Q: As the School Head, should terminations of faculty and staff be my decision, or the Board’s decision? Throughout my career as a Head (this is my first year at this school), employment decisions have always been under my purview. Board members here, though, keep trying to insert themselves in personnel decisions. What do you recommend?
A: ISM’s long-standing view is the Board empowers the Head to manage the day-to-day operations of the school—which includes all interactions (particularly hiring/firing/counseling interactions) with faculty and staff. Employment decisions regarding the faculty/staff are clearly operational issues, and not in the realm of the Board. The Board holds the Head accountable for operating the school effectively—but that is very different from the Board “interfering” or “intervening” in operational matters. As a practical matter, we do recommend that the Head keep open lines of communication with the Board Chair on key personnel issues—such as terminations—so that the Board is not caught unaware, and so that Board members can lend their public and private support to the Head’s decisions. Such communications are for informational purposes only and are not intended to draw the Board into the decision-making process.
