Great School Boards: Building a High Trust Team

 

Great education requires transformational leaders. What it also requires are great school boards. The Center for Public Education outlines eight characteristics encompassing an effective school board, from accountability and unification to team development and defining a vision for high expectations for student achievement and quality instruction.

So, how does a school board become a great school board? The answer: by building a high-trust team.

On this episode of Change Starts Here, host Dustin Odham switches gears from his standard show format to allow folks to gain insights and tips from experts on building those high-trust school board teams through a webinar presented by Khieem Jackson, Founder of the Mission Strategy Group, and Dr. Marty Schafer, a FranklinCovey Consultant, and Coach.

Throughout this webinar, Jackson and Schafer explore board superintendent roles, shared vision around student success, accountability aligned to board and superintendent evaluations, and community engagement aligned to leadership development.

During the webinar, Jackson and Schafer also cover the following topics:

  • Increasing superintendent tenure and reducing school board turnover
  • Addressing district and school board concerns and plans to build student-centric initiatives and outcomes
  • The elements that go into building a great school board/superintendent team

“We believe if you’re going to be an effective or high-performing board, you got to get four things right,” Schafer said. Clarity around board and superintendent roles, shared vision around student success, accountability aligned to evaluations, and community engagement aligned to leadership development are those qualities Schafer and Khieem detail in the webinar that will lead to high-performing boards.

About Marty

Dr. Marty Schafer brings innovative leadership to build strategic teams through collaboration, curriculum, and shared vision resulting in the growth of educational, business, and community partnerships. He is a dedicated advocate for public education with 18 years of service as a board director of a diverse urban school district. Dr. Schafer holds a BA in Urban Planning from Western Washington University and a Doctorate in Ministry Leadership from Golden State Seminary. 

About Khieem

Mission Strategy Group’s CEO and Founder, Khieem Jackson, is a United States Marine Corps (USMC) Veteran and senior-level government and community relations professional with diverse experience with federal, state, and local government advocacy, external relations, legislative affairs, issue management, and bi-partisan coalition building. He is a resourceful decision maker and efficient problem solver emphasizing common sense solutions. Jackson’s proven ability to excel in a fast-paced environment, particularly in “trial by fire” situations, served him well during his service on California’s Power of Democracy Steering Committee.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

Rothman Index
The Origin Story of the Rothman Index – Episode 5
January 8, 2026

Hospitals collect enormous amounts of clinical data, yet preventable patient decline remains a persistent challenge. Over the past two decades, hospitals have invested heavily in early warning scores and rapid response infrastructure, but translating data into timely, meaningful action has proven difficult. As clinicians contend with alert fatigue and increasing documentation burden, a more…

Read More
Rothman Index
My Mother and the Story of the Genesis of the Rothman Index – Episode 4
January 8, 2026

Healthcare generates enormous volumes of clinical data, yet making sense of that information in real time remains a challenge. Subtle changes in vitals, labs, and nursing assessments often precede serious events, but when that information is fragmented across the medical record, emerging risks can go unnoticed. The central challenge facing hospitals today is not…

Read More
home
Delivering Moments That Matter: The Art of Joy, Memory, and Meaning at Anthropologie Home
January 8, 2026

These days, ‘home’ means more than just four walls. It’s where people reset, gather, and express who they are—raising the bar for what they expect from the brands that help shape those spaces. Consumers are no longer just buying décor—they’re investing in meaning, memory, and moments that last. Research continues to show that people…

Read More
Texas energy
Small Margins, Big Risks: How Fraud Hurts Texas Energy Retailers
January 6, 2026

Fraud has quietly become one of the most existential threats in Texas’s deregulated retail electricity market—because the business runs on razor-thin margins and delayed payment. Under the non-POR system overseen by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), retail energy providers assume the full risk of nonpayment. With profit margins often measured in just a…

Read More