In this conversation with Dr. Sonia Woodbury, we learn about the unique community of City Academy. Dr. Woodbury started City Academy with like-minded teaching professionals from the University of Utah. As one of the first charter schools in Utah, City Academy serves 7-12th grade with the goal to not only have students highly engaged in their learning, but become involved and active citizens within their communities. We hope you enjoy this great conversation with Dr. Woodbury.

The Utah Association of Public Charter Schools (UAPCS) is a non-profit organization that provides advocacy, training, and technical support to promote excellence in education across Utah. Visit www.utahcharters.org for more information.

Join our conversation with Tyler Bastian, principal of Roots Charter High School in West Valley City. Roots is a farm-based school that provides real-life work experience to make education meaningful and applicable to students. Many of his students had left school previously or weren't interested in graduating. Tyler talks about creating a safe and loving environment to re-engage students to success. He also explains his educational journey and how it shaped the creation of Roots.

The Utah Association of Public Charter Schools (UAPCS) is a non-profit organization that provides advocacy, training, and technical support to promote excellence in education across Utah. Visit www.utahcharters.org for more information.

We've had a little break, but would like you to get to know us! UAPCS (Utah Association of Public Charter Schools) provides advocacy, training, and technical support to promote excellence in Utah's public charter schools. Hear a conversation with Royce Van Tassell, Executive Director, about the impact of charter schools on student's lives, and the community UAPCS seeks to build through our services.

Today, we visit our sister podcast: Climbing the Hill. Climbing the Hill is all about the Utah Legislative Session and how it affects charter schools. We discuss the following with Royce Van Tassell, Executive Director, Utah Association of Public Charter Schools:

• Budget
  • Funding still looks like increase of 6% WPU.
  • LRF increase 7%.
• HB 475 Economic Stabilization Account Allocations: This bill will allocate the $250M one-time funds in the following manner:
• $50M buildings fund for small districts in rural Utah
• $30M building for Utah School for the Deaf and Blind
• $90M to all LEAs
  • Distributed 20% base funding (about $25K for charter schools) and 80% funding on student enrollment
  • Money is unrestricted but will require reporting on how it was spent.
• HB 193 All-Day Kindergarten: This bill has changed significantly and will now include an expansion of the Optional Extended Day Kindergarten (OEK) program. The intention will be to still require all LEAs to offer all-day kindergarten, but in 4 years or so through another bill.
• HB 396 Paid Professional Development
  • • $64M (more $$ than last week!) one-time funding for LEAs (based on teaching force) to allow for professional development outside required school days.
• Charter schools can still use up to 35% state restricted funds for the next two fiscal years. All student needs still need to be met, but schools will be able to have flexibility to do so.
• SB 141/HB 386: Regulatory Sandbox/Innovation in schools will likely pass and allow for waiver of rules/statute to help designated innovative schools. Also allows up to 35% state restricted funds to go toward innovation.
• HB 374, Sensitive materials in schools has been amended to prevent schools from using pornographic material, according to statute definition of pornography. Will require schools to have a policy about this.

Contact Royce at royce@utahcharters.org with any comments/concerns about bills.
See www.utahcharters.org/legislative-updates for Watchlist of bills (under Advocacy tab).

Robert's Rules of Order provide structure and formality to help your meetings run smoothly. In this conversation with Joylin Lincoln, Director of Training for the Utah Association of Public Charter Schools, we cover the basic tenets of Robert's Rules including motions, agenda structure, and examples of how it all fits together.

Check out this powerpoint  (that would be great to use for board training).
Pattern of formality (to be used on the back of the board agenda).
See these websites for more information:

• www.robertsrules.com
• www.rulesonline.com

The Utah Association of Public Charter Schools (UAPCS) is a non-profit organization that provides advocacy, training, and technical support to promote excellence in education across Utah. Visit www.utahcharters.org for more information.

We talk with Mountainville Academy Principal, Janese Vance. We have a great conversation about building school culture for students and teachers, listening to solve problems, communication in and out of the school, and so much more!

The Utah Association of Public Charter Schools (UAPCS) is a non-profit organization that provides advocacy, training, and technical support to promote excellence in education across Utah. Visit www.utahcharters.org for more information.

Board Meeting Structure is essential to create an efficient board meeting. Here are some highlights from the discussion with Joylin Lincoln, Director of Training at the Utah Association for Public Charter Schools (UAPCS).

• Importance of board structure
• Agenda suggestions
  • Director's Report (30 minutes)
    • focuses on academics
    • written report in board packet so board can ask pertinent question
  • Financial Report (30 minutes)
    • fully review all components
    • board member should ask questions to fully understand budget
  • Board Reports
    • committee
    • training attended/training in house
  • Public Comment
    • putting public comment here allows the public to see the work of the board
    • public comment not required by the law, but good practice
    • explain parameters/pattern of formality on printed agenda (i.e., time to speak, allowed number of comments, etc.)
    • not a time for discussion
    • no action can be taken on an item unless already on agenda
    • follow up with thank you note and/or further addressing of concern by staff/board member
  • Board Business
    • housekeeping items (i.e. committee assignments, meeting times/dates, board calendar, non-voting items)
  • Consent Agenda
    • items that require no discussion (i.e. minutes, previously reviewed but not voted on policy)
    • board members may vote to remove items from consent for further discussion
  • Policy Review (sample policies at https://www.utahcharters.org/sample-forms-policies)
    • Each policy should be reviewed every 2-3 years
    • Ask the following questions:
      • How well are we staying in compliance of our written policy?
      • How do we know we are in compliance?
      • What evidence do we have of compliance?
      • Do we need to make a change?
  • Action Items 
    • Policy votes
    • Contracts

The Utah Association of Public Charter Schools (UAPCS) is a non-profit organization that provides advocacy, training, and technical support to promote excellence in education across Utah. Visit www.utahcharters.org for more information.

In this podcast, we discuss the Utah Open and Public Meetings Act and how it applies specifically to charter schools. Our conversation points out some of the most outstanding components of the law, but is not exhaustive. We discuss the Public Notice Website. This  is where agendas, calendars, minutes and recordings should be posted.

The Utah Open and Public Meetings Act (UT Code Title 52, Chapter 4) is available here .

Our website, https://www.utahcharters.org/sample-forms-policies, has more information under the Law & Policy section.

This 27 minute audio training will help you know the first things you need to know when joining a charter school board. Taught by Joylin Lincoln, Director of Training, at the Utah Association of Public Charter Schools, this training covers: 

• your role as a board member
• documents to read
  • New Board Member Documents
  • New Board Member Training
• learning the difference between governance and management
  • governance=how well
  • management=how will
• board packets
  • all the information that supports the actionable items for the board meeting including agenda, minutes, financial reports-balance statement, income statement, cash flow report, administrator report w/academic report, policy reviews/new policy
  • best received 3-5 days before board meeting to allow everyone to review
• handling grievances and questions
  • hint: direct them to talk to the school administrator first!
  • give heads-up to the administrator too
  • individuals have no power, only through motions in a board meeting
• follow Open and Public Meetings Act
• choosing the administrator at the school
  • board should see the contract of the administrator
  • evaluate at least yearly
• important items to consider
  • conflicts of interest
  • school financial audit statements
  • director/officer liability insurance
  • being a quality board member
  • academic reports at the school

Thank you for serving on your local charter school board! 

The Resources tab on the UAPCS website, www.utahcharters.org, also contains supporting information we discuss as well as many other items of interest for charter school boards.

In this conversation, Royce Van Tassell, Executive Director of the Utah Association of Public Charter Schools, shares the history and purpose of Utah public charter schools.

The Utah Association of Public Charter Schools is a non-profit organization. The mission of UAPCS is to provide advocacy, training, and technical support that promote excellence in public charter schools throughout the state.

For more information, visit www.utahcharters.org.