The emergency meeting was called upon by the San Bernardino City Unified School District (SBCUSD) to address the public health crisis created by the Coronavirus. The primary objective of the meeting was to discuss actions that should be taken to prevent the spread of Coronavirus. The board, with the guidance of its president, was conducting discussions to find solutions that would ensure that the community, students, and staff members of schools, as well as visitors, are protected from the Coronavirus pandemic. The Board of Trustees discussed the most appropriate response to the epidemic and how it will affect students, staff members, and the community.
The president of the board employed relational- and task-oriented procedures to facilitate productive discussions during the meeting (Odermatt et al., 2017). The adoption of specific procedures within a meeting will promote smooth discussion and also enhance attendees’ perception of the meeting quality. Therefore, at the start of the meeting, the president of the board took a relational approach by trying to convince members of the community that the board has their interest at heart (Malouff et al., 2012). Also, the president pleaded with the community members to have faith in the seven board members. Furthermore, the meeting involved a public comments section, where members of the public were allowed to give suggestions and opinions on how the board should respond to the health crisis. Participation by members of the public helped to increase the general acceptance of the decisions made by the board. The president's concern for interpersonal relations and emphasis on the personal need for acceptance, respect, and involvement from the public was mainly because the Coronavirus pandemic affects people beyond the school environment.
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The initiation of structures by the board president contributed to the success of the meeting. The meeting incorporated task-oriented procedures to provide a structure that emphasized on systematic communication and analysis of information, to ensure that attendees remained focused on achieving the primary tasks and board objectives while minimizing disruptions (Odermatt et al., 2017). The creation and management of a structure by the board facilitated functional interactions, where problems were clearly outlined, with respective solutions proposed and discussed before a final decision could be made. The initiation of structures can be considered as the president’s leadership style that affects the meeting outcomes positively. The president oversaw a meeting that focused on time, with every discussion being goal-oriented, providing relevant information that can help the board achieve its objective in an effective manner (Schuleigh et al., 2019). Each member of the board was provided with an opportunity to contribute to the board with relevant information, depending on their task on the board. The rest of the board members, with the supervision of the board presidents, made supporting comments or made inquiries. Due to the development of structure, the meeting did not experience arguments that ran out of control.
The board leader was also considerate in addressing various occurrences during the meeting. In case of any inquiries, the president provided members of the board with an opportunity to raise them. For instance, during the beginning of the meeting, the president provided a board member with an opportunity to inquire about how public comments will be addressed during the meeting even though it was not the board member’s time to speak. Also, skills in conflict resolution are vital in ensuring that a meeting continues without fracas (Mason et al., 2013). The president acted as a moderator as well as a conflict resolver during the meeting. Although there was no significant argument during the meeting, the president ensured that structures were followed whenever any of the board members failed to follow the set structure of communication.
The Unified Schools District Board of Trustees decided to terminate education temporarily up to April 6, 2020. The decision to close schools was aimed to protect students and staff members, some who are 60 years and older. In addition to closing school, the board decided to roll out a program that will provide food to students who come from low-income families and rely on school foods. The board also proposed that employees should continue receiving their paycheck despite being out of work. However, the decision to continue paying school employees will depend on the subsequent discussion with the board. Finally, a discussion about ADA recovery was also made; since the state health department had not made the recommendation to close schools, the schools might be forced to add days at the end of the year to recover the time lost as a result of the decision to close schools.
The emergency meeting by the Board of Trustees was conducted successfully due to the effective meeting culture as well as the leadership qualities of the president of the board. The meeting adopted both relational- and task-oriented procedures during the meeting. Therefore, the president ensured that there was a good relationship between the board and the community, and among board members. In addition to that, task orientation, which incorporates structured communication and goal-oriented involvement by participants, ensured that the primary target for convening the meeting was attained. The study adopted the standard process of conversation, which includes the preparation of participants, initiation of conversation, and dealing with inquiries and addressing potential conflicts. The president of the board adopted various leadership styles, including initiation of structures, consideration, and conflict resolution, which aided in achieving quality outcomes from the meeting. In the end, the decision to close schools to help prevent the spread of Coronavirus was received positively by board members as well as the public.
References
Mason, D. J., Leavitt, J. K., & Chaffee, M. W. (2013). Policy and Politics in Nursing and Healthcare-Revised Reprint . Elsevier Health Sciences.
Malouff, J. M., Calic, A., McGrory, C. M., Murrell, R. L., & Schutte, N. S. (2012). Evidence for a needs-based model of organizational-meeting leadership. Current Psychology , 31 (1), 35-48.
Odermatt, I., König, C. J., Kleinmann, M., Nussbaumer, R., Rosenbaum, A., Olien, J. L., & Rogelberg, S. G. (2017). On leading meetings: Linking meeting outcomes to leadership styles. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies , 24 (2), 189-200.
Schuleigh, V. E., Malouff, J. M., Schutte, N. S., & Loi, N. M. (2019). Enhancing Meetings: The Impact of Leader Behavior. Journal of Leadership Education, 18 (3)
