Halladay Education Group
Inner Circle Newsletter 		Halladay Education Group
Your Trusted Authority For School Development

June 16, 2010
Circulation 3277
 		www.HalladayEducationGroup.com
info@HalladayEducationGroup.com
+1-604-868-0002
In This Issue
Where's HEG Working?
In The News
Solutions For Your School
Essentials of a Strategic Plan
Toolkits
Links To Our Services
Join Our Mailing List
Online Store
SP Toolkit
A Message From The President
Douglas Halladay
Greetings!

Are you watching the world cup? What the heck is with the horns they keep blowing? It sounds like a swarm of killer bees buzzing in the background.

I'm going to be near Mobile, Alabama next week (June 20-25) working with clients to complete a feasibility study (mail survey) and business plan for a proposed K-12 private tribal school. If you'd like to meet to discuss your project during my free time, please email me to see if we can arrange a meeting.

Last Newsletter I mentioned that the board of St. Margaret's School in Edinburgh was closing the school after 120 years of operation due to declining enrollment and financial losses. Not surprisingly, there's another story on the BBC web site where outraged parents are trying to save the school. Not surprisingly the Board had not even mentioned to the parents the economic issues they'd faced, but rather tried in their own desparate strategies in isolation, and then let parents know there were no solution and the school would close.

Now outraged parents are striking a committee to review ALL options: lay-offs, increased tuition, selling assets, fundraising, etc. I worked witha school where the board wanted to close a program with no consulation with  parents. I felt strongly that they needed to inform parents of the situation and have them help to solve the problem with an ad hoc committee. The board chose not to do this; the parents were outraged, and then at a 'town hall' meeting the board chose to have the parents help review and solve the situation. Of coure now there's bad blood and a public perception that all is not well at the school. Rather than engaging their community in finding the solution at the start, they created a crisis. Bad board leadership.

Will Rogers said "Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." Is your board on the right track?

Today I want to share with you the essentials of effective private school board leadership. For-profit or non-profit schools need solid board leadership. Please read on to find out more.

To your success,

 

Doug Halladay

President

Halladay Education Group

P.S. Don't forget to go to our secure Online Store to invest in our Strategic Planning or Start-A-School Toolkits.

Follow us on TwitterView our profile on LinkedIn
Find us on Facebook
Where's HEG Working Right Now?
Many of you ask where and what our HEG team is working on right now. So here's an update:
  • Strategic Plan for a Private PreK-12 IB School in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
  • Market Study and Business Plan for a new PreK-9 IB Private School in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • Feasibility Study and Business Plan for a Private PreK-12 IB School in Panama City, Panama
  • Feasibility Study and Business Plan for a new Private PreK-12 Tribal School in Alabama
  • Feasibility Study and Business Plan for an Independent Grade 9-12 School in Ontario, Canada
  • Research Report on Small School Best Practices for a MENA region client
If you're interested in our private school consulting services and would like to receive written material about HEG, or would like to discuss your needs, please contact Doug Halladay directly. You can set this up by sending an email  or calling directly at 1-604-868-0002. We also invite you to continue browsing our web site by clicking on here.
In The News
Social Networking Goes to School
Educators are integrating Facebook, Ning, Twitter, and other sites into K-12 life despite concerns about privacy, behavior.

Austin Schools Make "Best Schools" List
It is the one high school campus this year rated "exemplary" by the state. LASA is located in the Austin Independent School District.  

Report: Tough Times Ahead for Children of the Great Recession
While the economy may recover, the generation growing up now could feel the harsh impact of the Great Recession for years to come, a new report from the Foundation for Child Development contends.
Solutions For Your School

STARTING A SCHOOL

Starting a school can be challenging & you never have a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression. Our team is experienced in starting schools in the USA, Canada, &  Internationally. Click here for more info.

 

STRATEGIC PLANNING

We're experienced with developing Strategic Plans for private schools globally. We deliver a plan that focuses your school's vision, builds consensus, donor confidence, & defines priorities for your Board & Staff. No school should be without one. Click here for more info.

 

BOARD GOVERNANCE WORKSHOPS

Great schools have great boards. Can you afford not to have one? Our one-day governance workshop & online self-assessment survey fine-tunes your board's performance & focuses our priorities. Click here for more info.

 

SCHOOL EVALUATION

As a Trustee are you sure your school is doing the best it can? Our school review is measuring if you're heading in the right direction. Quickly get the whole picture with our In-Depth School Performance Review. Click here for more info.

 

BUYING AND SELLING SCHOOLS

HEG & our licensed brokers assist buyers/sellers with mergers, purchases, or sales of K-12 Schools, Post Secondary Institutions, & Career Colleges in Canada, US, and Internationally. Click here for more info.

Essentials Of A Solid Strategic PLan
,

Most school boards are driven by the calendar of events, their Head of School, crisis, or their own personal agenda. Few boards have taken the time to prioritize what their overall needs are and develop a plan of action to achieve it in a coordinated manner. That means your board needs to determine annual goals (or even better a five-year strategic plan), set up your board committees to monitor implementation, and delegate the goal's achievement by operationalizing goals via your Head of School and staff.
 
Many schools spend their time reacting to unexpected changes instead of anticipating and preparing for them. This is called crisis management. Schools caught off guard spend a great deal of time and resources "playing catch up." They use up energy and funds coping with immediate problems with little energy left to anticipate and prepare for the future. It should not have to be that way.

Here's a quick snapshot of habits of effective boards...

Duties
  • Duty of Care: Use your best judgment
  • Duty of Loyalty: Putting your personal and professional interests aside for the good of the school
  • Duty of Obedience: Being true to the organization's mission
Responsibilities
  • Enhance your school's public standing
  • Ensure legal and ethical integrity/accountability
  • Recruit and orient new board members and assess board performance
  • Determine the mission
  • Select the Head
  • Support and assess the Head
  • Ensure adequate resources
  • Manage resources effectively
  • Determine, monitor, and improve programs and services
Govern More...Manage Less
  • Develop a strategic plan and follow it
  • Link current agenda to strategic agenda
  • Monitor the success of the school's initiatives
  • Develop clear expectations and plan of action for Trustees
  • Direct CEO to prepare strategically
  • Structure meetings to policy and strategy
  • Assess the performance of the board annually
  • Focus on policy objectives, organizational strategy, and relationship between budgets and priorities
Does Your Board Experience Any Of These...
  1. Trustee behavior that's unproductive and misaligned with mission
  2. Board agenda controlled by crisis rather than vision
  3. Lack of a plan or goals that results in no board agenda, committee goals, or operational plan
  4. Board committees that exist only because they've always been there, not because they're needed
  5. No link between budget, programs, or strategic plan
  6. Blurring of boundaries and channels between roles of the Board and Administration
  7. Board commitment is greater than trustees would like it to be and become too taxing and stressful
  8. Inability to attract or keep trustees
  9. Poor turn-out at board meetings and AGM's
Board Governance Workshop

The alternative is HEG's finely tuned  board governance workshop that provides a viable alternative to reactive governance. Our systematic process provides definite objectives and a road map that can be implemented  immediately.

We provide a one-day board governance workshop for your school's trustees. Our thoughtful and fun workshop provides feedback to analyze and develop a clear set of strategies to guide your school's leadership with  ongoing development of your school and governance.

The Board Governance Workshop and Online Survey refocuses Trustees on the Critical Elements of Effective Board Performance. This includes a comprehensive 360° online "Board Performance Self-Assessment Survey" based on years of research to assess your board's performance and a follow-up one-day workshop to identify and resolve critical governance issues identified in the survey, review best practices, and fine tune your board. This includes:
  1. Presentation of governance best practices for.
  2. Participation in hands-on case scenarios that highlight effective board practices.
  3. Building a profile of your board's performance  based on confidential responses to the online survey and identifying areas that need immediate improvement.
  4. Facilitation of a one-day workshop that assists the board in developing strategies and action plans to improve your governance of leadership of your school.
  5.  As part of the process, the Board members candidly discuss and reach consensus on issues surrounding performance of your board and lay the groundwork for long-term improvement.
  6. You receive a "Summative Board Performance Report" providing a comprehensive overview of the board's survey results, issues, and a plan of action for improvement.
NEXT STEP
 
, if you'd like to find out more about our firm's board workshops and learn more about how we can help provide the solution, please email HEG or call  at +1-604-868-0002.
 
Book now before the end of June with a prepayment and we'll provide you'll receive a 10% discount.
HEG Recommends
Here are  2 of our most popular toolkits that will help you either  start your own school or develop your own strategic plan.
 
STRATEGIC PLANNING TOOLKIT  SP Toolkit
Learn how to develop your own Strategic Plan with step-by-step instructions contained in our detailed Workbook & Manual, along with $500 worth of bonus CD's. It's all here to help you develop your own plan. Click here for more details.

START-A-SCHOOL TOOLKITStart Tlkt
Are you still struggling with starting a school? Experienced school leaders share how they started their school from the ground up. You'll also receive our bonus CD ($150 value) on developing your strategic plan. Click here for more details.
 

To your success,Doug Tie

Douglas Halladay
President
Halladay Education Group Inc.
 
P: 604.868.0002
F: 868.472.8737
E: info@halladayeducationgroup.com
www.HalladayEducationGroup.com
 
You are receiving this because you signed up at HEG's website or you told us you wanted to subscribe. We will never distribute your address to anyone. Period. We promise..