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Diocese of Oakland School Board
Oakland, California
This 15-member consultative board has been working for 28 years. Its greatest strengths are its focus on and commitment to the diocesan Catholic schools’ mission statement; the collaboration among the diocesan school board, committees, and staff; its mission-focused strategic planning; its board committee structures; its modeling of board effectiveness for local boards; and its program for training local boards.
It is proud of three special achievements that it initiated and oversaw the development of in the past year in collaboration with the diocesan staff.
- Mission-based Strategic Planning. It designed and executed collaborative-based processes leading to the creation of a mission-focused Strategic Plan for the schools in the diocese.
- Development of Model for Elementary Consultative Boards. It developed a consultative-model template for elementary school boards (that was ratified by the bishop) and provided training to the boards. This sprang out of a realization that effective boards are necessary to implement the Strategic Plans that were developed by the schools. All schools were asked to adopt the model within three years. An important part of the new plan is establishing comprehensive institutional advancement programs.
- Development of the Celebrating Leadership event. All secondary and elementary school board chairs with their administrator were invited to a thank-you dinner program with a panel of speakers and breakout discussions. Outcomes were the identification of additional training needs of individual boards and the publication of a resource for local boards titled “Best School Board Practices.”
Experience is demonstrating that the more board members are empowered, the more school administrators and staffs are empowered. There is greater involvement, support, collaboration, and sense of mission among all stakeholders.
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National Catholic Educational Association
