IRS Changes, School Boards, and the Urgent Need to Plan

On today’s episode of On The Way To School, I’m thinking about what happens when significant changes are happening around our schools—and why thoughtful governance, legal guidance, and practitioner voice matter more than ever.

With proposed IRS and Treasury changes affecting tax-exempt organizations on the horizon, independent school leaders are asking important questions about compliance, governance, and how to protect their institutional mission.

My advice?

Have a plan.

Before putting anything into motion, understand what you’re trying to accomplish, build your approach, and—most importantly—talk to your counsel. Legal counsel is there to help schools navigate moments like this thoughtfully and responsibly.

But there’s another piece of this conversation that I think we can’t overlook:

Research.

Independent schools need more peer-reviewed scholarship that documents what practitioners, administrators, faculty, and boards are actually experiencing.

We need to document this moment.

We need to capture the decisions being made, the challenges schools are facing, and the lessons we’re learning along the way.

Because when the voice of practitioners—and the scholarship that captures their experiences—is missing, we lose context. We lose history. And we risk repeating the same challenges in the future.

My own doctoral research began with that same idea: when there’s a gap in the literature, sometimes the responsibility is to help fill it.

So as independent schools navigate this moment, let’s not just react to what’s happening.

Let’s document it. Study it. Learn from it. And help shape what comes next.

🎧 Listen to today’s episode of On The Way To School wherever you get your podcasts.

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