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Superintendent Counsel
Recurring, confidential counsel on major decisions, board relationships, executive leadership, personnel, strategy, and the pressure that comes with the role.
Decision framing · preparation · action notes
Independent advisory for public school superintendents
Clearer decisions.
Stronger alignment.
More disciplined execution.
Confidential, experienced counsel for the decisions that cannot be delegated and the leadership problems that do not fit neatly on an agenda.
21years as a superintendent
3Minnesota districts, 800 to 8,300 students
2022Minnesota Superintendent of the Year
30years of military service, retired Army colonel
Why this work exists
The superintendent’s job is too consequential for generic advice.
District leaders operate at the intersection of governance, politics, people, performance, and public trust. The hardest issues rarely lack information. They lack a clear frame, disciplined judgment, and an honest place to test decisions before consequences become public.
Core engagements
Focused support, matched to the mandate.
Engagements are structured as recurring counsel or defined-scope work. No inflated process. No generic program.
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Quarterly Strategic Review
A disciplined 90-day review of priorities, commitments, risks, indicators, unresolved decisions, and the conditions affecting execution.
Priority review · risk scan · next-quarter commitments
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Organizational Alignment
Structured interviews and analysis to identify unclear responsibilities, weak decision rights, cross-functional friction, and inconsistent execution.
Theme report · decision-rights map · 90-day action plan
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Cabinet Effectiveness
Practical work to improve executive team focus, meeting architecture, accountability, candor, and coordination across the organization.
Operating norms · meeting system · accountability cadence
A necessary boundary
The adviser does not become a shadow supervisor.
When direct reports are interviewed, findings are reported as patterns and themes, not attributed comments. The engagement supports the superintendent’s leadership. It does not create an alternate chain of command.
When counsel adds the most value
Use it when the cost of drift, delay, or misjudgment is high.
First year in the role
Board-superintendent reset
Leadership transition
District restructuring
Stalled strategic priorities
Executive team friction
High-stakes personnel decisions
Community or political pressure
Concrete products
Deliverables that improve the next decision.
Products are selected to fit the assignment. The point is not volume. The point is clarity, ownership, and follow-through.
Decision Briefs
Issue framing, options, tradeoffs, risks, stakeholder implications, and a clear recommended path.
Quarterly Strategic Review
A concise assessment of progress, risk, capacity, unresolved decisions, and next-quarter priorities.
Priority and Risk Dashboard
A leadership-level view of commitments, owners, indicators, dependencies, and emerging threats.
Cabinet Operating System
Clear meeting purposes, decision protocols, accountability routines, and expectations for executive teamwork.
Organizational Assessment
Evidence-based themes on alignment, execution, decision rights, role clarity, and leadership conditions.
90-Day Action Plan
Sequenced actions, owners, milestones, decisions, and measures for turning conclusions into movement.
The approach
Direct enough to be useful. Structured enough to produce movement.
Good counsel should reduce noise, surface the real decision, and create a practical path through it.
Define the mandate
Clarify the actual problem, the decision owner, the audience, the boundaries, and what success requires.
Gather targeted evidence
Review the right documents, conversations, indicators, and operating conditions without creating unnecessary process.
Frame the choice
Separate facts from assumptions, expose tradeoffs, test risks, and identify what must be decided now.
Drive execution
Convert the decision into owners, actions, milestones, communication, and a disciplined review cadence.
Not coaching theater. Not generic facilitation. Not a stack of slides nobody uses.
About Mike Funk
Leadership tested in the superintendent’s seat and military command.
Mike Funk has served 21 years as a Minnesota public school superintendent, leading BOLD Schools, Albert Lea Area Schools, and Stillwater Area Public Schools. His experience spans districts from 800 to 8,300 students, from a three-community system to a larger organization with more than 1,000 employees. Across those settings, he has led board governance, strategic planning, executive-team development, labor relations, fiscal stewardship, successful referenda, organizational change, and major capital work.
Mike was named the 2022 Minnesota Superintendent of the Year by the Minnesota Association of School Administrators. He also served 30 years in the Minnesota Army National Guard, retiring as a colonel after serving as Chief of Joint Staff and Chief of Staff, commanding the 175th Regional Training Institute, and leading a 1,100-soldier infantry battalion during a NATO deployment to Kosovo. His service also included a deployment to Bosnia.
That combination of public leadership and military command informs an approach centered on preparation, candor, disciplined judgment, and accountable execution. Mike holds a doctorate in Educational Policy and Administration from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College. Since 2013, he has taught aspiring school leaders at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota.
District leadership
BOLD · Albert Lea · Stillwater
Military leadership
Colonel, Minnesota Army National Guard (Ret.)
State recognition
2022 Minnesota Superintendent of the Year
Academic and strategic study
University of Minnesota · U.S. Army War College
“The value is not another opinion. It is a disciplined way to see the issue clearly, make the decision, and carry it through.”
Start here
A confidential first conversation.
Describe the decision, transition, or organizational issue in front of you. The first step is a direct conversation about whether the work fits.
Working contact
contact@superintendentcounsel.com