Thinking About Running for School Trustee?
Lately, I’ve spoken with a few people who are thinking about running for Trustee on their local school boards. Two are parents of children with special educational needs; another serves on the district’s parent advisory committee.
I held back from asking why they were considering it—partly because, in my experience, some candidates don’t take well to what I’m about to say. But here’s the gist of what I eventually shared, in more polished form.
School boards are governance bodies, not management teams. They can set strategic direction, approve policies, allocate budgets, hire and evaluate the superintendent, and represent the public interest. They cannot run the day-to-day operations of schools, hire or fire individual teachers, intervene directly in student placements or special education decisions, or act unilaterally as individual trustees. Boards act collectively and at a distance from operations, largely through policy and oversight.
Many trustee candidates are motivated by a desire to address a particular issue such as a child’s educational experience, a school closure, dissatisfaction with programming. However, a trustee is only one vote among several, bound by collective decision-making, policy constraints, funding rules, and provincial legislation. Even deeply felt problems often have complex causes beyond the board’s direct control. Coming in with promises to ‘fix’ things quickly creates unrealistic expectations and can alienate others on the board who may not share the same view or priorities.
Individual trustees don’t hold any authority outside the board table. Power resides in the board as a whole, which means that building relationships, earning trust, and making reasoned arguments are essential. Even the best ideas will go nowhere without support from a majority of trustees. Governance is a deliberative process: it involves listening, negotiating, and aligning individual goals with collective responsibilities.
Governance moves slowly. Policy development, budget decisions, system reviews, and implementation timelines can take months or years. Effective change often comes incrementally and through sustained effort, not dramatic overhauls. Trustees newly elected to a school board who come in expecting quick wins often become disillusioned or frustrated. Those who are patient, persistent, and respectful of process are far more likely to make a lasting impact.
All three of the potential candidates said they needed time to think it over. I didn’t want to discourage capable people from stepping forward, but I felt it was important to be honest about what the role really involves. The next elections aren’t until October 2026, with the filing deadline in September, but I’m hoping I’ll hear their decisions long before then.