Northglenn Board of Directors
Board Creation/Transition from GVA Aurora to GVA Northglenn
Because GVA Northglenn is a replication of GVA Aurora, the Board already exists. The Board of Directors will be expanded to 9 to create Board members specifically recruited as founding members for GVA Adams 12. By expanding the current Board, continuity and consistency of the GVA mission and vision will be ensured as the new school builds on the solid foundation of policy, systems and curriculum work of the first.
Board members are nominated from parents and community members who have the interest, commitment, and skills to advance the mission of the school and insure academic and organizational success. The Board has a regularly scheduled monthly meeting and will hold other specialmeetings to address time sensitive issues. The subcommittees of the Board are: Executive Committee, Nominating/Board Development Committee, Policy Development Committee, Accountability Committee, Finance Committee, Fund Development Committee and Facility Committee.
The actions of the Board will betransparent to all stakeholders (i.e., staff, parents, students, the community, Authorizors, CDE, etc.). The Board of Directors has and will comply fully with the requirements of the Colorado Open Meetings and Open Records laws. Board polices will be made available to parents via a binder that is available at the school and on the school’s website.
A School Advisory Committee (aka Parent Advisory Council) per C.R.S. 22-7-106 will be established to conduct surveys, gather information, and analyze data, to
•Determine whether decisions affecting the educational process are advancing or impeding student achievement;
•Report to students, parents, boards of education, educators, and the board on the educational performance of the school and provide data for the appraisal of such performance;
•Recommend to the Principal on the expenditure of all school grants; and
•Identify and assess safety issues related to the school environment.
Board Expansion, Development, Succession.
As noted above the Board will be expanded from 7 to 9 members. Board terms are for three years with staggered membership. Vacancies will be filled by the Board’s Nominating Committee who will identify and recruit committed and effective individuals. The following is adapted from Creating an Effective Charter School Governing Board Guidebook by Frank Martinelli. It articulates the characteristics of effective board members.
They are visionary and future focused, spending their decision-making time looking forward.
They possess an entrepreneurial spirit because their school exists in a fast changing environment that demandsinnovative programs and services to meet existing and emerging educational needs.
They are risk takers, balancing the need for innovation with their stewardship responsibilities.
They are good communicators, understanding the importance of effective communication to all of the stakeholders to whom the school is accountable.
They are systems thinkers focused on the root causes/forces that shape the issues and challenges facing theirschool, community, and educational landscape & they respond with systematic solutions.
They utilize assessment data and educational research for decision making and strategic planning.
They develop creative ways to connect their school to the world around them, exploring and imagining new forms of partnership and alliances to pursue their mission and goals.
They have a deep appreciation for the strength of diversity, understanding that diversity promotes creativity, innovation, and organizational learning.
They are committed to building a learning organization, realizing that board effectiveness and overall charter school effectiveness will be greatly enhanced if there are systems,practices, and structures in place that promote individual and organizational learning.
They are committed to educational excellence and are relentless in pursuing it.
Board development will be ongoing through orientation sessions for new members, retreats, focused discussion/training as a part of board meetings and training sessions offered by CDE Schools of Choice, the Colorado League of Charter Schools, etc.
GVA Board members have benefited significantly from attending workshops offered by the CDE Schools of ChoiceUnit, including a workshop focused using CDE’s Charter School Governing Board Training Handbook, and from attending Colorado League of Charter Schools (CLCS) Annual Conferences, their Leadership Training Institute, and workshop for new board members. The Board has also benefitted from resources like Windows on Leadership: A Manual for Developing Leadership in Charter Schools, 2000, and the Charter Friends National Network publication Creating Effective Governing Boards by Frank Martinelli. The Charter School Support Initiative (CSSI) Resource Handbook has been a valuable resource, as was the CSSI sitevisit (January 19-22, 2009) and evaluation of GVA (Aurora). The Board developed a comprehensive Board Handbook (250 pages) as a resource to orient new Board members and as a key reference document.
Part of building Board capacity involves an annual evaluation of the Board by the Board and Principal/CAO per the following:
a) The Global Village Academy Board of Directors believes that the efficiency and performance of the board itself directly affects the efficiency and performance of the school system as a whole. Therefore, the board will conduct an annual evaluation of its own work.
(b) The following guidelines will apply to the board self-evaluation:
(1) The evaluation shall be a positive, constructive process, aimed at improvement rather than criticism.
(2) The evaluation shall be conducted using a formal written evaluation tool. Additionally, the board will evaluate its progress on the strategic plan.
(3) Board members shall evaluate the board as a whole and not individuals on the board.
(4) Board self-evaluation forms shall be distributed at the April board meeting for use at the May meeting. The board shall not be limited in its discussion to those items that appear on the form. Free discussion and informal comments are valuable.
(See Appendix #43, Board Evaluation Form/Agreement)
Selection of the CAO/School Principal: The GVA Board of Directors is responsible for hiring and supervising, along with the Global Village Charter Collaborative Chief Executive Officer the CAO/Principal for each Campus with a broad base of charter school leadership experience including strong instructional leadership.
Advisory Bodies
The primary purpose of all advisory committees to the board is to contribute to the educational program of the school by conducting studies, identifying problems, or developing recommendations to assist the board in making decisions. The ultimate authority to make those decisions, however, will continue to be the board’s as required by law.
Advisory committees will be formed by the board at such times and for such purposes as the board may deem necessary. They will be given a clear charge, and will be dissolved upon accomplishing that charge. Membership in advisory committeeswill be broadly representative of the school’s populations and the community, and will be chosen from among those who have shown an interest in education or who have special knowledge or expertise relating to the committee’s purpose. Once activated, an advisory committee will report periodically to the board.
The school will have a School Advisory Council per C.R.S. 22-7-106 and 22-7-107 with the charge of 1) administering and analyzing the parent, teacher and student surveys 2) working with the school administration and teachers to develop an annual School Improvement Plan (SIP), 3) hold an annual Parent Meeting to disburse parent survey data and to solicit in put from parents for the SIP.