[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-596932-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-596932-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","public-expectations-of-school-board-trustees","Public Expectations of School Board Trustees","","School board trustees play an important role in educating children throughout Ontario. Drawing on an online survey of Ontario residents, the study examines expectations for trustees, including an open-ended question about perceived trustee roles and a preference between a delegate model and a trustee model. Respondents mainly identify three distinct roles: represent the public, support school board administration, and ensure educational outcomes. Results also favor the delegate model, while regression analyses explain variations in choices.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/public-expectations-of-school-board-trustees/596932/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/public-expectations-of-school-board-trustees/596932.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Danger Angel","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-01","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",6,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What roles do respondents primarily assign to school board trustees?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"Respondents most often describe trustees as representing the public, supporting school board administrative functions, and ensuring educational outcomes are met.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How does the study compare the delegate and trustee governing models?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"The survey asks respondents which model they prefer: a delegate model where trustees represent constituents, or a trustee model where they decide based on best judgment; the sample tilts favorably toward the delegate model.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What does the paper say about voter responsiveness at the school board level?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"The relationship between trustees and citizens appears weaker than for national representatives, with evidence suggesting performance-vote links are less consistent at the school board level.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},596932,1792441181,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":108,"preview_page_count":4},962090769052,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_9964176cb1d06d4a9deccf72a44ae3dc","Public Expectations of School Board Trustees  \nAnthony Piscitelli1, Andrea M. L. Perrella2, & Adam Payler3 1Conestoga College, 2Wilfrid Laurier University, 3 University of Birmingham  \nAbstract  \nSchool board trustees play an important role in the education of children throughout Ontario. Using an online survey of Ontario residents, expectations of school board trustees are explored in detail. The survey included an open-ended question that asked respondents what role they see being performed by trustees, as well as a question that asked respondents whether they preferred a “delegate” governing model, which believes trustees should represent constituents, or a “trustee” model, which believes trustees should render decisions based on their best judgement. On the surface, respondents see three primary and distinct roles: represent the public; support the administrative functions of the school board, and to ensure educational outcomes are met. In addition, the sample tilts favourably towards the “delegate” governing model. Regression models identify some factors that help explain respondents’ choices.  \nKeywords: school board trustee, delegate model, trustee model, advocacy  \nIntroduction  \nGovernance within a democratic setting assumes a bottom-up flow of power from voters to elected officials. It also assumes that officials, once elected, are responsive to input and can meet, or minimally acknowledge, voter and stakeholder expectations (Dahl, 1998). This notion of democratic governance often animates national and sub-national politics and elections. However, this theory that holds voter expectations into account has never really been applied to a widespread area of democratic activity, namely school board trustees.  \nSchool board trustees in Ontario are both elected officials and board members, and there are many (Davidson et al., 2020). In 2018, more than 1500 candidates campaigned for about 690 seats across the province (OESC, 2018). What do these trustees do? As elected officials, trustees must be responsive to the voters to ensure management is guiding the organization according to what the public wishes (Jensen & Meckling, 1976). Trustees also act as board members who must adhere to principles of good governance (Caver, 2006; Gill, 2005).  \nWhile good governance and responsiveness to the membership are compatible roles for directors of a board (Piscitelli & Geobey, 2020), the size of the electorate for school board trustees suggests that understanding the expectations of members may be more of a challenge than with most boards. Many non-profit organizations hold elections for their board, but rarely do they involve so many members who are eligible to vote as is the case in Ontario school board elections. General elections mean that in Ontario, school boards have among the largest membership base of any non-profit organization in the province. However, research is lacking on voter expectations of school board trustees. What little research exists on school board trustees focuses mainly on electoral aspects (Davidson et al., 2020; Mc-  \nGregor & Lucas, 2019). Research is still lacking on what voters even know about the role of trustees. In order to shine some light, we present the results of an online survey of 2,541 Ontario residents, with an oversampling of parents with school-aged children. The survey helps examine what parents and other members of school boards expect from trustees, as well as look at some correlates for those expectations. Overall, survey participants provided a wide variety of responses, many reflecting a lack of knowledge about what trustees do – with a noticeable group seeing no role for trustees at all. The responses of most others were summarized into three primary and distinct roles: represent the public, support the administrative functions of the school board, and ensure educational outcomes are met.  \nResponsiveness of Politicians  \nThere is clear evidence that in the aggregate, voters respond ","cbCais9ZdZibnsYe","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCais9ZdZibnsYe","pdf",400011,16,"English","# Introduction\n## Responsiveness of Politicians\n# Survey and Findings","[{\"question\":\"What roles do respondents primarily assign to school board trustees?\",\"answer\":\"Respondents most often describe trustees as representing the public, supporting school board administrative functions, and ensuring educational outcomes are met.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the study compare the delegate and trustee governing models?\",\"answer\":\"The survey asks respondents which model they prefer: a delegate model where trustees represent constituents, or a trustee model where they decide based on best judgment; the sample tilts favorably toward the delegate model.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the paper say about voter responsiveness at the school board level?\",\"answer\":\"The relationship between trustees and citizens appears weaker than for national representatives, with evidence suggesting performance-vote links are less consistent at the school board level.\"}]","Public Expectations of School Board Trustees | PDF",1792084031]