these resources in hand, the school is better poised for great academic excellence due to stability.
4. Discontinues and dismisses indiscipline teachers
Despite the fact that many teachers are worthy of respect and adoration, there are many on the other side of the coin, involved in things like;
- Sexual misconduct with students
- Incompetence
- Issuing extreme punishments to students
In schools that have a board of governors, a report is brought forward and after debating several suggestions, the teacher is permanently discontinued from the premises and job.
5. It appoints teachers
The board of governors is charged with appointing teachers special or extra posts to contribute to the maintenance of order within the school.
This is based on thorough consideration of many factors like leadership skills, discipline record and competence. In addition, they also spot and recruit new talent and hire them as teachers on a permanent basis.
6. Solving cases of indiscipline teachers
So many times, some teachers might behave in ways that are totally against the school principles and rules. The board of governors sits and sorts through punishments that will not affect the progress of the school, like;
- Paying a fine
- Issuing a last warning
- Demotion from an extra post
- Dismissing the teacher
If/when the choice is made by only one person, it could easily be associated with partiality, as opposed to the entire board making the decision.
7. It approves the school budget
The school budget has to be good enough to provide what the school needs and to have a surplus. This is why the board of governors is entrusted with the responsibility of discussing the budget and sorting through;
- The expensive versus the cheap options available
- What can and cannot be foregone
- Who will be responsible for making the purchases
At the end of the day, the board comes up with brilliant strategies on how the school is supposed to spend efficiently.
8. Handles legal cases of the school
On some rare occasions, the school will land in some legal hot soup regardless of whether there’s a substantial crime or not. It’s just that way because so many people seek to earn from cases like these.
The board is supposed to figure out ways to stop the case from going public and making sure they win it at last.
Conclusion;
You must be thinking of the demonic image of a board of governors sitting in a dark room, smoking cigarettes and making the major decisions on behalf of everyone else but that’s not the case. All in all, a school with a board of governors has higher chances to make it big, as compared to a sole proprietorship.