School Board Governance in a Polarized Era

At-a-Glance

Date: April 8
Time: 1:00-2:30 p.m. (Eastern Time)
Format: Live, online 90 minute webinar with interactive lecture and Q&A
Intended Audience: Superintendents, deputy/assistant superintendents, and senior district leaders who work closely with school boards
Faculty: 

• Martin West, Henry Lee Shattuck Professor of Education
• Scott Levy, Author of Why School Boards Matter: Reclaiming the Heart of American Education and Democracy

Overview

Effective governance in today’s polarized environment depends on strong, well‑defined partnerships between school boards and superintendents. For superintendents and senior district leaders, leading in this space requires both technical expertise and political acumen.

District leaders must help boards understand complex issues in governance, finance, policy, and curriculum, while also managing collaboration, conflict, and community engagement. They are often at the center of high‑stakes decision making and intense public scrutiny, particularly around controversial topics that surface at board meetings and in the media.

To lead well in this context, superintendents and senior district leaders need:

• A clear, shared understanding of the proper role of the board and the superintendent
• Practical strategies for building and sustaining a productive board–superintendent team
• Tools for keeping governance focused on student outcomes, not adult politics

This intensive 90‑minute webinar offers a focused, research‑informed introduction to these essentials, designed specifically for superintendents and senior district leaders.

Participants will explore how to:

• Clarify and reinforce appropriate roles for the board and superintendent, and structure the work to prevent micromanagement or role confusion
• Lead through political polarization, conflict, and crisis moments—including contentious board meetings, public comment, and media attention
• Keep board deliberations and decisions anchored in student-centered outcomes, data, and responsible oversight, rather than day‑to‑day operations or partisan agendas

Drawing on research, real‑world cases, and interactive discussion, this session provides practical guidance on how district leaders can shape healthier governance dynamics and support boards in doing their best work for students.

Faculty 
 

Scott Levy

Scott Levy is an Adjunct Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He has been elected four times to a local public school board in Westchester County, NY. He has served as president of a regional school boards association, chairman of a children's hospital, and Executive Director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. He spent two decades as an investment banker advising corporate boards and senior executives. 

His recent book Why School Boards Matter: Reclaiming the Heart of American Education and Democracy (MIT Press, 2025), explores the critical role of school boards in sustaining both effective public education and a healthy democracy. 

Martin West

Martin West is the academic dean and Henry Lee Shattuck Professor of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He is also editor-in-chief of Education Next, a journal of research and opinion on education policy, and deputy director of the Program on Education Policy and Governance at the Harvard Kennedy School. West is currently a member of the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and of the National Assessment Governing Board. His research focuses on the politics of K-12 education in the United States and how education policies affect student learning and non-cognitive development. In 2013-14, West worked as senior education policy advisor to the ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. He previously taught at Brown University and was a research fellow at the Brookings Institution, where he is now a nonresident senior fellow.