Dr. Paul Kienel John Moran Vance Nichols SCHOOLS AT RISK by Vance Nichols, John Moran, and Paul Kienel. All rights reserved.

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1 Survive & Thrive through Organizational Disaster Part 1 Identify Danger Signs, Survive the Nightmare Part 2 Navigate the Waves of Catastrophe, Thrive in Its Wake Dr. Paul Kienel John Moran Vance Nichols 2011 by Vance Nichols, John Moran, and Paul Kienel. All rights reserved.

2 Introduction Welcome Introduction of Presenters Prayer Presentation

3 Overview 1 st Hour Identify Danger Signs Identifying the risk factors and danger signs leading to organizational catastrophe in Christian schools Vance Nichols Survive the Nightmare Surviving a Christian school failure in progress John Moran, Paul Kienel

4 Overview 2 nd Hour Navigate the Waves of Catastrophe Navigating wisely through the waves of institutional damage and relational carnage John Moran, Paul Kienel Thrive in Its Wake Coming out the other side of the nightmare positioned for success and the ability to thrive John Moran, Paul Kienel Q & A Session

6 Studies were conducted at California Baptist University (Nichols, 2006) and Regent University (Fitzpatrick, 2002) to explore why Christian schools close. Both studies revealed a strong link between Christian school closures and failed leadership. Of all contributing factors, failed leadership was identified as the greatest single cause of Christian school closures among ACSImember schools, both church-sponsored and independent.

7 FINDINGS: Factors contributing to the closure of all participating schools (Nichols, 2006), in ranked order by number and percentage of total responses. 159; 3% 61; 1% 67; 1% 498; 10% 405; 8% 54; 1% 1290; 28% 2236; 48% Homogeneity of Vision & Culture - 3 Leadership - 1 Church-School-Parent Relationships - 2 Political Legal Context - 8 Finances - 4 Administrator or Staff Turnover - 5 Competition - 7 Scope & Quality of Programs - 6

8 The findings were discovered prior to the recession and at the front-end of a demographic/psychographic shift which is ongoing, both of which have served to dramatically increase the number of Christian schools that have closed, as well as exacerbate and amplify the problem of failed leadership. The 2006 study was conducted after 7 Christian schools in just one district of ACSI s Southern California region closed during a three year period. At the time, that was an unusually-high number, and there was some alarm. But in the past four years, approximately 100 ACSImember schools have closed in the Southern California region alone. Now we ve gone from alarm to crisis.

9 The Fitzpatrick study (2002) and the Nichols study (2006) both discovered tell-tale signs warning of institutional instability. Those original research findings revealed 24 danger signs which identify Christian schools that are at risk. Since then, ongoing observations made during the current crisis have revealed additional danger signs, expanding the list of precursors to catastrophic organizational failure in Christian schools. Very briefly, here are those 33 red flags:

10 (1) A change of pastor at the sponsoring church or at a church which impacts the school; (2) pastoral interference and micromanagement, especially if the pastor has not been trained in Christian school administration; (3) schools being sponsored by a church in decline or transition; (4) schools being sponsored by a church whose congregation is smaller than the attendance of the school; (5) schools being sponsored by a church whose budget is smaller than the school it sponsors; (6) schools being sponsored by a church that is experiencing financial difficulties; (7) a loss of vision on the part of leadership (at various levels) for their Christian school, as well as for Christian school education in general; (8) untrained, uninformed, or inexperienced school board members;

11 (9) untrained or inexperienced school administrators; (10) church leaders, school board members, or any other individuals involved with the school who do not genuinely care about children or Christian school education; (11) the loss of a school s long-time Christian school administrator; (12) frequent changes of school principals, chief administrators, or other administrative personnel; (13) the continued leasing of facilities by the Christian school, rather than owning its own property; (14) the lowering of school admission standards in an attempt to increase enrollment; (15) a loss of spirituality in the school, particularly among leadership and faculty members, but also including support staff; (16) the inability of a school to stay on mission and adhere to its stated purpose;

12 (17) individuals within leadership that view the school as belonging to them rather than belonging to God; (18) leadership that seeks to forward a selfish human agenda for the school rather than seeking to discover and accomplish God s agenda for the school; (19) behavior of leaders that is incongruent with a Christian worldview or with biblical principles of living (said one respondent: We require a Christian worldview be taught in the classrooms by our teachers to our students, so why do we allow leadership to be in charge which doesn t follow a biblical worldview in the way it leads? ); (20) open conflict at the highest levels of school or church leadership; (21) conflict that spills over to the parents of the school, leading to parental uncertainty and confusion, lack of confidence in the school, a proliferation of damaging gossip, a reduction in parental support and involvement, and an eventual decline in student enrollment;

13 (22) ongoing and unresolved conflict with the sponsoring church over shared space matters and property issues (including problems with shared classrooms and Sunday School rooms, shared kitchen facilities, shared restrooms, a shared sanctuary, shared parking areas, shared playgrounds, a shared gym, etc.); (23) pastor search committees that do not determine if a prospective new pastor is the right fit for the church, when that church already has a Christian school ministry in place; (24) hesitation of Christian school leadership to act quickly and decisively when one or more warning signs surfaces, in order to prevent the escalation of a crisis from occurring or prevent a crisis from developing into a institutional disaster. A predominant attitude of let s wait and see typically prevailed especially at the school board level often leading to catastrophic consequences, eventually if not immediately.

14 (25) School boards which too often refuse to accept responsibility for poor decisions or recognize that they have made decisions which are severely detrimental to the school, until well past the tipping point. (26) Illegitimate leadership groups especially key individuals which are allowed and even empowered by the school board to usurp authority in blatant disregard of the chain of command. This ill-gotten power may then be wielded against teachers, support staff, parents, and even students.

15 (27) Chief administration which makes decisions that are ill-informed, fiscally unwise, or designed to protect and expand the CEOs personal power base including manipulating personnel to serve as organizational human shields rather than place the legitimate needs of the school system first as a matter of priority. (28) Chief administration which creates programs, policies, and procedures based on purely secular educational and cultural trends, with a blatant disregard for Biblical core values and Christian worldview concerns (not just best practices issues).

16 (29) Individuals within leadership and management which keep hidden personal or corporate unethical, immoral, or unlawful conduct, which may be made public in the media and through electronic social networks, critically damaging the school s reputation. This typically results in dramatic and rapid enrollment loss and a decline in credibility amongst various segments of the community at large, including churches, parachurch groups, and professional educators, both public and private.

17 (30) Ad hoc parent groups which run amuck, leading assaults on individuals and the school via the media and electronic social networks, going far beyond simply addressing legitimate issues of leadership to engaging in outright libel and slander. (31) Highest levels of leadership that continue to live in a state of perpetual denial regarding the genuine potential of impending financial doom for the school system. This can eventually result in a cascade of overwhelming crises, including the possibility of being shut down by lenders and other institutions to which the school has made itself liable.

18 (32) Failure by the highest levels of administrative and executive leadership to effectively mentor the next crop of God-honoring school leaders, or the failure of school boards to put into place those qualified leaders who have already been mentored for administrative leadership. This can result in an organizational implosion which leaves deep internal wounds which may take years to heal, and which may be irreversible to the institution without direct intervention by godly leadership and God Himself. And

19 (33) Refusal at the highest levels of leadership to see things the way they really are, to courageously face a new future rather than the one they may have so long envisioned, to comprehend the need for a new direction, to seize a new paradigm for a new challenge and a new day, to make the sacrifices necessary to make it happen, and to truly and intentionally submit to God for His will and His best to be accomplished for His school and His kids, for His glory and not ours.

20 Ignoring the Danger Signs Ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance is deadly. Now What? Is it possible to survive the nightmare? What do you do? What can be done?

INTRODUCTION. Our desire and goal can be summarized in the following words: Loving God...Loving You (Mark 12:30, 31)

INTRODUCTION. Our desire and goal can be summarized in the following words: Loving God...Loving You (Mark 12:30, 31) STRATEGIC PLAN 2008-2013 Our Purpose Statement: Our purpose, as a fellowship united in our Lord Jesus Christ, is to worship God through evangelism and discipleship by the power of the Holy Spirit. INTRODUCTION