CSI School Board Updates
August 2022
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Welcome to the start of the 2022-2023 school year!
My name is Anastasia Hawkins and I am CSI’s Director of Governance, a role that gives me the opportunity to take a deep dive into school governance and governing board supports. I am looking forward to working with you and your board this year and wanted to kick off the new year with some exciting updates!
This year, rather than the quarterly newsletter, I will be sending a monthly email newsletter to all CSI school board members with tips, tricks and updates that will be pertinent to the month ahead. These emails will be sent at the beginning of every month to ensure enough time for you and your board to make adjustments to your agenda if needed as well as prep and plan for the coming month. Should others from your school wish to be included in the monthly emails, they are more than welcome and can sign up here.
I hope you find this newsletter to be a useful resource in your role as a school governing board member. This is a very exciting time for students, staff and the board and I am grateful to be a part of your journey this year.
Anastasia
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Upcoming Deadlines and Reminders |
📅 Upcoming Deadlines:
💡 Important Reminders:
- At this time it is imperative that your board confirm that it has developed a scope and schedule of meetings for the school year ahead and communicated it to members, school leaders, parents and other stakeholders. Further, you should ensure that the schedule is available on the board website and accessible by all stakeholders.
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Orientation for New School Board Members |
CSI provides virtual modules for new school board members on topics including: accountability, compliance monitoring, special populations oversight, financial oversight, and understanding the charter contract. Access these modules here.
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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.
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✔️ Review Unified Improvement Plan (UIP)
✔️ Review state assessment results
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Unified Improvement Planning |
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Unified Improvement Planning (UIP) was created to encourage Colorado schools to improve student learning and system effectiveness by engaging in a cycle of continuous improvement to manage their performance. The intent is for schools to create a single plan that reflects improvement planning activities, and thereby reduces the total number of plans and documentation required by both the state and CSI. Tools and trainings related to the UIP can be found on the CSI Resource site here.
Upcoming Deadlines:
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August 15: first draft of UIP completed in online system
Questions & Support Contact:
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Questions to Consider
- Do the current Major Improvement Strategies address gaps in both state and interim assessment data?
- How does school leadership track that Major Improvement Strategies are being implemented?
- How does school leadership know that Major Improvement Strategies are having a positive impact on student outcomes?
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When reviewing and discussing the State Assessment Results, many schools ensure that the School Leader is available to attend that particular meeting to both speak to the results and explain areas of growth from the past year as well as areas that need additional support in the upcoming school year. Further, some school leaders bring in specific staff members that support these efforts at the school level to give a more in-depth explanation of what this looks like as well as strategic planning based on the assessment results.
Questions & Support Contact:
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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, including students who are at risk of failure, in meeting or exceeding proficiency?
- How is the board ensuring that school leaders have the necessary resources to operate successfully from the first day of school?
- 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?
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✔️ Current enrollment (including all student groups)
✔️ Waitlist update
✔️ If enrollment is less than projected, ask School Leader to develop plan and have periodic updates (every 2 weeks) through October Count
✔️ Board support for student recruitment
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Questions to Consider
- Is the school on target to meet the budgeted student count? If not, do current financial forecasts include the lower funded pupil count, and is there a plan to mitigate funding decreases?
- Has the board reviewed enrollment targets and plans for the upcoming school year, including with school leaders? How will the board receive updates on progress through the spring recruitment season?
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✔️ Review report on staffing (counts, ratios, experience, openings) |
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✔️ Participation in school events
✔️ Family engagement plan
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✔️ Review year in the charter contract
✔️ Board chair signs annual Assurance of Compliance for CSI
✔️ Review board operating procedures and attendance expectations
✔️ Sign annual board agreement, if applicable
✔️ Ensure board webpage is up-to-date (contact information, calendar/participation link for meetings, etc.)
✔️ Establish school leader goals, evaluation process
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✔️ Review previous year-end financial report (July 1-June 30) |
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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 reports each month? Year-to-Date Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow Forecast, and Bank Statement(s) for all bank accounts?
- Is the school’s administration analyzing the school’s cash flow needs?
- Does the budget align with the priorities that were previously established by the board and school leadership?
- Has the board reviewed a 3-5 year forecast annually?
- Has the board identified any long-term financing needs? Are there opportunities to refinance existing loans?
- Has the board reviewed its Financial Policies and Procedures, updated it to reflect most current systems and structures, and approved it by vote? Is there evidence or a process for verifying that all policies are being followed?
- What contracts are set to expire on/before the next board meeting? Has the board designated someone on the board to review, and someone in school leadership to negotiate expiring contracts?
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John Brendza, CSI School Support Liaison |
John Brendza, CSI School Support Liaison, can offer support services to your school for all matters related to your board as well as school leader support if needed. During his tenure working with schools, John has held just about every role possible in both the school and school board setting and is well versed in problem solving and firefighting when necessary. John can be reached at johnbrendza@csi.state.co.us.
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