Episode 11: Get on Board: The Importance of Independent School Boards

In this episode, we talk about the importance of diverse leadership, especially amongst independent school boards, the path to joining a school board, what the responsibilities look like, and some of the challenges that come along with that. We also have two guests joining us today, John Shallman and Guy Primus. 

John Shallan is a democratic political consultant and commentator. He's a crisis management expert, author, and consultant on a number of television and film projects. He often lectures about his experiences and is chairman of the board of directors at Campbell Hall School, an Independent School here in Los Angeles.

Guy Primus is the CEO of Valence Enterprises, a member of the Board of Trustees of Southern California Public Radio and Park Century School here in Culver City. 

We discuss:

- The Role Of The School Board

- How The Board Can Address Racism

- Diversity Starting At The Top

-  Redefining Classic Plays and Literature

...and more! 

Here are some highlights: 

How John Shallman Felt Eraced

“That's a tricky question, being a white dude,” John said. “But I had a really interesting experience when I was growing up in Illinois in the 70s. I know a lot of kids were being bussed during that era, and we heard a lot about that during the Kamala and Joe debate in the primaries. But I was actually one of the few white kids who was bussed to a predominantly black neighborhood, to a Black school. Suddenly I was in the minority, or I should say more politically correct, I was a person of non­color during those days, and there were challenges. There's no doubt about it, but I have to say that I was fortunate at the time. I was a good athlete. I made a lot of friends in the field. But the thing I remember during that time is the very few times I felt isolated, many more times I felt completely embraced. Candidly, I remember my amazing black teachers and classmates who, as I look back at my schooling, are some of the best years of my education that left a pretty indelible mark on me.”

How Guy Primus Felt Eraced

“I've spent my life kind of being the only black guy in the room,” Guy said. “Whether it was kind of in the gifted program at my school when I was growing up, or in some of the engineering classes at Georgia Tech, I was often kind of the only black kid. So I've actually grown up with responses to those situations, kind of pre packaged and ready to go. So I think probably the last time that it happened to me in a social setting was when I was at a resort in Jamaica. Some guy asked me to carry his bags and then I gave him a look. I'm 6’2” and 215. I just gave him a look and he's like, ‘Oh, I'm sorry.’ It happens every now and then. When I come into a meeting­ late, as the CEO of a company, someone will assume that I'm not who I am. Because I went to business school, so I could wear sneakers. And so I go into the meeting, when you're dressed like I'd like to dress and you walk into the room, people are not assuming or expecting you to be the CEO of the company, whether you're white or black, especially here in LA.”

John Shallman’s Thoughts On Attending Public But Sending His Kids To Private

“Both my wife and I, when we decided to go to a private school, and by the way, we were public school kids our entire life through college, the opportunity to send our kids to a private school was one we couldn't pass up,” Shallman said. “We just sort of jumped in both feet volunteering,  coaching, whatever we could do to be involved and be at the school. Be present at the school and so being on the board has just been a sort of a culmination of all that.”

Guy Primus’ Witnessing The Ins And Outs Of The Board

“So I've been on the board for five years,” Primus said. “My son started this school in third grade, he's now in eighth grade. It's been a really incredible journey because I've seen not only the inner workings of the board, but why they add certain people at certain points in time. So it's really eye opening to see it at that level and see a board in transition as opposed to a well established one.”

John Shallman Describes The Role Of The School Board

“I always like trustees because I think the word trust is better than the word direct,” John said. “We are entrusted with the mission of the school. We develop policy, we create a strategic plan, and we give the school a general direction. We help hire the head of the school, who in turn runs the day ­to ­day operations of the school. So I think our job very simply is to further the school's mission without being micro­managers. Without getting in and trying to run day­ to ­day operations. That's the role of staff, that's the role of the headmaster or the head of the school. Our job is really to ensure that the school's mission is promoted and that we are in good financial stead. We ensure that the budgets are set, tuition rates are set, but at the end of the day, we’re big picture. We're really not to be involved in sort of day ­to ­day operations.”

Guy Primus’ Thoughts On Joining The School Board

“So for me, we were looking for someone with a financial background, and so me having a business school education checked a box,” Guy said. “I think if I hadn't checked that prerequisite box, anything else doesn't matter. They needed someone with Finance experience. So I think that it's really important to understand that piece first and foremost, but then I think in the macro sense, it's important to understand that everyone brings a certain set of skills, attributes, and benefits to the table. So I think a lot of school organizations, less so for profit companies, but especially in philanthropic or school organizations, they look for people that can actually write checks. That is a thing that some people seek, but I think if you think about what the other needs are, whether it's finance, marketing, public relations or legal services, they start to put together this profile of who they're looking for. The other benefits, writing, check writing, diversity, those other things also are considered.”

John Shallman Believes Diversity Starts At The Top

“Leadership starts at the top. I've always felt that if we want to increase diversity in our school, we have to add diversity to the leadership structure,” Shallman said. “It's something that we've been doing now with Campbell Hall, and it's just critical. When you walk on campus, you wanna look around, you wanna see people that reflect who you are. Either look like you or share your values, but at the very least, we have to do much more. We always have to move very swiftly to ensure that the leadership and the school is reflecting the parent body of the community, as well as the community at large. So diversity is critically important at the very top.”

John Shallman’s Board Chairman Actions To Address Racism

“Well, I think the boards have to wake up and see what's going on around them. For me,  this summer has been another lesson, how racism, particularly anti­-black racism is just woven into the fabric of our country,” John said. “There can be no neutrality about the fact of racism. There's no debate about the urgency of confronting it. So for me, personally, I thought it was time as the chair of the board and as a white person to take a stronger stand and to enlist the entire community. In efforts to make our school a truly equitable inclusive place.The very first thing I did is I sent a letter to the community. So I said, it has to come from the very top. I am the chairman of the board, the board hires and fires our head of school. If they don't know that from the very top, this is the way we're going to do things right now, then they're never gonna know it. That needs to trickle through, not just to the head and all the faculty, you need to get to the parents. I need to get to our alumni who have been damaged and hurt by incidents in the past.

There's no way we can deny it. I needed to apologize for that. I needed to get out there and tell  people that these are real issues. This is happening in the context of a country that's going through such racial strife. We need to say I’t's not okay,’ what our president is doing, by saying that there's good people on both sides when it comes to white supremacy. We need to be anti­racist to our core, we need to not just have our mission as a school be aspirational, we need to realize it as something that involves not just being good academically and decent as part of our mission at our schools. Decent, loving, responsible. That's great, but we have to be explicit that racism has to be addressed. It has to be confronted, and we have to do it swiftly.”

Shallman On Taking Away The Assumption That Children Of Color Need Financial Aid

“In fact, we've been confronting some of those statistics in our own school, looking at kids who were not getting into our school, who were children of color who weren't asking for financial assistance,” Shallman said. “I think it just goes to this point that we have to do a better job. We have to be vigilant and make sure that those stereotypes are erased. So we have to do more of that. So training of our faculty, the training of our parent body, but most importantly, the training of our board, it's critically important so that we understand the language. We understand bias, both explicit and implicit, and that we do a better job in setting policy and setting the bar as high as possible with respect to what we expect from our faculty and our students.”

Primus’s Top Three Ways Boards Can Be Inciting Change

“I think the first thing is to educate themselves, inform before you act,” Primus said. “So if you're  not up to speed on what is available to you and actually have an understanding of how kids in  particular are going through this situation. I think you're doing a detriment. Now you're doing  more harm than good. So education is important. I think identifying members of the community, any member of the community, parent body, alumni that really have a vested interest in having this be successful, I think is really important. So it's not just about being comfortable with who you know and what you know.

You want to go into the boardroom and have a good time, everyone wants to have fun, no one wants to be uncomfortable, but at a time like right now, it's important that you really search everywhere to find someone who you can see their expertise and add them to the board. So that would be the second thing, and the third thing really is execute something. You don't have to solve this. We can't boil the ocean right now. But what can’t happen is for kids to go into a school and to feel uncomfortable, and so there has to be something, and parents have to feel that something is being done, and not just parents of color, but all the parents of all the kids in school need to understand that the school is not just going to stand by and stay silent and stand down. They actually are going to do something that is going to bring some level of change. It might not be immediate because that's really hard. We've been battling some of these issues for 401 years now, but something is being done and things are going to change, and the status quo is not acceptable.”

Guy Primus Thoughts On Adding Classics To Curriculum

“Classics are classics because they've been defined as such,” Guy said. “I would dare someone to say that Arthur Miller or any other playwright is not classic. That August Wilson is not on the same level, and that his plays aren't as classic, but they represent a black experience. So I think it really is important to have some ­level of due diligence to be able to understand what those arguments are and actually have the responses to them. Otherwise, these parents with all the money, all the history, all the legacy and all the relationships are destined to steam roll. Unless you have the defense, you will be steam rolled because that's the legacy of these schools.” 

John Shallman On What His Board Did To Combat Racism

“In terms of what the school boards can do now, I think the first thing I did is everything I can do within my own power immediately,” John said. “I can send a letter. I can tell everyone how we feel, and I can tell everyone what we're going to do. Number two, I had the power to create a task force, and I made that task force composed only by board of director members. So that anything we do instantly has nine votes. So we're going to do this. Now, the third thing was to add diversity to our board. I could do that. I could say, let's get our best and brightest parents or others who we know love this school, but mostly parents to join this board.

We were able to do that immediately. So one is just a sense of urgency because this cannot be about optics. It cannot be something that looks good. It's gotta be something that feels right and actually does some good. So urgency is critically important. And the other thing is listening, because a lot of what we try to do is we go out there and tell people how they should feel. What we should be doing is listening to how people feel about their experience in the school. That means our task force for example, Lisa knows, every Wednesday, we sit down and we listen. We listen to faculty, we listen to alumni, and we listen to the leadership of our school. We listen to parents and we listen to affinity groups. We listen, we learn, and we use that information to help develop change that's going to really be meaningful and impactful for those who are coming through our school.”

Guy Primus Learned A Lot From Starbucks and Howard Schultz

“I learned almost everything I know about boards and the value of diversity from being at Starbucks and working with Howard Schultz,” Primus said. “It was amazing because when I started at Starbucks, I walked into the board room and saw Olden Lee from Pepsi and Melody Hobson and understood that Howard valued that because he knew that there was opportunity there. I think that's really the key thing is that if we understand why schools exist, which is to educate our children. Understanding that they're only going to benefit from having a more diverse idea of what America is and what the world is. There's no reason not to have diversity, not to have inclusion and not to have justice at every level.”

John Shallman’s Advice To Listeners

“I highly encourage your listeners out there who are passionate about education and making sure their kids and their kid's friends get the best education at the schools they're at, is to volunteer, join, do something,” Shallman said. “There usually are many opportunities to get involved and get involved beyond campus, be present, send emails, be helpful, and be supportive. If there is a problem, identify it, do so in a way that is collaborative. Do so in a way that shows you want to help the school. Do so in a way that shows that it furthers the mission of the school, but be involved and be honest. I think that's so important.

People too often will fall back and find others who might feel the same way and they'll talk about how bad the school is on X, Y, or Z, instead of just saying, ‘Hey, let's figure out a way to do something.’ Who do we know that's on the board that we can talk to and will listen to us. I've always had an incredible open door policy, you can live by the motto, open door, open mind, open heart. No one's  perfect. No one has a monopoly in the truth or on good ideas. Just understand that and bring your ideas forward. Get involved and hopefully you'll be invited as I was, to be on the board.”

Guy Primus’ Advice To Listeners

“I think just understanding what the Board needs and if you're with the board needs, you put your hand up and let them know that you are active and engaged and interested, at some point, your time will come,” Guy said. “It might not be to be on the board directly, but I think as John suggested, to actually add to the conversation and to contribute in a meaningful way. It's great to be on the board, but it's really critical just to be involved and engaged.”

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and connect with us on Instagram too!

Connect with our guests:

John Shallman -- https://www.shallmancommunications.com/ - www.campbellhall.org https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-shallman-928773b4/

Guy Primus -- https://valence.community/ - parkcenturyschoo.org - https://www.linkedin.com/in/guyprimus/

Intro music by https://instagram.com/mikedupreemusic