Board relationships and conflict resolution
School board members are elected or appointed to boards from all walks of life; each brings their own experiences, cultural background, skills, strengths, and innate personality.
Healthy and effective boards champion debate, diversity, thoughtful challenge, and constructive dissent underpinned by a strong student-focused, mana-enhancing board culture.
To support a healthy board culture that achieves your school community’s vision, it helps to have clear expectations around how board members work together:
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Boards should welcome different views and encourage respectful, robust debate.
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Boards should have measures to minimise or prevent unhealthy conflict before it affects board effectiveness.
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Conflict is not always a bad thing, provided it is handled appropriately.
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Resignation or removal of a board member due to conflict should be an absolute last resort.
It’s up to each board to set its own culture and processes, reflecting the values and behaviours the community would expect to see in playgrounds or classrooms.
Most board members do an excellent job and act appropriately, but occasionally, a member might act in a way that can damage a board and even put a board at risk of legal action.
While the board member may be acting out of concern for their children or their friends, or simply because they believe their board is wrong, they must realise that boards are democratic bodies and any actions not approved by their board put the board at risk.
Keep reading to learn more about board relationships and conflict resolution.
Setting the scene
By listening, understanding, and appreciating viewpoints different to your own, you’ll make better decisions for your school and community.
It’s the reason why boards should seek and relish diversity.
A strong induction process helps board members understand their school’s vision, values, and goals. Then, armed with a better definition of their role and responsibilities, their board’s governance policies guide them to work effectively together, supporting strong, healthy debate between board members.
To provide clarity around the function of their board and how to work with staff and the wider school community, a governance policy framework helps board members work towards a shared vision, ensuring the best outcomes for ākonga (students).
Board members should get to know each other outside official board business because time and compatible communication skills are essential in building respectful and trusting relationships.
Also, encouraging board members to reflect and review how well they communicate in (and out of) board meetings helps avoid unhealthy conflict.
For example, board members may consider:
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Their body language at meetings
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How they come across in emails or other written correspondence
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If they treat others as they would like to be treated
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If they are focused on achieving the objectives of the board
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If they seek first to understand, then to be understood
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If they focus on the issue and not the person.
While it’s the presiding member’s responsibility to ensure that board meetings are productive and safe for all attendees, every board member is responsible for their own actions.
For more information, read our Resource Centre article An introduction to board culture.open_in_new
Code of Conduct for Board Members
A mandatory Code of Conduct for Board Members open_in_newissued by the Minister for Education came into effect on 21 June 2023.
The code outlines the minimum standards expected of board members at all state and state-integrated schools and kura.
Discussing the code with your board will help focus how everyone sees their role, responsibilities, and power.
In addition, boards should record any standing conflicts of interest.
Making this available to the community ensures transparency and accountability around potential member conflicts that may cause tensions between members or even a potential risk to your board.
When conflict arises
It is crucial to identify and understand the reason or source of the conflict before taking any action.
Most board members will be acting out of genuine concern for their children, their friends, or because they are frustrated with board process.
It is the collective responsibility of boards to deal with any internal disputes or behaviour that causes unhealthy conflict.
Typically, the presiding member will address any situations directly with the individual board member concerned.
However, depending on the makeup of the board, this may not always be appropriate.
For example, there might be a pre-existing relationship that would make this conversation difficult, interpreted by others as favouritism, or the conflict is with the presiding member. In these situations, the board may delegate another board member to have this conversation.
Ensure there are clear delegations around who has the authority to speak or act on behalf of your board. Your board might have a delegations list already or you can use our example delegations listopen_in_new.
Suggestions to handle conflict or potential conflict
As with any issue, try and resolve matters at the lowest level possible. Often the board member involved may not be aware their individual actions are putting the board at risk.
The presiding member or delegate has an informal "cup of coffee" conversation with the individual about their concerns, suggesting appropriate ways to raise concerns and identifying the potential risks should the member continue their current course of action.
An informal discussion with the whole board about the scope of accepted behaviour. Revisit the Code of Conductopen_in_new and the expectations to model school values. This can bring issues out into the open and help everyone understand what is expected of them.
During board meetings, ensure all board members have time to provide formative feedback on how they feel about the effectiveness of board processes, principal reporting, and their own contribution to board function.
Please contact us for advice and support if a discussion around board culture has not adequately resolved the situation.
Sometimes a board may be concerned about the actions of the presiding member. In that case, another board member may be willing and able to have that one-on-one “cup-of-coffee’ conversation, or they could initiate a general board-level discussion on the Code of Conduct. This motion will require a seconder because it will have to be added to the agenda. Please contact us for advice and support before taking this action.
If the board member is the staff or student representative, tread carefully to ensure your board is only acting on behaviour or breaches of the code that occur in their capacity as board members. Any conduct issues that occur when in their role as an employee or a student should be handled by the principal because it is a management issue. Again, please contact us for advice and support before taking action.
Your board may also, in extreme situations and by resolution, censure a member. Section 169open_in_new of the Education and Training Act 2020 sets out possible sanctions for failure to comply with the Code of Conduct issued by the Minister. These include removal of the member from the board by the Minister. Please contact us for support and guidance before embarking on this process.
Note: A board’s ability to censure a board member does not extend to potential breaches of the code by the principal. This would need to be undertaken through their respective collective agreement process. Please contact us for support and guidance from an employment adviser.
Bad faith
Members of school boards are not usually personally liable for their actions as board members.
Section 151 of the Education and Training Act 2020open_in_new outlines the law on board members' liability.
"A board member is not personally liable for any act done or omitted by the board, or any loss to the board arising out of any act done or omitted by the board member only if the act or omission (as far as the board member's involvement is concerned) was in good faith in the performance or intended performance of the functions of the board."
Board members that act in "bad faith" could expect to be found liable for their actions.
For example, a board member who personally creates an employment problem through a malicious action could be expected to pay your board back any money they spend on legal fees or a settlement.
Board members operating on the board's behalf without being delegated the power to do so could also be liable.
For example, if a board member who hasn't been delegated any powers to deal with employment matters tells a staff member that your board will give them a raise, they may be liable for the resulting costs of getting out of the promise.
Although they may have had good intentions, they would not be acting in "good faith" as they knew they had no power to make that decision.
Another common example of bad faith is when a board member spreads gossip about matters dealt with by their board to people in the community.
Questions your board could ask
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Have we discussed the Code of Conduct for Board Members?
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Have we recorded our board delegations in writing?
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Do all our board members understand and comply with the above?
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Do we regularly allow time to review and reflect on our effectiveness as board members?
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Does our board culture champion diversity and constructive debate?
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Should we take steps to build/strengthen a productive board culture?
Templates, resources, and references
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Links from us
Ministry of Education
Education and Training Act 2020