Resource Library

This presentation from the Florida Charter Institute Governance Conference covers the essential roles and responsibilities of charter school governing boards regarding student discipline. It outlines the board's duty to adopt clear discipline policies, ensure explicit codes of conduct, and monitor data trends, while defining specific consequences such as in-school suspension, out-of-school suspension, expulsion, and charter school withdrawal or dismissal. Furthermore, it details critical procedural safeguards and legal protections for students with disabilities under IDEA and Section 504, highlights the harmful long-term effects of exclusionary punishments, and emphasizes proactive, positive, and prosocial behavioral frameworks.

This presentation, titled "The Role of the Governing Board" and delivered by Dr. Valerie Moore Hyer at the FCI Governance Conference, provides a comprehensive overview of the core responsibilities, legal obligations, and strategic functions of charter school governing boards. It emphasizes the vital distinction between board governance—which focuses on high-level oversight, policy creation, academic accountability, and financial stewardship—and school management, which oversees daily operations and staff supervision. Grounded in the legal duties of care, loyalty, and obedience, board members are tasked with hiring and evaluating the school leader, approving budgets and key policy compliance measures, setting strategic SMART goals, and utilizing continuous improvement frameworks to ensure overall organizational and student success.

This presentation, delivered by Michelle Lopez of Charter School Business Management (CSBM) at the FL Governance Conference 2026, outlines the Fiscal Responsibility Method™ to help charter schools prevent financial mismanagement—the leading cause of school closures. It details key steps for establishing responsible budgeting and financial forecasting, including translating school vision into actionable numbers, separating operating and capital budgets, and embedding emergency contingencies. Additionally, the session highlights best practices for ongoing financial health, such as using static budgets alongside accrual-based forecasting, tracking critical stakeholder metrics, adhering to a structured fiscal calendar, and ensuring full compliance with funding requirements.

This presentation, titled "Top Mistakes That Create BIG Liability" by John P. Leombruno, Esq. of Arnold Law Firm, LLC, outlines eight critical areas where charter schools face significant legal risk and offers actionable strategies to minimize liability. The key mistakes detailed include failing to document critical decisions, inconsistently enforcing school policies, mishandling employee grievances and parent complaints, conducting poor or delayed investigations, treating Exceptional Student Education (ESE) as paperwork rather than a binding legal obligation, communicating emotionally or informally, committing board overreach or governance errors, and delaying legal advice until litigation arises. To mitigate these risks, schools are advised to document actions contemporaneously, maintain consistent policy enforcement, address complaints promptly in writing, conduct neutral and documented investigations, ensure strict ESE compliance, stick to objective factual communication, maintain clear governance boundaries, and consult legal counsel early before issues escalate.

This presentation outlines key insurance requirements and risk management strategies tailored specifically for charter schools. It highlights how coverage mandates vary significantly by school district and addresses common roadblocks such as managing problematic coverages and determining proper policy limits. Additionally, the session offers guidance on timing coverage needs—from initial charter approval through construction and full operation—while emphasizing budgeting for growth, managing triple net leases, and implementing layered risk transfer techniques like hold harmless clauses and additional insured status.

This presentation deck by Richard Moreno and Melissa Holdaway of the FUSE School Advisory Network outlines a comprehensive playbook for charter school leadership succession to ensure long-term organizational continuity and stability. It highlights the importance of adopting a written emergency succession plan for unexpected absences alongside a structured, six-step planned transition model. To select the right successor, school boards must identify their institution's current stage—Start-Up, Growth, Sustaining, Reinvention, or Turnaround—and align it with a corresponding leader profile. Additionally, the playbook details how to conduct a thorough job duty inventory to preserve institutional knowledge, evaluate internal candidates objectively, and establish tailored transition timelines to safeguard academic, operational, and financial health.