The charter school board leads through implementing the vision and mission of the school. Typically this is done with a strategic plan that is updated annually and communicated with regularly with constituents. On a monthly basis, the board leads through what is discussed, and accomplished, at its board meetings.
The board president usually develops the agenda along with the lead administrator. The agenda should reflect the vision and mission of the school. Some boards read the vision and mission statements at the beginning of the meeting; others have these statements written on the agenda.
The board meets in public to conduct business. Commonly charter boards have difficulty drawing the line between what is healthy parental interaction and when that interaction distracts from the board's meeting purpose. There usually aren't too many parents who attend charter school board meetings; until there is a problem and then there could be hundreds in the audience!
A few tips for charter school boards include:
* Make it clear when an item on the agenda requires action or just discussion.
* Use the consent agenda whenever possible for routine items.
* Put the most important decision items at the beginning of the agenda or if parents are interested in a particular subject, put it at the beginning of the agenda so they don't have to stay late into the evening.
* Make sure the agenda conveys the school's vision and mission. If the school's priority is academic achievement, how often does the board discuss that issue?
* Periodically get feedback from individual board members to continually improve board performance.
* If there is strong disagreement on a decision item, consider postponing the decision until the next meeting.
* Clearly designate action items as a result of the meeting and make sure individuals follow up on their responsibilities prior to the next meeting.
3 comments:
Hi Denise,
Thank you for this informative post. One of the stumbling blocks to agenda setting that I have heard expressed by the members of my child's school board is the meeting requirements of the Colorado Sunshine Laws. Members often express frustration over the inability to meet quickly or easily for problem-solving and decision-making (where the laws prohibit non-public discussion/collaboration via time-saving methods such as telephone or email). What is your understanding of these laws, and how do other school boards navigate these constraints respectfully and efficiently?
The sunshine laws are probably the least understood by the board members I interact with. We'll be doing a charter school board training on Friday afternoon at the Jeffco administration building (see the charter page of the CDE website for registration info).
There's a really good handout that explains all the details of Open Meetings and Open Records at: http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdechart/guidebook/gov/index.htm
Boards can meet with 24 hour notice as long as their bylaws permit. An emergency decision can be made by the board president individually speaking with board members (usually best after an explanation email has been sent out--but not responded to) and then ratifying the vote at the next regular meeting.
The sunshine law intent is to have public boards operate transparently. If there is conflict amongst board members, it must be dealt with in public. Hopefully the board president would have tried to deal with it first, from the standpoint of enforcing the board agreement (samples are at the same link as above). The board should learn how to act professionally in public and deal with their business transparently. I'd also encourge every charter board member to go visit another school's board meeting to get some perspective outside their own school. Many boards don't know what "normal" is.
Denise,
I'll pass this all on to our good board members - thanks!
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