January 11, 2008                                                                                                                       Vol. 4 No. 1

 

Charter Board Members:

This is our first "Message" in the new year.  We will periodically send these MACSB messages for your information and your reaction if you choose.  Each communication will present a ”governance" thought for your consideration and some information on MACSB activities and offerings.  We hope you find our "thoughts" interesting and perhaps helpful.  Some of them may fly in the face of conventional thinking, but that's on purpose.  We just hope they provoke some productive discussion among board members...and possibly some improvements in board performance.

 

We now have what we believe are updated email addresses for many board members.  And, as always, if you would prefer to not receive our emails, just let us know and we'll remove you from the list.  Fortunately, we have had only one request for removal and that was because the individual was no longer a board member.

 

But we DO want something from you!  We ask that board presidents please determine if all other members are receiving our emails.  Our list is still incomplete in many cases, and we want all member email addresses on our list if they desire.  We then ask each president to send us, by email response, the email addresses for other members who aren't getting our messages.  Your response to this request will be MOST appreciated!!!

 

 

 


 

                       Governance Thought of the Week

 

All of us have given some thought to the question "what is the job of a charter governing board"?

 

We often answer that question in the classic way...the board sets policy, makes the important decision regarding who will "manage" the school and worries about the money!

 

All well and good.  But many of us realize we sort of do all that yet things aren't going quite the way we expected. How come?  Well, it's often because we go through all the necessary motions in a disjointed and disconnected fashion as we move from one crisis to the next and from one requirement to the next, never feeling comfortable that we have the proper handle on things.  

 

Here's an approach for your consideration.

 

In its most practical sense, the board's job is "to make sure the school works"!!  Simple to say…not all that easy to do.

 

But if we concentrate our focus on the "making sure" part, we will be doing the right job and thus demonstrating accountable for the school. After all, the board will be held accountable anyway, especially when things go awry!

 

To do that job, a board needs to do three things:

 

1.      Declare, in writing, what it "expects" in the areas of academic achievement, management practices and board action.

2.      Monitor performance against these expectations in a formal yet efficient manner.

3.      Address the issues identified through the monitoring process.

 

If a board does those three things, it is governing as it should by setting performance expectations and holding all parties accountable for the results.

 

MACSB has developed a process to do all that, and it is available for your board.  The cost is reasonable and we are also able to partially offset the cost for a select number of boards.

 

We will present a session on this process on request, and then your board can decide if it wishes to proceed, with or without further assistance from us.

 

We are now working with several boards through this program, and if you would like to be next, let us know ASAP.  We can assist up to six additional boards yet this year.

 

Also, please don’t hesitate to contact us via email at messages@MACSB.org or by phone at (517)819-4777.  

 

As always, thanks for your consideration and your service to Michigan charter families.

 

Cordially,

 

Your MACSB