|
CSI School Board Updates
November 2023
| |
|
Winter is coming...
Fortunately, that equates to a few less “to-dos” on the Sample Board Meeting Calendar. Now is the perfect time for you as a board to conduct a mid-year check-in with your Head of School and spend some time thinking about Strategic Planning and Succession Planning. See below for some helpful questions to begin asking yourselves as you work through these items:
Mid-Year Check In
- Review the goals that were mutually agreed on with your Head of School at the beginning of the year.
- How does interim student performance look? Is there progress in meeting the identified outliers? What adjustments need to be made now?
- Did October Count meet your projections? Why or why not?
- What updates might you need to make to your draft budget submitted to CSI?
- What staffing changes have occurred? Were they expected?
- What mid-course corrections should be agreed upon now by the Board and Head of School for the remainder of the year?
Resources:
Strategic Planning
- Look back and determine what is working well for the board so far this year.
- Where are your strengths as a board?
- Where are your weaknesses?
- Who can you lean on for support?
- How will you track progress on the strategic plan?
- What adjustments need to occur mid-year to ensure accomplishment of the board’s strategic plan and goals?
- Does the board have a plan in place to step back and review its strategy, performance, and future development needs?
See the CSI Resource Page for Strategic Planning Templates and Tools.
Succession Planning
- Do you have board members that will be rolling off or have resigned?
- Is your board fully staffed?
- What is the plan for recruiting new board members.
- Do your bylaws have proper policies in place to allow for successful board member recruitment, retention and replacement?
- Do you have a robust onboarding and training process for new board members?
-
See the CSI Resource document titled Do’s and Don’ts of Board Bylaws to consider suggested updates or revisions.
Best,
Tom
| |
Upcoming Deadlines and Reminders | |
📅 Upcoming Training Opportunities:
-
December 7: Brown Bag Board Training: Legislative Preview and Advocacy and Recruiting and Onboarding Great Board Members
- REGISTER here
💡 Important Reminders:
-
Please note that at least one board member is REQUIRED to attend each of the Brown Bag Board Trainings for the year. The links to register for each can be found here.
| | | |
|
John Brendza has been with CSI for many years, most recently as the School Support Liaison acting as a governance support contact for CSI schools. With our Senior Director of Governance and Legal Supports—Tom McMillen—on board, we will transition to have Tom serve as the primary contact for all things related to school board governance.
We want to share our immense gratitude for John's work and dedication to the CSI charter public school community and for his unwavering commitment to supporting strong school board governance. Thank you, John!
| | | |
|
We are eager to share our 2022-23 year-in-review with you!
Our annual report theme – “Championing Charters” – reflects our focus on uplifting Charter School Institute schools, stories, and communities while remaining true to our mission – to foster high-quality charter public school choices that serve all students.
View the Annual Report
| | | |
Included below are both summaries of key activities, contact information for CSI staff that can provide further support if requested, and links to related resources.
| |
✔️ Review ongoing concerns and/or progress updates from the State Assessment and CARS Results | | | |
|
Questions to Consider
-
What do current academic results indicate about successes and areas of improvement for the upcoming school year? How do these strengths and weaknesses reflect the ways in which the board has allocated resources, and how may the board want to adjust resources going forward?
- What efforts are in place to support all students, in meeting or exceeding proficiency?
- How did the school progress compared to the metrics and measures in its strategic plan? Are there any additional resources needed based on student outcomes?
- How is the board ensuring that the curriculum and other academic resources are effectively helping leaders and teachers meet academic achievement goals? Does the academic committee and/or school leader feel that any adjustments to curriculum choices or resources are needed, and if so, what are they and why?
| | |
✔️ Board support for student recruitment and retention for FY24-25 | | | |
|
Questions to Consider
- Did the school meet its projected student enrollment? If not, why?
-
To what extent do student demographics reflect local demographics?
-
Did the school meet its special population enrollment targets for students of color, students with IEPs, gifted and talented students, English Learners, and economically disadvantaged students? If not, what is the plan to address enrollment of these populations?
- If enrollment is under budget after October Count, are any adjustments necessary for programming or budget? What caused lower enrollment and who will be responsible for identifying enrollment strategies for next year?
- Has the board reviewed student recruitment, retention, and marketing plans? What does student retention look like at each grade level and by subgroup?
| | |
✔️ Begin conducting mid-year check-ins; ensure surveys have been sent out if applicable | | | |
✔️ Participation in school events | | | |
|
Questions to Consider
- Who is going to take the lead on the school leader evaluation process? What evaluation tool will be used?
-
Was there a school evaluation process in place before the start of the school year? Was it shared with the head of school?
- What mutually agreed upon measures and metrics have been established with the head of school?
- Have the school leader’s performance goals been set? Do the goals align with the Board’s strategic priorities and/or the school’s mission and vision?
- How is the Board seeking information from the school leader on midyear progress against performance goals? What resources are in place to support the school leader’s development toward those goals?
| | |
✔️ Review financial policies & procedures as necessary | | | |
|
Questions to Consider:
- What is the school’s fund balance? How does it compare to statutory requirements, CSI requirements, and the board’s requirements and goals?
- Has the finance committee reviewed the following information each month: Year-to-Date Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow Forecast, Cash on Hand, and Bank Statement(s) for all bank accounts?
- Has the board established a timeline and priorities for formulating next year’s budget, including time to discuss any changing resource needs (e.g., new curricula, etc.) with school leaders?
- How is the school's administration analyzing the school's cash flow needs?
- What adjustments need to be made to the school's financial policies to address changing concerns?
| | |
|
Board Visits
I've recently had the opportunity to sit in on several CSI school board meetings, including Ascent Classical Academy, The Academy of Arts & Knowledge, AXIS International Academy, Colorado Military Academy, New Legacy Charter School, and New America School, with several other board meeting visits scheduled. I'm consistently impressed with the engagement of our schools' board members. I have noted several common themes that run through these meetings, including the desire to address succession planning, onboarding, and recruitment. We'll be addressing these and other issues during the December 7 Brown Bag lunch. As always, if there are issues you'd like to see addressed, either during a board visit or otherwise, please let me know.
Keep up the good work!
| | | | | |
