Foresight Should be 20/20

To celebrate the new year, for the next few weeks our theme will be “Foresight is 20/20.” Many of our readers are part of the policy-making process at charter schools, as either ex-officio or elected board members. Consequently, pitfalls in board operations are top on the list of decision-maker concerns and reviewing board operational policy with clear foresight keeps you out of the headlines. For the rest of January, we will cover several board operational concerns that will impact your work throughout the year and can prevent solving problems with hindsight.

When you make a new year’s resolution, do you tell other people about it? Telling others whose opinion you value increases the probability of success and dedication with heightened accountability for goals. It is important that public bodies, such as school boards, also be held accountable for their actions. As a leader in transparency requirements, Minnesota passed the Minnesota Open Meeting Law (OML), which demands that government meetings be public (including school boards), with only specific exemptions to close their sessions.

As with most policies, technology changes faster than the law, and there are elements of OML that can trip up school board members in our digital world. The OML applies to the empowered board, but members may communicate outside official meetings via email. Emailing one another likely isn’t a violation of OML; however, if you are using email to make decisions or discuss board business with a enough members to constitute a quorum, you are probably not in compliance with OML. Best practice would leave that communication for a proper meeting. Setting that standard expectation is easily accomplished with a board communication and meeting policy, so if you don’t have one, give us a call!