christian school
accountability
By Ron Klein
I
HAD TWO CAREERS before I came to Christian
education. Business roles and international business-as-
missions work have given me the opportunity to analyze
scores of organizations. A common practice of excellent
organizations is the tracking of key performance measures.
Hospitals track infection and readmission rates. Retailers
track sales per square foot. Insurance companies track
satisfaction rates. Therefore, I was surprised to discover this
practice is uncommon among Christian schools. Each day
schools determine whether students can add fractions and
know what adverbs are. Yet, few school board members or
headmasters hold themselves accountable. This is unfortu-
nate because it impedes growth. More crucially, when we say
we’re engaged in God’s work, I suspect He has an opinion on
the quality of what we do.
Often, school board members lack an understanding of
their essential roles. School board members are not parent
advocates. With the exception of the smallest schools, they
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should not be involved in hiring decisions or curricula
choices. The school board has three core responsibilities:
1. Ensure the school’s vision is maintained.
2. Hire, oversee, and when needed, replace the headmaster.
3. Ensure the health of the school.
The most common board difficulty is not knowing how to
ensure the health of the school. Board members don’t know
what class size is appropriate or the merits and resources
associated with offering an additional A.P. course. Often,
board members intrude into operational matters because
they aren’t provided health indicators and don’t know what
should warrant their attention.
The financial health of the school is paramount. It’s not
uncommon for finances to consume most of the attention
of school board members. While financial matters are
crucial, this topic should not require a great deal of atten-
tion. Furthermore, under most circumstances, neither