Special issues in charter school governance

1. Special issues in charter school governance

2. Agenda • Charter Board duties • Charter School Boards vs. other nonprofit Boards • Committees • Open meetings law and Board Communication • Monitoring performance • Founding team challenges

3. My definition of an expert: “…a person who knows enough about what’s really going on the be scared” PJ Plauger

4. 100 9th grade students

5. 52 complete high school in 4 years

6. 29 are considered “college ready”

7. 25 will actually enroll in college

8. Half will take remedial classes

9. And after 8 years. . .

10. 9 will graduate from 4 year colleges

11. Colorado Landscape • Nearly half of students fail to graduate from high school on time • Drop outs cost $3.4 billion each year in lost earning potential • Fewer than 30% of students who are not currently proficient are making adequate growth to reach proficiency by 10th grade.

12. National Landscape • Colorado ranks 32nd worst in the nation on the poverty achievement gap in reading and 43rd in math • America’s high school graduation rate ranks 21st in the world • 2/3 of new jobs being created require college education or advanced training. Just over 1/3 of current high school students are college bound. • One additional year of school reduces the odds that a student will someday commit a crime like murder or assault by almost one-third. 

13. How did we get here?

14. School Models

15. Why New Schools? • Easier and more effective than transforming failing schools • High performing new schools 2 to 3 applicants for every open slot. More than 25,000 students statewide are on waitlists for charter schools • The Colorado Commission for High School Improvement and the Denver Commission on Secondary School Reform both called for a dramatic increase in school choice options • Successful models have proven it is possible

16. Barriers to new school creation • Leadership: Traditional leadership programs do not prepare principals to run autonomous schools • Facilities: To date, districts and autonomous schools have not worked together effectively to find innovative facility solutions • Financial resources: On average, it costs $1 million to create a new school without considering facility costs • Strong Boards!

17. Get Smart Schools The mission of Get Smart Schools is to stimulate and support the creation of new high performing schools serving low-income students in kindergarten through twelfth grade in Colorado’s front range. Criteria: • Autonomy • Budget control • Curriculum control within the context of state standards • Ability to hire and fire at the building level • Accountability • Clear standards • Consequences for failure • Strong leadership • Entrepreneurial staff • Strong governance

18. Education Models

19. Our Approach

20. Charter School Board Duties • Setting and protecting the mission and vision of the school • Hiring, evaluating, terminating the school leader • Providing financial oversight • Ensuring adequate resources • Ensuring legal and ethical compliance • Recruiting new board members • Serving as ambassadors for the school

21. Charter School Committees • Standing • Executive • Nominating/Governance • Finance • Development • Accountability • Ad Hoc • Facilities • Personnel

22. Time Commitment • 2 hours/month for Board meetings • 1-2 hours/month for committee meetings • 3-6 hours/month for independent work and school stewardship activities

23. Charter Boards vs. Nonprofit Boards

24. Open Meetings Law • Any gathering of either 3 members of the Board or a quorum constitutes a public meeting • All meetings require 24 hours advance public notice • Physical posting in a public place • Place of posting determined annually • Email discussions between 3 or more members also constitute a public meeting • All meetings must have recorded minutes and those minutes must be available for public inspection • Executive session permitted for limited reasons: • Real estate transactions • Personnel matters (unless employee requests otherwise) • Attorney client privilege • Requires 2/3 of membership vote to go into executive session • Minutes must be taken and kept for 90 days • May see new requirement coming for recordings of meetings

25. Implications for Board Communication • Informational emails are fine • Reply all is not • Committee meetings need to be treated like regular meetings • Talking about the school informally is fine • Talking about issues that will come up for a vote is not • Open meetings law can be a tool in fighting tendencies toward micro-management

26. Monitoring Performance

27. Head of School Performance • Set clear goals and a timeline now • Determine who will do the evaluation early so that group can gather information all year long • Review the many tools available and select/adapt one • Teacher input is valuable – student and parent input debatable

28. Finding your match • Learn about the mission/vision of the school and understand if that mission is aligned with your views of education • Understand the time commitment • Ask about financial expectations • Get to know the Head of School • Observe a Board meeting • If the school is already open, spend time visiting

29. Motivation • Connection to the work • Individual accountability • Recognition • Renewal

30. Founding Team Challenges • Micromanagement • Fatigue • Old Guard vs. new members • Anxiety about evaluating school leader

31. Learning Boards • Use available resources (Colorado League of Charter Schools, Get Smart Schools, CDE) • A learning opportunity at every meeting • Annual self review and retreat