From roles to results: Getting your school board on the same page

March 26, 2025
1PM EST

Register

Aligned leadership or organized chaos—how cohesive is your school board?

In today’s complex education landscape, ensuring that your school board operates as a cohesive, goal-oriented team is critical for driving meaningful outcomes. But aligning diverse perspectives, managing communication, and maintaining focus on shared goals can be challenging.

Join us for this engaging panel discussion featuring the governance team from Sun Prairie Area School District in Wisconsin. Our expert panel—including Superintendent Dr. Brad Saron, Governance Officer Dr. Steve Schroeder, and Executive Assistant Chandramathi Vemuri—will share their strategies for fostering strong governance, streamlining communication, and creating alignment across the board.
From enhancing decision-making processes to leveraging technology for better collaboration, this session will provide practical insights and actionable strategies to help your board members work harmoniously toward shared goals—ultimately driving better outcomes for your district.

Who Should Attend?
  • Superintendents
  • Board Secretaries/Clerks
  • Education Administrators

What you'll learn:
By the end of this session, you’ll be able to:
✅ Clarify board roles to reduce confusion and conflict
✅ Strategies to build trust and improve board to superintendent communication
✅ Leverage technology to streamline collaboration
✅ Tools to keep the board focused on results—not just processes




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Dr. Brad Saron

District Superintendent, Sun Prairie Area School District

Dr. Brad Saron is in his 18th year as a superintendent, the last ten in Sun Prairie. Previously, he was the superintendent in Chippewa Falls Area Unified School District and Cashton Public Schools. Before the superintendency, he was a high school principal and an English teacher. He is the father of four very active kids and has been married for 25 years. For the past ten years, he's been driving change and fostering excellence as the superintendent in Sun Prairie.

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Dr. Steve Schroeder

Sun Prairie Area School District

Dr. Steve Schroeder has been on the Sun Prairie Area School District (Wisconsin) Board of Education since 2012, serving five years as vice president and six years as president. In this role, Steve has assisted the district with its move to a form of Policy Governance, passing three referenda totaling more than $250M, developing a new strategic framework, and ensuring a focus on equity and meeting the needs of every child. Steve Schroeder serves as the Director of Administration at the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators (AWSA). In this role, Steve oversees all internal operations for AWSA as well as strategic planning and continuous improvement initiatives. He also develops and facilitates leadership trainings for school leadership around the state. Steve has a true passion for working with others through servant leadership, collaboration, and shared vision. He received his Bachelor of Arts and masters of science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a doctorate in Educational Leadership from Edgewood College. Steve is certified to facilitate trainings in the Leadership Challenge, Myers Briggs, Covey’s 7 Habits, Five Dysfunctions of a Team, The Four Stages of Psychological Safety, and Strengths Finder. He is certified in Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence, Brene Brown’s Dare to Lead, and has two certificates from the Robert Greenleaf Servant Leadership Program. As a student of organizational governance, Steve is a Governance Systems Professional (GSP) and an active member in the international organization Govern for Impact. In addition to the Sun Prairie Area School District Board of Education, Steve serves on the Board of Directors for Govern for Impact, the Wisconsin Association of School Councils (vice chair), and the Friends of the Sun Prairie Media Center (vice president). He and his wife Erin, a high school math teacher, are the proud parents of two girls. In his free time, Steve enjoys yard work, reading, skiing, and being dad.

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Chandramathi Vemuri

Executive Assistant to the Superintendent, Sun Prairie Area School District

Chandu has served in the role of Executive Assistant for Board and Superintendent Leadership for the last 11 years. Working with a Superintendent who treats her as a true partner and values her professional development has been integral. Chandu believes that excellence in the boardroom leads to excellence in the classroom so she is committed to assisting Sun Prairie's Board, Superintendent and Senior Leadership execute their strategic priorities. Through management of the Board's annual work plan, Board professional development and BoardDocs she seeks to ensure that the Board has the knowledge they need to make informed decisions. Chandu also understands that developing authentic relationships with her colleagues builds a strong team and treating staff, students, parents/caregivers and community members with empathy, dignity and respect is vital to building a powerful school community.