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Pre-opening Checklist for Charter School Boards

This checklist is intended for new charter school boards that have been approved but have not yet opened their school. Note that there is no need to reinvent the wheel – BoardOnTrack has resources, tools, and templates available on our public Blog or our Resources page for members.

To do

Tips

Board Structure and Composition

  • Identify founding trustees

  • Develop board member agreement and/or job description

  • Sign initial board member agreements

  • Assign initial term limits

  • Assign board officer roles (i.e., Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, and Secretary)

  • Write officer job descriptions 

  • Establish initial committees and/or work groups

  • Write committee descriptions or charters

  • Review and revise your bylaws (as needed)

 

BoardOnTrack members, check out our sample board member job description. 

We recommend staggered terms so your founders don’t all roll-off at once.

 

It’s common for founding boards to create work-groups or task forces that correspond to their start-up needs (e.g., facilities, student recruitment and enrollment, etc.). Eventually, these work groups will dissolve and/or become your committees.

 

We recommend that every charter school board eventually have a finance, governance, academic excellence, development, and CEO Support & Evaluation committee.

 

If you have limited membership and/or bandwidth, we usually recommend that you form your finance and/or governance committees first.

 

Board Meetings

  • Draft an annual board calendar

  • Create a standard agenda template

  • Create a standard minutes template

  • Understand your state’s Open Meetings Law (OML) requirements

BoardOnTrack Members, check out our sample annual calendar and our OML pop quiz.


In BoardOnTrack, we make it easy to use our standard templates, or customize your own and reuse each month.

Board Recruitment & Onboarding

  • Define a recruitment and selection process for new board members

  • Recruit new members to fill any gaps and add capacity

  • Create a new board member onboarding process

Ask your Governance Coach to recommend a success plan.


In BoardOnTrack, we make it easy to store folders, documents, and resources for onboarding new members.


Ensure that your members bring expertise in at least the essential areas: education, finance, facilities, governance, HR, and legal. Remember, a charter school is a multimillion-dollar public entity, so you need more than education expertise.


Even if you have the most stellar founding board, you will likely lose one or more board members during the first year. Smaller boards are typical during the founding year(s) but be sure you have enough members and good processes to withstand the natural turnover.



CEO Support & Evaluation

  • Adopt a CEO evaluation process

  • Create a CEO report and/or dashboard

  • Draft Y1 CEO goals

  • Set a cadence and schedule for CEO:Board Chair check-ins 

Develop and/or identify your CEO evaluation tool now. Even if you change it later, you’ll want to have something in place before doors open.


For BoardOnTrack members, we have your back! Our built-in CEO evaluation tool is best-in-class and ready to use.

Identify clear Y1 goals for the CEO, i.e., the top 2-5 things the CEO will accomplish this year. Note, this is not the same thing as the school’s accountability plan or performance framework.


It’s not uncommon for the CEO and Chair to check-in once a week once the school is open.

Board Goals, Accountability & Development

  • Commit to an annual board assessment

  • Identify your board assessment tool

  • Create initial board development plan

  • Hold first annual retreat

Conducting an annual board assessment is a best practice–it’s a chance to reflect on your collective strengths and areas for growth, it can help you prioritize, and it looks good to your authorizer. 


For BoardOnTrack members, we have your back! Our built-in assessment makes it easy, and your Governance Coach will help debrief the results and create an action plan for improvement.


Also, we have lots of resources on hosting great retreats. In general, there are three retreat must-haves: 1) time to (re)connect to one another and mission, 2) time for training or professional development, and 3) time for strategy and planning.

Board Policies

  • Grievance or complaint policy

  • Confidentiality policy

  • Conflict of Interest Policy

  • Sign an annual disclosure statement concerning possible conflict of interest

  • Nominating policy for new board members and officers

Board and school policies vary significantly based on location, waivers, and authorizer requirements. We highly recommend that you refer to your authorizer for recommended policies.


The list to the left represents essential policies that all boards should have in place prior to opening. 


For BoardOnTrack members, check out our sample nominating policy.

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