New! Take Action Cooperative Workshops
MASB wants to assist school districts and board members in exploring ways to save money by sharing resources with other districts. MASB offers a two-workshop series that educates districts on cooperative action with other districts. Workshops can be scheduled at ISDs and RESAs throughout the state. Click on the link above to learn more.
New! Superintendent-Board Profile Matching
MASB is excited to introduce a new service aimed at better matching superintendent candidate needs with that of the district. Candidates, or people who may be interested in a superintendent position in the future, should complete their candidate profile. This information will then be matched against current superintendent vacancies across the state, and those candidates who match the district's profile by a minimum average of 85 percent will be notified and invited to apply. Interested candidates who don't meet the 85 percent match are still welcome to apply. Also, candidates who indicated they aren't interested at this time won't be sent notifications of matches. Click here for instructions on how to complete your online profile and then click the link below to get started.
Complete your profile.
Superintendents are a key partner in a school district's leadership team. In order for a school district to be successful, it's imperative that the board of education and superintendent are working in tandem toward a common set of goals.
MASB feels the board-superintendent relationship is so important, that we offer superintendents to attend CBA courses with their board members free of charge. It's important for a district's leadership team to have a common understanding of key education issues, and we feel that by attending courses together, the board and superintendent are better prepared to work as a cohesive team.
In general, it's the school board's job to make policy, while the superintendent is charged with administering the policy. With effective board-superintendent teams, each side clearly understands its roles and responsibilities.
Role of the superintendent
- Manages operations in central office and coordinates and oversees efforts of all schools within the district. Works toward meeting district and superintendent goals established by the board.
- Advises board on policy development, need and impact and is responsible for creating and implementing administrative procedures to carry out the requirements of each policy.
- Assists and advises board in creating the long and short-term goals. Based on the goals, establishes strategies for implementation at each school.
- Works with school administrators to develop a draft budget, recommends the budget to the board, makes revisions as requested by the board, and administers the budget adopted by the board.
- Recommends courses of study and texts aligned with district vision, goals and objectives. Provides student assessment data for board analysis.
- Recommends all personnel to be hired; is responsible either directly or indirectly for performance evaluations.
- Analyzes, interprets and communicates the needs of the school system to the board and supervises facility renovations and new construction projects.
- Recommends and implements a program of school-community relations and keeps all stakeholder groups informed about district policies, programs and procedures.
- Provides administrative assistance and facilitation of the board's self-assessment process.
Tools for the superintendent
MASB has several services available that can help make a superintendent's job easier. We encourage you to take advantage of these services, and to let us know if we can assist you in any way.
ERiNTM - The Employment Relations Information Network is a comprehensive online tool for employee relations and contract and negotiation data for school districts in the state of Michigan. ERiN is available by subscription only. To learn more, contact Micki Magee, 517.327.5922.
County Area School Board Associations - CASBAs offer an an opportunity for school board members to get support and information about issues as well as a forum for discussion of and advocacy for the promotion of these issues. They also serve as a a regional link between MASB and local school board members.