Page 23 - Superintendents Toolkit 2013

Suggested talking points:
Board members/ staff attending conferences
1. Training for board members is now required by law, including:
 Minimum of four hours of professional development leadership training on
education and labor law, financial oversight and accountability and fiduciary
responsibilities.
 Training on the Performance Evaluation Reform Act (PERA) evaluations
 Training on the Open Meetings Act
2. The Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB) encourages board members to develop
ongoing professional development plans so that they can continue to gain knowledge
and skills that can be applied to their board service.
3. Conferences often offer a level of subject-matter expert speakers, presentations and
training that an individual school district cannot afford to provide.
4. While online training can be effective in some instances, face-to-face interaction with
school board members from other districts throughout the state and even in other states
is a valuable source of information when it comes to:
 Applying new educational strategies
 Use of technology
 The implications of new federal and state laws or mandates
 Effective use of standardized tests
 The new performance evaluation processes
 Other emerging issues in public education.
5. Bottom line is that school board members need to be as aware as superintendents of
emerging issues, new laws and mandates and new strategies and approaches for public
education if they are going to be effective in their roles as the people who set policies,
control budgets of more than $ XXX dollars and hire and fire teachers and administrators.
6. Conferences remain one of the best, most cost-efficient ways to provide ongoing
professional development opportunities for board members as long as those conferences
are selected with those things in mind.
7. Cite any specific examples of any cost-saving tips, ideas or anecdotes that may have
come from board members attending a conference.