I have spent fifty years in education, twenty of them in Christian schools, and helped six schools through turnarounds. These articles are what I learned, most of it the hard way. Boards, money, enrollment, hiring. Each one names the problem, then the fix. Start with the one keeping you up at night.
FeaturedBoards8 min read
Conflict training for Christian schools: Matthew 18 as an operating system, board training, and the head's chair. Paul Harrell, fifty years in.
Money7 min read
No Christian school has a money problem at the root. Paul Harrell on the four dominoes, reading two years of 990s, and finding what actually broke.
Enrollment7 min read
Parents say faith. They enroll on safety. Paul Harrell on what families actually shop for, how to prove it, and why the faith still matters most.
Head of School7 min read
Score the person, not yourself. At 90, delegate. At 70 with the right intent, let go. Paul Harrell's rule for when to let go and when to hold on.
Marketing7 min read
Rebuilding trust after a school crisis starts with one script: we have had some bad times, I own that, we are moving forward now. Paul Harrell on why it works.
Hiring & Culture7 min read
There are no boxes for teachers. Paul Harrell on treating staff equally but never the same, and why sameness takes the spirit out of good people.
Practical rules for Christian school leaders from Paul Harrell's fifty years in education: conflict training, why money problems reveal rather than cause other problems, what parents want, the 90/70 rule for delegation, how a school owns its bad years, and leading staff equally but never the same. Each article ends with what a first call would cover.
Faith is why a family is shopping for Christian education at all. Safety is how they choose between schools. Parents read softer signals: whether adults know students by name, how problems get handled, how long teachers stay. The schools that prove safety, then deliver the faith, keep families for a decade. The article calls this Safety Then Faith.
Not at the root. Money is the last domino: mission drifts or leadership falters, good faculty leave, families follow, enrollment falls, and then the budget has a hole. Money problems do not cause your problems. They reveal them. The diagnosis starts with three numbers: two years of 990s, student retention, and faculty and staff retention.
Score the person you would hand it to. At 90 percent, delegate and get out of the way. At 70 with the right intent, let them go and stay close. With the wrong intent, hold on. Below 70, it is still yours. Score with your brain, not your heart. Three decisions never get delegated: purpose, the leadership team, and the parent problems that reach the leader's chair.
Equally, but never the same: same worth and standards, different handling. Elementary, coaching, art, and math teachers chose their work because of who they are, and sameness takes the spirit out of people. Meet each person where they are, and hold every flexible decision against the child at the center of the school.
Start here
Not sure where your school stands? Start with fifteen minutes and three numbers.
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives generously to all without reproach.”
