Boards are overwhelmingly made up of present parents. It is not unusual to find a board that is dominated by a handful of highly opinionated individuals. It is also not at all unusual to find a board that seems close to exhaustion and burn out. Boards commonly find that they are misunderstood and distrusted by many of their school's parents and teachers. There always seems to be a shortage of strong, effective leadership willing to invest the time into board service.
Most boards meet at least once a month, many more often.
It is common for trustees to complain that their meetings get bogged down in endless but barely productive discussion. Many boards fail to delegate questions and time-consuming tasks to effective committees. It is not unusual for board members to discover that they have gotten out of touch with what is really happening at the school. Many boards burden the Head or office staff with board tasks, such as duplicating and mailing the minutes, that should be done by volunteers. It is not unusual for boards to be frustrated with a few trustees who try to represent one particular constituency or who see themselves as advocates for a single point of view It is also not unusual for boards to include some trustees who do not believe that their opinions count.