What is the most common reason for Christian schools to fail? Lack of alignment between the Principal/Head of School and the Board. When each side doesn’t know where their responsibilities begin, end, and overlap, schools decline. Trustee training is an indispensable part of ensuring healthy and proactive communications.

The Board can do what it wants. It has the power. But that is not the Christian way. Jesus said in Matthew 28: “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” The Board is there to serve the Principal / Head of School and to ensure their success.

That would make it simple wouldn’t it? But the Principal’s main job is to ensure that the mission is delivered every day at a standard of excellence to every one of the school’s current students. The Board’s job is to ensure that the mission will be delivered to the next generation of students. There is overlap for sure, but the tasks are clearly differentiated.

It is important that you bring your skills and experiences to the Board table. It is equally important that you know when it is and is not applicable to your school. For example, budgets are the same all over – they have to balance. Your knowhow in that area is immediately transferable. Pricing in a school is different from pricing for a supermarket or car lot. Your knowhow in the area of pricing has to be set aside because the paradigm is completely different.

Will this online training tell me everything there is to know? It is a great beginning for a new Trustee or even a current Trustee who wants to get deeper. Learning is a ongoing process though and we hope that you and your Board will continue to learn and grow year in and year out. We’ve published A Call to Authentic Christian School Trusteeship – A Christian School Trustee Handbook to help with that.

It’s difficult to answer that without sounding arrogant. Let’s give it a try: Our Executive Director and CSM Consultants have unparalleled knowledge in the Christian school industry CSM opened in 2017 and already has the largest body of integrated teaching in the Christian school world including books, hundreds of articles, and many other resources All of CSM’s advice is based on the latest research, hundreds of years of experience in the field, and deep Scriptural thinking Our thinking is constantly sharpened by practice in the field – teaching is one thing; doing is another. We have a stellar track record in helping Christian schools reverse enrollment declines, improve their fiscal balance sheets, develop healthy relationships in and out of the school. We practice what we preach and it works.