At the outset of her presentation to the members of the Poughkeepsie City School District Board of Education this past weekend, facilitator MaryEllen Elia posed two questions:

“What are your hopes and dreams for the Poughkeepsie City School District?

“What is true about our school district that (you) wish was not true?”

The questions framed what became an effective two-day summit at The Heartwood at Vassar for the five members of the board and Superintendent of Schools Gregory Mott, discussing where the district is and what role the board plays in encouraging success.

“We spent two days really thinking about our work here, our focus areas,” Mott said, calling Elia “one of the most experienced practitioners I know of.”

Board President Bob Creedon said the weekend was an important opportunity for members to improve their communication with each other and better understand their governance role within the district to increase productivity.

“It gave us a chance to learn those three things we must do to advance the school district for the students: learning how to form consensus, learning how to respectfully disagree and learning how to respectfully agree,” he said.

Creedon noted the summit was especially valuable given the unique situation within the board this year. Of the five members, one was elected last May and two were appointed to open seats in September, after the annual July board retreat.

“They missed that whole transition time and onboarding process; they missed that cadence that leads you to a smoother transition,” Creedon said. “If we’re going to improve the achievements of our students, we have to be optimized, and that includes the board.”

Elia, who became New York’s first female education commissioner when she began her four-year tenure in 2015, spent much of the first day walking the board through a presentation detailing the roles of school boards; the importance of clear boundaries between a board and a superintendent’s team for effective governance; how to communicate effectively as a team; and other related topics.

Part of her message included reminding board members of “realities,” such as “Board members are elected as individuals but serve as a member of a team,” and “You do not have the authority as an individual to fix the problems you campaigned to fix.” Instead, she emphasized, the success of the district is tied to their success working as a group, and working with the superintendent’s office.

Her presentation invited open discussion throughout, posing questions to the assembled board members intended to share their reflections and experiences. They walked through hypothetical situations to discuss how to address possible common problems most effectively, and set goals and benchmarks for their own performance and impact on the district.

The second day focused on the district’s academic data and performance, highlighted by a presentation from Mott. It included a review of the key performance indicators set for all members of his cabinet and their progress toward meeting those expectations, as well as strategies for improvement.

“Our school board members were very receptive to what she was saying. We had open, frank, direct conversations. We learned a lot about one another as individuals, our individual goals and purposes for being on the school board,” Mott said. “It was all about working to be on the same page and ultimately improving upon student outcomes.”

Both Mott and Creedon praised the guidance provided by Elia, who, Creedon stressed, “chose to work with the City of Poughkeepsie, recognizing our desire for better outcomes.”

The summit was held on the second weekend of January, celebrated nationally as School Board Recognition Month.

Mott said he is “very, very grateful to the school board members for taking time out of their schedules, away from their family and friends, for a Saturday and Sunday, to come together and work on learning about their roles and duties as a board member. … Our community should be proud of them.”