Independent schools have a governance problem

Opinion

On June 23rd, our family’s story about pushing back on our private school’s new gender curriculum and our subsequent expulsion was made public. Our school partnered with an activist organization called “Gender Spectrum” this past spring to implement a curriculum for K-8 students aimed at deconstructing the gender binary and affirming every student’s self-chosen gender identity. 

Like many other schools affiliated with the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), ours ushered in this controversial new curriculum without any involvement or input from parents. The school's marketing materials were filled with rosy language such as “celebrating and respecting diversity of all kinds” and “children should remain children for as long as possible.” The new gender lessons, however, were conspicuously absent, as was the new “decolonized” curriculum for seven and eight year olds that focused on social justice movements, sexual orientation, and the effects of white colonialism. These program changes were made without transparency to parents—the paying customer—and only implemented after we had signed an expensive and binding re-enrollment contract.

One reason why elite independent schools have been particularly susceptible to implementing lessons based on these ideologies, and specifically in a way that circumvents the say of parents, is because these schools have a serious governance problem.

Through its Principles of Good Practice, NAIS has taken governing power away from boards of trustees by instructing them to focus narrowly on the financial health and long term strategic vision of the institution. Meanwhile, the boards do not have jurisdiction over curriculum or operations, which is instead left up to the head of school.

Ironically, these boards are composed of highly credentialed and wealthy donors who should know a poorly governed institution when they see one. Elite independent schools are a service-oriented business, offering outstanding childcare and curriculum for a very expensive premium—roughly $40,000 per year on average. Unlike corporate boards who represent the interests of shareholders, independent school boards have a fiduciary responsibility to ensure that the school adheres to its mission and purpose, while balancing the interests of the students, parents, faculty and staff. 

Independent school boards should look to the corporate world for governance best practices in order to create an ethical and transparent school leadership culture. First, boards must have the power to audit school operations, including curriculum, if they are to effectively ensure they are meeting their fiduciary responsibility. Boards should create curriculum committees to oversee curricular changes and to confirm that all changes are aligned with the mission of the school. These committees should represent the ideological diversity present in the school community and include child psychologists to ensure content is age appropriate. Further, parents should be notified of any curricular or operational changes before they are asked to sign re-enrollment contracts.

Second, an executive committee should constructively evaluate the administration of an independent school and offer anonymous channels for stakeholder feedback. These anonymous channels will enable the board to proactively address concerns relating to the management of the school and to keep school leadership accountable. Exit interviews should also be given to families leaving the school by members of the board, not the administration.

Strong institutional governance is essential to ensure accountability, transparency, and broad fulfillment of an independent school’s mission. Prospective parents should ask about school governance before accepting offers of enrollment, and current parents should push for improved governance and transparency before making donations or committing to capital campaigns. 

Only with improved governance structures can these elite institutions educate the next generation of students in an ethical manner. Boards of trustees should build governance systems that expand their oversight to include all areas of school operations. This will create a check on the power of administrators, making it more difficult for them to implement ideologically extreme curricula without broad institutional support and transparency. Rebuilding institutional trust from the top down will not only improve independent school culture, it will enable school administrators to spend more time where it is needed most—on our students!

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The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism or its employees.

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