Your Superintendent Partnership Starts with a Written Agreement
January 20, 2027
Today is Inauguration Day. A new administration begins. Roles are defined. Expectations are set. The relationship between the executive and the governing body is established.
January 20 is also the day when most school boards across the country hold their reorganization meetings. Officers are elected. Committees are appointed. The governance team for the new year is assembled.
And in too many boardrooms, one conversation still isn’t happening: the explicit, written agreement between the board and the superintendent about how they will work together.
Why a Written Agreement Matters
I’ve coached dozens of boards through superintendent transitions. And I’ve watched the same pattern play out repeatedly.
A new superintendent arrives with energy and ideas. The board is excited. The relationship starts strong. Everyone assumes alignment because everyone is well-intentioned.
Then the first tension arrives. The superintendent makes a decision the board expected to be consulted on. The board asks for information the superintendent didn’t know they needed. A board member reaches out directly to a principal, and the superintendent learns about it from the principal — not the board member.
Each incident is small. But they accumulate. Trust erodes. The relationship that started with optimism becomes a relationship of careful words and guarded conversations.
Every single one of those tensions could have been prevented by a written agreement — a document that defines, in plain language, how the board and superintendent will work together.
I don’t mean a contract. I mean a governance partnership agreement. A document that answers the five questions below, signed by the board chair and the superintendent, reviewed annually.
The Five Questions Every Board-Superintendent Agreement Must Answer
Question 1: What Decisions Does the Board Make vs. What Decisions Does the Superintendent Make?
This is the most common source of tension — and the easiest to prevent.
The agreement should list, explicitly, the categories of decisions that belong to the board and the categories that belong to the superintendent.
Board decisions typically include: adopting goals, approving the budget, setting policy, hiring and evaluating the superintendent, approving the academic calendar.
Superintendent decisions typically include: staffing assignments, curriculum implementation, daily operations, student discipline (within policy), budget execution within approved parameters.
The specific list will vary by district. The point is to write it down. So when a board member calls a principal directly — which is a superintendent decision — the agreement provides the framework for addressing it without it becoming personal.
Question 2: How Will the Board Communicate with Staff?
Every board member I’ve worked with has good intentions when they reach out to a principal or a teacher. They want to understand what’s happening in schools. They want to be informed.
But every superintendent I’ve worked with has a story about a board member’s direct contact with staff creating confusion, undermining direction, or bypassing the chain of command.
The agreement should establish a clear protocol: all board member communication with staff goes through the superintendent. Board members who want information submit a request to the superintendent’s office. The superintendent ensures the board member gets the information they need — and the superintendent knows what information was requested.
This protocol protects both the board member and the superintendent. The board member gets the information they need without overstepping. The superintendent maintains operational control.
Question 3: How Will the Board Provide Direction to the Superintendent?
A board that gives direction to the superintendent through individual board member emails creates chaos. One board member says “focus on literacy.” Another says “focus on facilities.” The superintendent receives contradictory signals and has to guess which one represents the board’s will.
The agreement should establish that the board speaks with one voice — and that voice is expressed through board votes and the board chair. Individual board members do not give direction to the superintendent. Period.
Question 4: How Will the Board Evaluate the Superintendent?
The evaluation process should be defined in advance, not designed when evaluation season arrives.
The agreement should specify: the evaluation criteria (linked to board goals), the data sources (student outcome data, board observation, community feedback), the timeline (when does the process start, when is it completed), and the format (written evaluation, board conversation, public summary).
Question 5: How Will the Board and Superintendent Handle Conflict?
Every board-superintendent relationship will encounter disagreement. The question isn’t whether conflict will occur. It’s whether you have a process for addressing it.
The agreement should establish a conflict resolution protocol. First step: the board chair and superintendent meet privately. Second step: if unresolved, the full board and superintendent discuss in executive session. Third step: if unresolved, an external facilitator is brought in.
Knowing the process in advance makes the first step easier. Without a process, small disagreements escalate because neither side knows how to raise them.
January Is the Right Time
January is reorganization month. Officers are elected. Committees are formed. The governance team reconstitutes itself.
This is the moment to establish — or reaffirm — the board-superintendent partnership agreement. Not because anything is wrong. Because clarity creates trust.
A board that has a written agreement with its superintendent operates differently. When a board member asks a question that crosses into operational territory, the chair can say: “Let me connect you with the superintendent, who can answer that through our agreed communication channel.” It’s not personal. It’s the agreement.
When the superintendent makes a decision the board would have preferred input on, the agreement provides the framework for discussing whether that decision type belongs to the board or the superintendent. It’s not an accusation. It’s a clarification.
The agreement removes the ambiguity that erodes trust.
The Inauguration Day Connection
Today, the nation watches a transfer of executive power. Roles are defined. Expectations are set. The relationship between branches of government is established through constitutional norms and formal processes.
Your school board doesn’t need a constitution. But it does need a written agreement. Because the relationship between the board and the superintendent is the single most important relationship in your district’s governance structure. If it’s clear, everything else is easier. If it’s unclear, nothing works well.
January 20 is the day to make it clear.
Your free CTA: Reply to this email with the keyword Own and I’ll send you the Board-Superintendent Partnership Agreement Template — a one-page document covering the five essential questions. Fill it out with your superintendent in a single meeting and eliminate the ambiguity that erodes trust.
Your paid CTA: Want a facilitated conversation to build or strengthen your board-superintendent partnership? I offer a half-day Board-Superintendent Partnership Facilitation session that walks your governance team through the five questions and leaves you with a signed agreement. Reply to this email for pricing and availability.