Two Robbinsdale board members to have an early intervention

According to mediation experts, the Robbinsdale Area Schools Board of Directors struggles with a lack of collaboration, a lack of board structure and process, and a lack of inclusive culture.

The school board has been looking into mediation. Per the Mediation Center’s recommendation, Director Helen Bassett and Chair ReNae Bowman will have an early intervention with a mediator.

In December, the board voted to work with the Mediation Center to resolve board communication issues. In March the parties hosted 15 interviews with staff and board members. At a May 5 board meeting, Jessica Shryack of the Office for Collaboration and Dispute Resolution presented the board with the official report as well as suggestions for next steps.

“The word ‘trauma’ came up quite a lot in the interviews,” Shryack said.

Shryack told the board it could improve cohesion. She said there are shared goals among those interviewed, including a desire to benefit students and wanting “fairness.”

“Even when people disagreed, they appreciated what their colleagues brought to the board, so that’s wonderful, and board members say they want to improve the current situation, and that’s why we’re all here,” she said.

Director Kim Holmes was absent from the May 5 presentation due to scheduling conflicts. Holmes said she supported the effort but was concerned about the meeting not being recorded.

Collaboration

Three bundles of issues were discussed. The first is lack of collaboration.

“Sometimes people are operating with their own personal agendas,” Shryack said. “It isn’t always supportive of having the spirit of collaboration.”

Mediators found board members seemed to be “reacting emotionally” and “wanting to make other people feel bad about what they’ve done.”

The report also mentioned a “lack of trust” and “need for more professionalism.”

An inability to collaborate has an impact on a group, including possibly trauma.

“There hasn’t been a lot done to repair those harms, they’re just sort of there,” Shryack said. “And it’s not changing. In fact it’s getting worse.”

There are “alliances” and “taking sides” issues, the report said.

Shryack said while all of these issues were normal, they were not helpful and led to inefficient decisionmaking.

“Staff that we interviewed said that they felt attacked,” Shyrack told the board. “And it is producing an atmosphere that is very unhelpful and interferes with their work.”

The report also mentioned a Facebook page which is sometimes used to relay information within the district but is also “interfering with board collaboration and trust.”

Mediation groups

In order build collaboration, the report suggested mediation in groups of two. The groups suggested were Bowman and Bassett; Bowman and Director Sharon E. Brooks; Director John Vento and Bassett; Holmes and Bowman; Holmes and Bassett, Holmes and Brooks as well as Director Caroline Long and Brooks. The report added more might be needed, but these were a good place to start.

Shryack equated mediation to building a house, saying “it takes time” to gather everything needed and to do the work. Shryack suggested the board start with an early intervention with two of the board members – Director Helen Bassett and Chair ReNae Bowman – and then go through the list of suggestions mentioned above to pick which items.

The early intervention will cost the board between $3,320 to $6,360 depending on the hours are needed.

The board voted 6-1 in favor of this early intervention, with Brooks the no vote.

“I can look at this board and know that there are more than one, more than two people who need mediation,” Brooks said. “I see this as being incomplete.”

Board structure and process

The second bundle of problems surrounded “lack of board structure and process.”

Although there are many board policies, the is not an updated code of ethics or updated behavioral norms. The report found although “there may be governance procedure” and a strategic plan, not everyone is “aligned.”

Mediators believe the role and authority of the board chair is unclear.

Without clarity, Shryack said “it leads to assumptions” about whether the chair is not doing enough or doing too much.

It’s also possible newcomers are not given enough information about board policies.

“Maybe onboarding wasn’t as deep as it needed to be,” Shryack suggested.

The muddiness around practices has negative effects.

“Without this clarity and structure and process, it is possible to focus on operations versus governing,” Shryack surmised.

Additionally, there is no “accountability for problematic communications,” the report said.

To build more structure and process, Shryack suggested “adopting a code of ethics policy and or shared norms is really critical.”

Mediators also recommended “adopting a procedure for meeting disruptions and clarifying the role of chair.”

To make meetings run more smoothly, the report suggested “conversation agreements at the beginning of each meeting.”

Another option would be to “hire a parliamentarian or a facilitator or someone to help you maintain some rules and boundaries.”

Finally, mediators suggested governance versus management training.

Inclusive culture

The third bundle of issues was labeled “lack of inclusive culture.”

Interviews showed “perceived racist and sexist behaviors,” leading to a “lack of respect for staff, especially staff of color; harm and trauma directed at people of color; ingroups and outgroups in the board that fall along racial lines; lack of appreciation for staff and board members of color.”

Shryack added “there may be other forms of bias present.”

To start building an inclusive culture, the mediators simply recommended structured “living room conversations” about topics like “race, belonging, privilege, trust.”

Next steps for the board

The board is taking some time to chew on the other suggestions mentioned above and will work with the Mediation Center on a new contract if needed. Suggestions include restorative circles, taking personality or conflict assessments to learn more about each other, psychoeducational workshops to learn about trauma and individual coaching on conflict. Some of the suggestions would be free to the district.

The board also voted 7-0 to publish the results of the mediation assessment.

Bowman told the Sun Post this single early intervention is designed “to improve the quality of the board meetings.” As for the other options described by the Mediation Center, those will likely not be discussed immediately.

“Top priority for us is superintendent search and budget discussions,” Bowman said.

The school district is legally required to approve a budget by the end of June. The superintendent search, being conducted by the Minnesota School Board Association, is open until filled.

“And we do have some people in the queue that we may be bringing forward,” Bowman said.