At the Baldwin Early Learning Center (ELC), there is a great emphasis on the role that the board plays in the culture of the school. The board’s role in holding the vision for the school starts at an orientation for new board members.

Board members have a role in the culture of the school. We are the ambassadors; we represent the school inside and out there.
—Baldwin ELC governing board member

At 5:30 on a December evening, the principal, two parents, and two teachers gathered around the meeting table to begin learning about their new role at the Baldwin. Dania Vazquez, CCE coach and facilitator of the orientation, opened up the conversation by asking why they became board members. “I’m here because I think this is a wonderful school, and it is a wonderful school for my son. It’s a Pilot School and decisions are made by Graciela [the principal] and others, and I want to be part of making it better for the school,” said one parent. One teacher shared, “My sons go to Young Achievers [a Pilot School]. I am a teacher here, and I want to see the underlying mechanisms of the school.” One of the parents hoped that the role of Pilot School board members is to utilize their different expertise and perspectives in order to help set goals for the school.

The group explored the differences between school site councils and Pilot School governing boards. One of the main differences, they learned, was that in addition to helping to set goals for the school, board members are responsible for looking at data in order to evaluate whether the school achieves its goals. Based on that data, board members also set policy and approve the budget that will support the goals they set.  They share accountability with the principal and the staff, and they provide a system of checks and balances for the school. While reading the section in the Boston Pilot Schools Manual on governance autonomy, one of the participants realized “just how important it is to be on the board—board members have a role in the culture of the school —we are the ambassadors, we represent the school inside and out there.” 
When asked how they would describe the culture of the Baldwin, teachers said that “it is collaborative: we talk with each other.” One of the parents said, “As a parent, when I come in, everyone knows my child here.… I don’t see any glitches.” The other parent chimed in, “Teachers and staff are very caring. They really invest in the children—the overall child, not just the ‘school-time’ child. They want to know what is going on for the child at home. People are very accessible, good at communicating.” 

The meeting continued as different ways of making decisions were discussed: autocratically, by majority, by minority, by silence, by default, and by consensus. The group agreed that while it is more time-consuming, consensus is the best way to make high-impact decisions at the school. Through consensus, they felt, they could better understand an issue and achieve a sense of ownership. They also agreed that if a decision could not be arrived at by consensus, majority vote would rule.