Never, never, never say “no comment” as a school leader.

It is a foolish phrase. It is politically clumsy. It sounds as if you have something to hide—and that the public doesn’t have a right to know what’s going on.

And, as a long-time journalist, I can assure you it annoys the heck out of reporters.

Uttering those two words also is a failure for you as a community leader attempting to guide public opinion.

Worst of all, there’s no need to say it.

So what are you supposed to do when asked about an issue you can’t discuss?

If you think about it, there’s a lot you can say. And it essentially boils down to this: Here’s why I cannot give you any details—but I can reassure you that the school district will do the right thing.

For example, what do you say when a teacher is claiming school administrators fired her for nefarious reasons?

“The school district has a responsibility to protect the privacy of school personnel, so we obviously cannot talk about the employee or the matter you’ve raised. But be assured that school board policy is to treat everyone fairly and to respect the law regarding personnel matters.”

And what if the community is up in arms about some matter the principal handled—perhaps inappropriately?

“We need to gather all the facts before we can accurately and fairly discuss the matter. But we are looking into the concerns that have been raised.”

One important caveat to this advice is the danger of saying too much—and having your remarks come back to bite you. I can see a school attorney cringing at the thought of a board member promising “due process” or saying a teacher “will have a chance to defend herself.”

So, depending on the issue, running any comments past your school attorney might be a good idea.

Del Stover, Senior Editor