Jefferson Crain: We are entering contentious times. Facing the unknowns of budgets, labor negotiations, declining enrollment, inflationary costs and other uncertainties create pressures that stress relationships within the school district and with communities.

Unfortunately, many of the issues you will face as a board are beyond your control. You have hard decisions to make that will test the bonds of the common mission of our school communities to educate our children.

Just thinking about labor negotiations at this moment probably gives you pause, at best, and heart palpitations at worst. When money is tight, the negotiation process can leave all sides exhausted and deeply suspicious. Any established trust can be destroyed and requires great effort to restore.

These are times of contraction when no one will get all that they want. Far from win-win, this may be a lose-lose moment. The board and the superintendent may be rightfully worried about future costs and the requirements to be fiscally solvent. School boards need to predict funding and expenditures for three years. Representatives of employee organizations and the employees worry about being perceived as having “sold out” or missed out on a better deal. These positions can lead to post-settlement regret and distrust.

Knowing this is coming, or if it is already part of your reality, what should you do? What should you plan to maintain or re-establish trust with education partners that will allow you to continue the local educational agency’s mission of success for each and every student?

Luan Rivera: As Jefferson noted, governance teams are often in the position of making difficult and controversial decisions — closing schools, changing boundaries and labor negotiations, to name a few. When making these decisions, it is often important to involve various constituent groups in advance, but it is also important to work on healing relationships after decisions are made.

Cypress School District, located in Orange County, has developed a unique and effective system for building trust and relationships across the district. For the last three years, Cypress SD has held a special annual meeting that involves the board, administrative leadership and leaders of their two employee labor groups.

Participants are divided into three groups, each group containing equal participants from each category. The teams participate in an activity, providing responses on three charts: Strengths, Challenges and Opportunities. Following the charting, a debrief discussion is held. Participants share their thoughts about the district’s strengths, challenges that they face, and the opportunities to address those challenges together and increase communication and understanding throughout the district. These sessions have created an environment where participants can raise issues of concern and look for solutions together — openly and honestly. This practice has led to enhanced communication and trust across all levels of the district and has resulted in the creation of new processes and structures, including more meetings between administrators and the members of both associations, and the association members providing updates at board meetings.

Cypress SD created the opportunity for the school community to come together, talk about difficult decisions and remember why they do this work.

Parvin Ahmadi: The Cypress SD example of bringing the community together to understand challenges and talk about difficult decisions is a great reminder that this work is never done alone. As we navigate challenges in our school districts, one thing we must always remember is our purpose: to do right by children, every single one! Focusing on what matters most — our children, their education, their academic success and their social-emotional well-being — is what is needed the most when our system is engaged in matters that seem nearly impossible to resolve.

As a superintendent, I always found it extremely energizing to walk through classrooms and see children engaged in learning. Walking into a kindergarten class with 5-year-olds excited about learning, asking questions, unassuming, with no limit to their enthusiasm about their strengths and abilities, is often the best reminder of why we do what we do and why we must collaborate to co-create solutions. Hearing from students on a regular basis, whether it be through surveys, listening sessions or watching them perform, present and interact with their peers can help focus us back on what matters most.

Coming together with a clear purpose to truly hear each other through generative conversations is a remedy worth pursuing, not only when we face challenges, but as a matter of practice at all times. And nothing brings people together better than being reminded of our ultimate responsibility and goal of ensuring the best opportunities for every child in our care. “How will this impact our students? In what ways? What are the consequences of our decision?” Asking ourselves these questions helps to create the clarity we need in our decision-making process and to recognize that our differences are not as grand as we once thought. We owe our students, their families and caretakers, and our community members what is best for children.