Honoring the Responsibility of Local Control The best school leadership has a deep foundation in community.

By Tyler Bridges

As school leaders, our hearts are built to see the possibilities for every student. Our minds are trained to help students dream big dreams and equip them to achieve beyond what they believe possible. This is the essence of what we call local control: understanding what our respective communities want for their children and working collaboratively to deliver an educational experience that exceeds their expectations while empowering students to become successful adults.

Today’s educational landscape is complex, and K-12 public education leaders face numerous challenges that can be difficult to navigate. Debates over innumerable aspects of local control are longstanding and ever-shifting.

The idea of local control where decisions about school operations, policies, and practices are made by local authorities, such as school boards and district leaders, has historically been a cornerstone of American public education and a tenet of the true pioneering spirit of Oklahomans. It assumes that it is the duty and privilege of local communities to tailor educational experiences to their specific needs and values rather than allowing a topdown or one-size-fits-all approach. Our role as school leaders is to honor the awesome responsibility of local control in ways that benefit our students and communities, fosters trust, and helps leaders at all levels witness the value and power of local decision-making.

The first step in effective localized leadership is understanding the unique context of the community we serve. Unless you’ve grown up in the community, don’t assume you are the expert. Each district has its own history and unique demographic, cultural, and economic factors that shape the educational landscape. As leaders, we must engage with stakeholders – teachers, parents, students, and community members – to grasp their perspectives and needs.

That leads me to the next step: meet people where they are and listen at least as much as we talk. Are they in coffee shops? Go grab a cup and have a conversation. Do business leaders always show up at the Lions Club meeting? School and district leaders should be there too, listening and sharing. Are there people who aren’t typically involved in your district who have a common gathering place? Find out and meet them where they are. While the superintendent is typically the chief ambassador and cheerleader for the district, engagement is a team sport! Leverage the relationships and connections of your school board members and others in your district to strengthen existing relationships and build new ones.

Seeking formal feedback matters too. Surveys, focus groups, and community meetings are powerful tools to understand your communities’ wants, needs, hopes, and dreams, and to identify opportunities.

By prioritizing open lines of communication, education leaders can build trust and ensure that decisions reflect the community’s values and aspirations for their future. If we as leaders aren’t ourselves truly connected to those we serve, we run the risk of falling into the trap of topdown directives that do not achieve the goals we most desire to carry out.

This sort of collective leadership encourages collaboration and shared responsibility. When leaders work alongside teachers, parents, and community members, they create a sense of ownership and investment in the educational process. Collective leadership for local control is particularly beneficial in addressing tough issues, as it fosters dialogue and encourages diverse viewpoints. Not only is collective leadership key, but being intentional about proactive relationship building can make all the difference in times of struggle and strife.

Finally, it is important to avoid engaging stakeholders and potential partners only when we need something. Education does not exist in a vacuum; it is deeply intertwined with the community. Building partnerships with local organizations, businesses, and higher education institutions can provide additional resources and support for schools. These partnerships can also serve as platforms for collective action. However, it is key to take a proactive and genuine approach to relationship building with key community partners. Leaders should build true partnerships based on mutual interests and shared goals. In our district, we have what we call our “4 Pillars.” They are communication, transparency, consistency, and trust. Trust is a cornerstone of effective leadership, but we believe that you cannot create trust without the other three key components being effectively and continually displayed. Education leaders must strive to build a culture of trust and transparency within their districts. This involves being open about challenges, decisions, and the rationale behind them; people may not fully understand a complex issue, but they can appreciate that you give them the “why” behind your decisions. When stakeholders understand the context and reasoning behind leadership decisions, they are more likely to support initiatives – even those that may initially not be popular.

I also believe that honoring the responsibility of local control encourages more local control. A prime example of working together to provide more local control opportunities came this past legislative session with HB 2672, which updated graduation requirements for all Oklahoma students. Representative Rhonda Baker and Senator Adam Pugh worked diligently to ensure local education leaders, counselors, principals, and teachers were included in the conversation about what was best for their local district. Elected officials asked questions, listened, and ultimately passed landmark legislation that gave flexibility and full-stop local control to education leaders and boards of education across the state. The value of local decision-making processes was understood and realized, and I firmly believe the students of our state will be better for it for years to come.

With great power comes great responsibility, and in the case of graduation requirements, we as education leaders must ensure this is the beginning of the conversation and not the end. We have been granted important local control over what our students’ educational experiences are going to be, and it is our responsibility to move that ability forward to transform learning for all Oklahoma students. But this lesson goes far beyond a single issue. Oklahoma’s children are best served when local education leaders are listening to understand the wants, needs, hopes, and dreams of the community – not just to protect local control, but to deliver on the belief and hope that public education is both an individual and collective path to prosperity for every student. ■