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New Year Brings Renewed Sense of Urgency to Charter School Board Governance - BoardOnTrack

Written by Sam Falk | Jan 5, 2021 8:00:00 AM

The new year often brings a renewed sense of urgency to charter school boards and CEOs. And though this year has been exceptional, there’s still that drive to get things in order and make sure you end this school year strong.

Effective board work starts with effective board meetings. But your meetings must maintain transparency, in compliance with your state’s open meeting laws.

Falling out of compliance can become an administrative headache or even bring heightened scrutiny to your organization. And the risk increases as you grow.

Start with your meeting minutes. Most states require minutes to include certain minimum items such as attendance, the time the meeting is called to order, the adjournment, and others. 

Here’s what your charter school’s board meeting minutes should include.

Know when and where your minutes must be published. For instance, California’s Brown Act requires that board minutes be published on your website.

Every state is different. Cross-reference our advice here with your state’s open meeting law.

Don’t get overwhelmed. We’ve seen it all. From uploading PDFs to a website library, to managing sharing settings in Google Docs, transparency can seem so time-consuming.

There’s a better way. BoardOnTrack simplifies compliance. Our public portal makes it as easy as just a few clicks, and can be customized to fit your state’s timing requirements.