#21 - Serving God on the Christian School Board

Since coming to Alameda Bible Church, I was automatically put on the school board of our Christian school - Victory Christian School. I did not go to private Christian school though Sandy did for HS. Andrew went to Christian school in KS for 2 years, and I was on the corporate board there for a year.

So I don't have a ton of Christian school experience but the principal gave me this book. I wanted to learn more so I recently finished reading Serving God on the Christian School Board by Roy Lowrie Jr.

Dr. Lowrie had some really good points. Since most of you aren't serving God on a school board, I won't give you the summary of the book but just some bullet points of things that were insightful more for my future use than yours! :)

• Over a period of years, the board's performance in long range planning becomes evident. This is a strong influence on the school because it touches every area of development, such as the master site plan, the projection of enrollment, the projection of facilities, the projection of needed faculty, and the projection of finances. An ineffectual board will not perform well in this area, and the school will suffer because of the lack of foresight.
• The board should define its major responsibilities in writing and revise this statement periodically as warranted. The definition of board responsibilities should be studied regularly by the board president to keep his leadership in step with the responsibilities. The definition should be  reviewed by the entire board to keep their work in focus.
• The board is responsible for establishing the major policies by which the school is governed...Every board member and the principal should have an up-to-date board policy manual.
• The principal is the chief school administrator, but he works under the school board. It is a serious problem for a school administrator to have disrespect for the board, or fail to follow its mandates or directives to him. Similarly, it is a serious mistake for a board to abdicate its responsibility for final authority.
• Sub-committees which function properly expedite the board's work and keep the board from a serious problem in efficiency: operating as a committee of the whole.
• Salaries are very important to Christian school personnel and must be treated carefully and fairly by the board...It takes steady pressure over a period of years to build up salaries and fringe benefits to reasonable levels.
• Part of the administrative growth process for the principle is an annual evaluation of his performance.
• No child should have to take an academic penalty in order to get a Christian education.
• Each meeting of the board, whether regular or special, should begin with the reading of appropriate Scripture followed by prayer. Fellowship among board members is nurtured when each board member takes a turn leading devotions, instead of one or two members leading every time.

Dr. Lowrie had lots of good ideas. His experience really showed through. However, I did and do still have one question in mind - what is the theological basis for the Christian school? Maybe that gets addressed in another of his books. But he simply assumes that a Christian school should exist and doesn't give any biblical basis to truly guide it's existence and role, especially in light of the Bible's clear commands for fathers to teach and train their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Regardless, this was a very useful book for Christian schools like ours.